keydetpiper

I encountered this one in a city league slow-pitch softball game I was playing in. The rules are ASA with modifications, but I suspect that doesn't come into play for this situation. R1, R2, 0 out. Fly ball to F5, clear IFF, but the umpire does not call it. F5 misses the catch, retrieves the ball and steps on 3B to force out R2. Situation now R1, R2, 1 out. After the play is dead, the umpire calls infield fly, rules the batter out, and rules R2 safe at 3B because there was no tag. Ending situation R2, R3, 1 out. I pressed the umpire on the lack of call and she informed me that she has until a pitch was thrown to the next batter to call IFF. This doesn't smell right to me, since the outcome of the play depends on the call; F5 could have tagged advancing R2 but chose to step on the base because he thought there was a force. So I have two questions about this situation: 1. Can the umpire enforce IFF after the play is dead? 2. If IFF is not called, should the play simply stand as it played out? Unrelated to the outcome of the post, it was clear the umpire did not know the rule; after the ball was dead she initially announced "Infield fly, batter is out, runners return to their bases." After I pointed out that's not what IFF is, she made the ruling mentioned above. The umpires in this league are generally pretty good, but this one clearly did not know what was going on.

It's not bad here. The coaches are generally pretty good, and since I don't have a kid in the league they appreciate that I'm there at all. When I showed up at the start of the game the coaches looked at each other and said "We get an umpire today? Great!" It took me an inning or two to get back into my rhythm, and I definitely didn't get all of the calls, but as you say it's fall ball. I might go back next week.

I haven't worked a game in over a year; life happened and I couldn't reliably make myself available for the spring season. Yesterday I was called to help with a fall ball game, which I'm happy to do, but I feel a bit rusty. With only a few hours notice, what rules do you recommend I review to knock the dust off? Are there any new LL rules for 2014 that I should know?

What's the correct mechanic for U3K on a called third strike? First of all, I agree that a called third strike should probably be caught, but you can't always tell with the catchers in my local LL. Anyway, my usual K mechanic is to signal an out with a call of "Strike three, batter's out," and on the U3K I call "Strike three" and save the batter's out part until he actually is. Should I add something about the ball being uncaught, or on the ground? I don't do anything more advanced that LL Minor (no U3K) or Major.

Seems like 7.06(a) applies here. Obstruction occurred and a play was being made on the obstructed runner, i.e., trying to tag him out at home. Because he was obstructed the ball is dead and the umpire awards bases in a manner that in his judgement will negate the effect of the obstruction. In this case home plate is awarded. As for actually touching bases, with any other base it wouldn't be an issue because the runner would take his position on the base before play resumes. With home plate it's a little different because the runner goes away after he touches it. Should he touch it? Probably; couldn't hurt anything. Is he required to touch it? Not that I'm aware of.

Looks like I didn't explain myself very well. As soon as the runner moved to avoid the tag, F6 stopped trying to tag him and threw to 1B, abandoning any play on R2. There was no tag. The runner left his original path, but whether he went more than 3 feet outside of it I can't say; I didn't have my tape measure handy. It was close.

I know a runner is out if he runs out of the basepath to avoid a tag, but I had a situation that stumped me. This was in a LL minors game. R2, 0 out. Ground ball to F6, fields cleanly and makes attempt to tag runner going to third. Runner dodges the tag but doesn't blatantly run out of basepath, F6 gives up on the tag and throws to first to retire BR. I called safe with no tag because F6 did not pursue the play. Did I blow it?

That was my thinking. Thanks!

For the purposes of tagging a base during a force out, is a fielder's glove considered part of his body? In other words, if the fielder has the ball in his throwing hand and touches the base with his glove while maintaining possession of the ball all the way through, has he met the definition of a tag to successfully retire the runner?

I'm considering some full-length leggings to wear while working, and I'm looking for something that won't be excessively warm during those hot summer games. I'd like to hear if you use something like this, what kind of success you've had with it, and what you recommend. Thanks!

Have you ever taken a shot so hard that it damaged a piece of your equipment? I haven't it happen to me, but I was wondering if anyone had cracked plastic or torn fabric or anything like that. Please share your war stories!

I ended a game on a situation like this the other night. BR prep, I'm the only umpire. Passed ball and R3 comes home as F2 retrieves the ball and dives back toward the base as runner slides in. F2 ends up stretched out on the ground with his body between me and the runner. I see a tag, I look for the ball, and I see through a gap between F2's legs that the ball is in his mitt. "He's out!" The runner's bench was not shielded by F2's body and several players and parents exclaimed that he dropped the ball. I never saw it out of possession, and if it did pop out it must have bounced right back into his mitt because it was right there. 3B coach comes to tell me it hit the ground, I tell him exactly what I saw: after the tag, the ball was in F2's mitt right after the tag. He was satisfied with that. As near as I can tell, the best you can do is explain to the coach what you saw, and I like the "In my judgment..." line. I'll have to use that one.

With 0 or 1 outs and first base occupied, the batter is automatically out on a third strike not caught by the catcher. Is this still the case if the runner advances due to the passed ball that was the third strike? If so, then what if the runner was stealing before the pitch was thrown? I guess this boils down to the point at which first base is no longer occupied.

I did a 16-18 BR last night behind the plate, and this came up. A batter was using a wooden bat (which really worked for him; in an earlier at bat he smacked a triple over F9's head). In this at bat, R3, 1 out. The bat sounds like it cracks as it hits the ball, resulting in a weak ground ball to F1. R3 is coming home, F1 throws to F2, who drops the ball as R3 slides safely. BR meanwhile reaches 1B safely, overruns into foul territory, comes back to the base, then trots toward home in foul territory, I assume to check on the condition of his beloved wooden bat, though of course I can't be sure. The ball is still live, F2 has now recovered the ball and tags the BR near home plate. My partner and I had a short discussion and decided that BR is out because he left the base and was tagged. My thought is that BR correctly overran the base and made no indication of moving toward 2B, but he was also moving toward the bench and apparently abandoning his claim on 1B, in which case the comment of 7.08(a) seem to apply. Either way we had him out. His manager asked for an explanation ("He was out because he was tagged while off the base"), then told us that we were wrong but didn't press the issue. Your thoughts?

Ok, thanks for your feedback. What I take away is that it's a dirty trick and not within the spirit of baseball, but not illegal at most levels. I'd give 2B a warning and suggest he keep his mouth shut in the future.

I thought I had answered this question myself, but then I read the rule again and it's not it. Your help is appreciated. Watch this video of a steal attempt at 2B. Is there a rule that applies to this situation? The closest one I could find was 4.06 (a) 3(B): no player, coach, etc shall "...employ any word or phrase or commit any act while the ball is alive and in play for the obvious purpose of trying to make the pitcher commit a balk." This isn't a balk situation, but it seems to be within the spirit of that rule.

There are so many balk discussions on here it's crazy... demonstrates that the balk rule is not very well understood, or there's a lot of gray area and room for interpretation. When pitching from the stretch, the pitcher must come to a stop before he delivers a pitch to home plate. Must he also stop if he's going to throw to first base for a pickoff attempt?

Ever, for as long as 11 year-olds play baseball.

Sounds like you are using inferior gear. Get a hard shell CP. Don't know what to tell you about the leg guards. I have been hit dead on several times on mine at HS games never felt a thing. I wear the 2-strap Gerry Davis. The cause of the bruises was that the ball hit near the edge of the pads, and the impact pushed the pads into my tender flesh with enough force to leave a small bruise. I will consider getting better gear though; I started with what was in my price range, and now am saving the game fees for better equipment. Thanks for the suggestion.

I went to a D1 college game last night and spent as much time watching the umpires as I did the game. You can always learn something by observing those better than you. Anyway, the batter hit a sharp ground ball with a lot of sidespin that went right down the first base line. The ball bounced a few times; the last time it hit the ground was in foul territory, though not by much, then it kicked left and passed directly over first base. It was ruled a foul ball. The umpire was in A, right behind the base, so he had a good look at it, and I was in the stands just about even with the line, so I had a good look at it too. Based on my readings of the rule it should have been fair, since the base is in fair territory, and it's the ball's position as it goes bounding past the base that determines fair or foul. Am I missing something?

There's one forum member whose signature line is "May the ability of your catchers exceed that of their pitchers." When I first saw that I chuckled a bit to myself; now after that game it rings a bit more true.

Last week I was the sole umpire for a developmental LL majors game. The visiting team nearly forfeits; the coach drives everyone to games and he was running late. This team either doesn't have uniform pants or doesn't wear them. Some kids were out there in jeans, others in shorts. But that's neither here nor there.... This same team put a player behind the plate with gear on, but I really don't want to call him a catcher because he didn't do much of that. A squatter would be appropriate, because he that alright. If the pitch didn't come directly to his mitt, he didn't move the mitt to catch it. I don't know if he didn't react in time or didn't realize it was his job to catch it; either seems likely. I took five shots in that game, all on my left side, on inside pitches that were untouched by both batter and squatter. Needless to say I was getting a bit jumpy and flinching when that team was on defense. The other team was fine: that catcher (a girl) could catch, and had more baseball awareness than pretty much anyone else on the team. The good news is that only one of them caught me on an unpadded area (inside of my forearm), but two (knee and shoulder) left a bruise under the pads. I spent some quality time with an ice pack when I got home. No point to my rant, I'm just complaining.

As in: Ground ball to F6, R2 is daydreaming and stands on the base, F6 tags R2 (out because he's forced) then steps on the base to force out R1. That would upset at least one coach ("HOW CAN HE BE OUT IF HE'S STILL ON THE BASE?"), but them's the rules. Now if F6 does it in the other order (steps on the base then tags R2), R2 is not out because the force was removed by retiring R1. I think I'm getting this.

The rules say if this happens, the preceding runner is entitled to the base. I'm ok with this generally, but does this also apply to force situations? Ex: R1, R2. Ground ball to the infield, forcing the runners to advance. R2 doesn't run and stays on the base, R1 arrives safely at 2B, so both runners occupy it simultaneously. Seems to me that if they're tagged, R2 should be out due to the force situation. Can you help me get this straight in my head? Thanks.

I agree, though it is hard to tell. I would have called him out I think.