ump570

Of course not. But in my mind there seemed to be a distinction. My mistake.

Well, I thought that since the runner was already entitled to first base by virtue of the pitch being ball 4, that the award was one base from the base he was already entitled to. I knew it was one base, but I overthought the rule and gave him second. Whoops. Won't happen again.

So I was wrong? I should have specified. I awarded BR second.

I was working tournament today. F1 throws pitch which is ball 4 and rolls into dead ball territory in a hole in the fence under backstop. I awarded the runner second base since he was already entitled to first because of the walk. Was I correct?

No, I was just telling the story. I was the base umpire and I was telling you guys a story about what happened to my partner during a game. Of course I would never talk about the zone as a base umpire. The umpires of course. And they they made sure the bases and pitching plate were clean as well. Nope, assistant coach came out and picked them up.

I call call those strikes all day! I don't know Jax, from where I was sitting these pitches were way off the plate. I can see giving the black and a ball or so off the black, but the pitch was way inside. I understand. I may not actually go that far but at lower levels I call inside and out a bit more just so that it don't turn into a walkfest and the batters will start swinging. 14U I will go a ball in and out. Yeah, I'm with you there Jax. I want these boys to hit the ball around and make plays. That's what makes baseball fun.

Here's the problem: first, your partner starts to argue balls and strikes, then he says he's not arguing balls and strikes. I would have 2 takeaways from that interaction: 1. Nip it in the bud: no good ever came from permitting chirping to continue. 2. Be consistent in more than just balls and strikes: if you're not arguing, then don't start an argument. In retrospect, doesn't that look a bit like baiting? That coach certainly ejected himself, no doubt, and if he was intent on going nobody should stop him. But for me, game management slipped away earlier in that story. I agree that he should have fixed the problem with the catcher earlier in the game, but I thought he handled the coach interaction ok. He was just explaining where the pitch missed and why it wasn't a strike. I'm not sure how it was baiting. Right or wrong, there is no excuse for throwing bats on the field at any level, particularly a game with young players.

I call call those strikes all day! I don't know Jax, from where I was sitting these pitches were way off the plate. I can see giving the black and a ball or so off the black, but the pitch was way inside.

To me, that's very personal. He's using the word you and telling everyone you're incompetent. Sure, you messed up, but SH*# happens. These guys make bad moves all the time; they have games where they don't get decisions right, but that doesn't give people the right to publicly embarass them. I feel the same is true with us. We may kick calls or forget something important, and if he wants to confront our behavior by saying something like, "That's not right, come on." Even when he said, "This is ridiculous", I wouldn't have cared, but it's the way he came at you with the word "you" that made it ejectable. Just my two cents.

I was a catcher for 15 years, and I always thought my job was to be a diplomat back there. I would rarely discuss pitches with the umpire, and if I did it was with deference and respect. Most catchers are like that, but some just don't get it. I had a kid doing the framing thing over the weekend, and I just said with some authority in my voice, "Son, no matter how long you hold it there, the pitch is still a ball." He stopped doing it right away.

ECTB

I'm working 14U travel tournament. I'm on the bases partner is at the dish. All game long, catcher is showing him up, prolonged framing of pitches, asking where the pitch missed, pulling pitches in and then chirping discussing why it was a ball. I'll be honest, none of these pitches that this kid asked about were even close. When I'm in B and C I can see if pitches are way off the corners and these pitches were. Anyway, he calls a ball on an obvious inside pitch, and the offensive mgr. says, "That's a strike all day!" Finally, my partner tells him and the catcher, six inches inside isn't a strke and never has been!" Again, mgr. says, "That's still a strike." Mask comes off, partner says, "That's enough, we're not arguing the balls and strikes or something like that." Well, mgr. says, "That's a F*#King strike all day." BOOM! Partner tosses him. This guy actually comes out onto the field with about five bats and launches them and they land pretty darn close to the batters box. Is this guy insane? Guys like this are a disgrace to baseball. It seems like every weekend there is an ejection in the semis or the finals at this venue. The guys in charge always back us up, but these coaches just don't seem to care about getting run.

I wrote about this recently. Coach says, "I realize you can't fake 3rd to first, but we have a move where our pitcher fakes 3rd to 2nd and we've never been balked. I heard you say that you can't fake to 3rd. Will you balk us for this?" I say, Yeah, if your pitcher fakes to 3rd while still on the rubber." Coach says, "Can you check with your partner?" "Sure coach, I'll check with him. I'll get right over there."

It also appeared that R2 never even stepped on 3rd. He just assumed it was a force and ran right by 3rd into the dugout without touching the bag.

I had a really cool play yesterday. I'm in A position, 14U ball, and the hitter smokes a high line drive to right field. I go out since it's a trouble ball, and I'm about 50 ft. from the right fielder who attempts to make an over the shoulder catch, he has the ball at first, tumbles to the ground and right before he comes up, the ball pops out and hits the ground. He tries to cradle it and get it in his throwing hand before I can see it. I signal and verbal, "No Catch, Ball is on the ground!!" Well, the funny part is, the mgr. comes out to argue, and says, "The kid never dropped it. Can you get some help?" I look at him astonished and say, "Who would you like me to get help from?" He says, "The home plate umpire." I smile and say, "I busted to get out there, he's 300 ft. away, and I'm 50 feet away. Why would I ask him for help?" I clearly saw the play and the fielder has to secure possession of the ball through the entire catch. He fell to the ground still tumbling and that's when the ball came out. There was never a transfer so I had to rule that he did not have secure possession. I love when you get a call right and you know it and an entire dugout thinks you got it wrong. I just think to myself, "That entire staff just kicked the hell out of that call and I got it right."

When coaches or players attempt to create a mob mentality in the dugout and take out a team's misfortune on you. Somebody's gotta go to be an example to the rest.

I think he got caught anticipating what would happen instead of letting the ball turn him. I'll bet he saw the runner break and immediately turned his back to the plate and that's what got him in trouble.

Sunday I'm working 16U travel ball. I balk VT's pitcher for 3rd to 1st move. We play OBR rule set. Before the next game starts, the same team's manager asks me, "I realize that it's a balk going 3rd to 1st, but we have a play where our pitcher fakes 3rd then goes to 2nd and it's never been balked. I heard you say that any fake to 3rd is now a balk, so would this move be legal? He's never been called for it." I say, "Well, if he's in contact with the rubber, as soon as he fakes to 3rd it's a balk. I don't know how he got away with it before unless he stepped off the rubber. If he steps off, he can pretty much throw anywhere he wants." He then asked me to check with my partner to make sure I was right. I was pretty confident in my knowledge, and I told the guy, "Sure, I'll talk to him." Of course, I never asked him. I'm not shopping around for rule interpretations when I'm confident in my knowledge of the rule. It was hard to keep a straight face when this guy was asking me about this rule.

I learned this morning at my son's game that it can only be interference if the runner makes contact. It must be so, since when the first base coach was done complaining about the call and telling U that there has to be contact, the third base coach came down to explain it too. The silly U kept insisting it was enough to hinder the play and stuck with his call. When will these Us read the rules!!! Both coaches are wrong. Contact is not required. I just posted a thread about this issue. Read it and learn. Coaches don't know the rules. Some do, but most don't

I've been noticing lately that the call that gets coaches the most pissed off and elicits more arguments than any other is the called strike at the top end of the zone. I'll see guys call the shins all day, and never hear a peep, but the minute they call a strike called above the naval, it seems like the chirping starts. I had a coach argue a pitch with me at the end of an inning the other day that was at the top of the zone and he explained to me that I can't call pitches there.LMHO. This was 12U and the pitch was just below the hitter's chest as he approached the ball to hit. It came in under his hands and I had it as a strike. The coach was not happy, and I notice that this is fairly common where I umpire. Do you guys find the high strke being argued more than the low strike? Also, it might just be me, but it seems like big league umpires are calling more of a rule book strike zone this year with the high strike in play moreso than in the past. Is this just me, or do you guys see this happening as well?

"Hey coach, those are umpire words, and when you say them use your inside voice."

That's what I figured. What bums me out is that my son pitched the best game he threw all year. 4 shutout innings against a really good team. Oh well, what can you do? Thanks.

A coach needs to be told that balk is a word reserved for umpires. Yelling balk is not acceptable, if he causes a balk it will not be enforced and he will be ejected. End of discussion. Can we tell a coach the same about words like- safe, out, fair, and foul, because quite a few base coaches yell those words as well?

They don't know that they don't know. And you know they don't know. But they don't want to know they don't know, especially from you, since they know you don't know. You know? Surprisingly, I do know that you know of what you speak. You know?

Hi, I'm in the unusual position of posting a question today as a coach. I don't umpire Little League, so I'm not aware of all of their rules and the nuances that may or may not exist within the rulebook. Here is the situation, Little League Minors- I am Asst. Coach, at game time our team only has 8 players available. I know the rule book says that 9 are required to start game. However, I have heard of certain leagues making a provision in their rules to allow for fewer. Anyway, the opposing team's coach comes over and asks me for the lineup, I tell him we only have 8, and then I ask the umpire if we can play with 8. The coach objects and says we need 9. I say, "How about we play the game with 8 so that the kids can play some baseball. This is minor leagues; if you want the win, you can have it." Anyway, the umpire makes a phone call to somebody, comes back and says, "You can play." So we get to the 5th inning our team is leading 4-0 and one of our batters takes a pitch right in the mouth. Anyway, he's done for the day. The half inning ends and we go out to the field with 7 players. At this point, the umpire stops the game and calls it a forfeit. 3 questions: 1. If there is a forfeit, do the statistics stand as far as pitch counts, batting stats, etc. or are they washed as though the game never happened? 2. Does the umpire have to submit a forfeit request in writing to the board of directors? 3. Is it possible that we could pick up this game where it left off when the player was injured?