JonnyCat

I would be inclined to interpret "takes a position" as being stopped in that position. Like standing there within 5' of the rubber, not just walking to a position on the other side. I'm not sure I would have a balk here.

Yep. Do this.

You should tell us how you really feel! FWIW, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Non of that BS belongs in baseball. But what I think is the real issue is actually having 10u tournaments. These sort of shenanigans are a byproduct of anything under 12u. Why? It's because these types of teams are usually coached by inexperienced daddy coaches with their hyper competitive mindset that these things are acceptable to teach the kids. All in the name of winning, and nothing to do with development. All it teaches them is to grow up to be little assholes. 10u tournaments? F*#King joke.

Exactly! I was thinking the same thing and wanted to mention something about that, but you summed it up better that I would have. Thank you for that!

Thrown bats are part of the game. I never said umpires shouldn't take measures to limit thrown bats, rather, I am dumbfounded by umpires that get so worked up over thrown bats. I know it shouldn't happen, but it does. There are deterrents to behaviors, but it doesn't stop them. For all we've done and pontificated about thrown bats, has it stopped? No. Will it ever stop, No. It's part of the risk of umpiring. It's going to happen. How people deal with it is their own business. It is part of the game and will always be. You can mitigate it anyway you like. There's still going to be thrown bats. Then again, maybe we should start calling outs!

That could be said about every batted ball. Can an umpire really do something about it? Other than punitive measures, not really. A coach can, and I coached for 14 years, so I did have to change that behavior. We even had drills in practice to work on this. (at the younger levels.) The same can be said about correcting any behavior. Yet people still speed, still rob, still cheat, still lie. I just don't see why people get so worked up over bat throwing. And it is a risk you have to accept. It is part of the job as an umpire, just like getting hit with a baseball. I don't like it, but I can't get too mad about it. If you're going to do this job, you're going to get hit. There's no way around it. People can say or do anything they want, but like it or not, kids are going to throw the bat in baseball.

I get that. But I've never got that worked up over bat throwing, but apparently lots of people do. I mean the stereotype of calling a kid out for throwing the bat has been prevalent for years. Obviously it seems like a big issue in many people's minds. But where are all the reports of serious injuries? It kind of reminds me of LL's stance on stickers on the helmet, or players wearing jewelry, or adults warming up pitchers, and umpires must check gear for the safety of little Billy and all the bunnies in the world. For years we were told these were "SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUES!" And we were to enforce those rules vociferously, without exception. But I always asked, were is the data? Where is the evidence that these things are such a grave danger to the players or coaches? There was none. It was just some jackwagons with their panties in a bunch over these issues. And lo and behold, LL dropped all of those rules and requirements. Why would they drop them if they were such serious safety issues? Hmmm. I just treat it as an occupational hazard, but I've never been seriously injured by one, nor have I ever seen anyone else. It just befuddles me that people tend to get so worked up over it, when in reality, it's not that much of a problem that I can see. Players are more likely to get injured by a batted ball than anything else. I'm more worried about the ball giving me a concussion, or a serious injury, than I am about bat flinging. JMO.

I'm always a little perplexed on how throwing the bat causes so much uproar in the umpiring community. Rant not directed at anyone, just my observation. This only applies to a thrown bat during an at bat. I have never in my umpiring career got worked up over bat throwing. I've always treated it as an occupational hazard. I know it happens primarily in the younger levels, but it happens in the pros, too. I just don't know why some get so worked up over it. I mean, we're standing about 2 feet away from a guy swinging a stick! What, letting go of the bat is never going to happen? What did you think might happen? Honestly, I've been injured WAAAY more from that stupid baseball as opposed to a bat, sometimes fairly seriously. But never from a thrown bat. In fact, I've never even seen a serious injury from a bat in a game in over 20 years of umpiring. I've never seen anyone leave a game because of a thrown bat injury. Very rarely it's an ouchie that the kid shakes off. I've seen serious injuries from a pitched/batted ball, sliding, collisions, but never from a thrown bat. Not ever working or watching games. Never even seen a bat explode, or impale someone, never seen a broken bone from one. (I know serious injuries have happened in the majors, but it's very rare and you can get seriously injured from other aspects of the game.) Yes, bats can and have caused serious injuries. The only time I've ever heard of serious injuries from swinging a bat is when some one is taking a warm up swing, practice swing, or BP, something like that, and someone runs into the swing. That I've seen and is a big concern, and should be watched out for. Sometimes the bats break and can cause injury. Maybe it's just me, but I've never experienced a thrown bat during an at bat cause a serious injury.

I remember that clinic, it was towards the end of 2014, up in the L.A. area around Glendale IIRC. Funny side note about that clinic. I went there with 2 friends of mine Bill and Chris, and Bill them ended up winning a clinic prize of tickets to a game that Hunter would be umpiring at. After he and I got back from pro school in 2015, Bill set up a game at Dodger stadium early in the season to see Hunter. Dodger stadium was the closest he was going to be, so it worked out perfect. I believe Hunter himself was communicating with Bill, and arranged the whole thing. So the day of the game, Bill, Chris, and I head up to Dodger stadium, arrive at will call, and no tickets. Guy at will call tries to call down to the umpire room to see if we were legit. No one answers, even after repeated attempts. Luckily Bill had some e-mail correspondence on his phone verifying the story. Will call guy comps us our tickets fortunately, and we see the game. Never heard from Hunter, didn't meet him after the game, not a word. Oh well, at least we got a Dodger dog and a $15.00 beer. It was still a fun experience.

This exactly! One of the main reasons there's a shortage of umpires.

They'd go great with the tucked in jacket look!

Right on. I find many different subjects interesting as well. I had forgot about that book, and it did pique my interest a bit. Anyway, I was just wondering if I was missing something in the post and I do like anything for personal enrichment. I do appreciate the many interesting articles, etc that you post. Thanks for that!

Wow. I would not have guessed it was that far back. Interesting they were laminating bats in the 50's. Nice find.

Interesting. Thanks for that, let me know if you find anything else.

Yeah, anyone could figure that out. That should have never happened, but what, we didn't know that SH*# won't fly today? The OP is an old article that doesn't shed any more light on the situation. I'm just curious if there is a larger point wanting to be made, or something else. It's just not very remarkable.

As a building contractor, I can tell you that is not a solid piece of wood! Now I am a fan of laminate lumber in the construction industry, particularly Versalam beams for large headers and long spans. More load capacity and straighter than conventional beams. As far as bats go, the note to the rule can make almost any bat legal. I get why it's there, but I don't like it. The again, I'm just grumpy in my old age! I wonder how long the exception has been in the rule book and when was it added?

I get it. I guess given the wording of the note, any exception could be made by the administrators of any league. As for @johnnyg08's question, if I was the decider, I would not allow any exceptions. It would have to be a solid piece of wood. Luckily, not many people care about my opinion!

I don't know if I can defend the Baum bat in a wood bat only league. I don't think it should as it doesn't meet the criterion. If Baum is allowed, then it stands to reason that the Delano bat should be allowed, as well.

Based on the definition, because it is not one piece of solid wood, I don't believe it would be allowed in a wood bat only league. 3.02 The Bat(a) The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood.

I see. If it was a wood bat league, then would this be allowed? I'm not sure about that one. I'd have to lean towards no, if it was a wood bat only league. But I guess that would have to be left up to the league administration.

Just out of curiosity, and I mean this sincerely because I'm not getting it. What is the significance of this post? She settled out of court, and she's not the only female umpire to file suit against MLB, or whomever runs/ran the umpire program. According to this article, there were others. Seems like most settled out of court with terms not disclosed. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/the-eighth-female-umpire-to-ever-work-in-an-affiliated-league-debuts-in-june

It has a BBCOR certification, so I would treat it like any other non-wood BBCOR bat. If the league I'm working in allows BBCOR bats, then that's all I need to know. IMO, no different than a composite or alloy BBCOR bat. Just curious @johnnyg08, what is your reservation?

They usually use nice fields that are properly groomed with lots of water! It's usually the field conditions, if your fields are dry and dusty, then nothing is going to help that. Turf fields will keep your shoes really clean. I just use a clear shoe shine on all my umpire shoes, and give them a good wipe-down after each game with a damp rag. It often depends on the level you're doing. I find that most youth fields (LL, Pony, etc) are the most dusty, especially late in the day on Saturdays when no one has groomed the field after the first game. High School fields tend to be better maintained.

I would imagine it depends where you live. In my area, SoCal, we have baseball year round with tournaments and travel-ball. There is almost always something going on. I think a lot of guys do other sports in the off season, particularly in cold weather states. You might want to look whether your area has tournaments and/or travel-ball in the summer and fall. You may have adult baseball, too. I know there are a lot of adult softball leagues around, as well. Those might be additional opportunities. Or you could just be a road warrior like @MadMax