Ring 'em Up

James, this was not worth dumping over.. just that the catcher was not going to even raise his mitt to try. obviously the coach saw it as he asked another player immediately to put on the catchers gear. and thanks for the info.. as a first year i'm all ears..! ron-

BOTH..! ron-

not because i got hit, but because the catcher didn't even try to catch the ball at all.. i was going to talk to the coach, but before i even looked his way after calling time, he called his catcher in. ron-

it's what i've started doing.. it works well. ron-

i had a boy in a pony/pinto game who when the pitch was delivered swung, then he looked back at me and said "oh, i was only taking a practice swing", to which i said "that's nice.. Strike 1.." ron

whilst just a first year, i've been beat up quite a bit lately. so far this this year i've taken 3 to the mask, 2 to the CP, 1 to my l-thigh, 3 to l-arm (and yes i keep it tucked in), and once to the boys. these were backstop hits.. the one to the boys didn't hurt (i use a McDavid cup, and compression shorts), and the one to my thigh does. i would have to say getting hit in the mask doesn't hurt at all, and the oohhs and ahh's from the crowd after it happens.. very funny. the CP.. happened to me in the same game, same catcher, same inning... pony/mustang game; the first time it looked like he might have missed.. and i had a talk to him about catching that ball, and not using me as a backstop. and jeez.. wouldn't you know it.. next pitch, he didn't even move to even try and catch it.. after getting hit again, i called time.. and the coach knew 'exactly' why i called it.. and he yanked the catcher. ron-

i wear glasses.. i try and setup a few 'inches' back in the slot to see the zone better, but that low strike outside makes me dip my head about 1/3 of an inch down when doing lower level games. on the other hand, when doing HS games , most F2's know how to catch and frame, which makes both my, and your job easier. i also find that when doing HS games i don't need to move my head at all, i can see that pitch all the way to F2's glove.. ron-

As the OP of this thread, i never expected this to be such a hot topic..! ron-

4 dollars a game here in so cal w/the cbua. guess i'll get a bill at the end of the season. i thought they were gonna take out the 4 dollars each time, but there not. ron-

luckly i live close to the field when i forgot my bag... sheesh..! got home, drove back, got ready, and was on the field in 20 min. whew..! ron-

thanks jeff..

when i come back in later all the articles are still 'not read'. ron-

Just a wild guess, He's a lefty? no.. a right handed pitcher. ron-

Ron; It's always good to go digging in the book to back things up, but don't overthink what you got right to begin with. 6.08 c has everything you need for the CI call, and the appropriate interps. are included throughout this thread, you really don't need anything more, irregardless if we're trying to by trying to show BalkHawk the nuances in the rule. 5.03 really just specifies that the batter has the choice to swing or not as he may choose. 6.08 c spells out CI and the appropriate penalty. true.. but wanted to make sure that rule existed. as a first year, i need to keep my nose in both obr and fed rule books. didn't say it yesterday.. but hope everyone had a nice Easter Sunday. ron-

my son is a contact pitcher. this said, he regularly has 6 to 9 pitch innings. he's had a few 3 and 4 pitch innings, but not too many. ron-

FINALLY...! OBS Rule 5.03 offers us a final resolution. and here it is: 5.03 The pitcher shall deliver the pitch to the batter who may elect to strike the ball, or who may not offer at it, as he chooses. Given this rule, if F2 moves forward and removes the Batters 'choice' .... CI. ron-

meaning that he jumped up from his crouch, moved in-front of the batter, took the pitch, after taking the pitch he reared up and threw to first and when he threw, the toe of his r-foot moved backward and touched the front part of HP. and all this.. and the batter never moved from the batters box, nor was he touched. all i did was stand from my crouching position, and think to myself.. "what the hell". to say the least it was the weirdest thing i'd ever seen. ron-

#BalkHawk: did you read the original post? it seems you haven't. you're way off track. it explains the situation in detail. ron-

Then how do you explain this? You have me confused here. JE says nothing about needing a swing. In post #18 you say if he was taking the pitch your not calling it. How do you determine if he was just taking a pitch or preparing to swing? Not sure about you, but I'm not good enough to make all those decisions in that split second. F2 took away his opportunity to put the ball in play, period end of story. I don't see where everyone is in agreement, maybe I'm just blind. And if a F6 or anybody else is in the runners path without the ball and in my judgment they hinder or impede that runners opportunity to advance then your darn right it's OBS, irregardless of whether that runner stops short of the offender or not. Absent the OBS where should that runner be, that's what matters, not whether he stopped or not. I would explain that I mis-spoke, and ammended my statement a few posts later when I said if he is taking the pitch. I have also said that a stride, or even squaring his body to bunt without poking the bat out there are attempts. If the batter meant to take the pitch, what has the catcher interfered with. I don't mean to generalize here. Everything depends. Did F2 come out of his crouch just in time for the play and step on the point of the plate? Or did he jump out front with the ball just being released, or did F2 end up way in front? If the F2 jumps way out front before the batter has a reasonable chance to decide whether he will make his attempt or not, that is something different. I WOULD LOVE NOTHING MORE THAN FOR A PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL TO STEP IN HERE AND CORRECT ME. I know of one person at JEUA (not Jim) who agrees that you could NOT call the pitch. At least not in good conscience. OK.... i think we need to re-read the original post... it explains what you're looking for. ron-

If its a c :censored:shot, I'm getting a rrhike, In any case, I'm giving up on the pitch (just like the batter) and moving my focus to the impending play. Its very likely going to be a ball. Bases jammed? If I can get ball 4 then I get to put off making any call. How would I call strike 3 and call the play? THAT is a good question. Lets say F1 is banging his curve all day, he throws a curve when this happens.. now what? as i said, that curve is gonna be a ball until the last second. how can you tell whether or not that curve dropped in? ron-

in my opinion, J/R and Jimmy (and myself) are in agreement here. It seems clear that without some kind, any kind, of attempt, there can't be interference. As Jimmy says, the batter must be, "preparing or attempting to offer at a pitch". How can you say the batter was attempting to offer if the bat is on his shoulder? I think this principle is held up throughout the OBR. If a fielder blocks the basepath while a runner is attempting to advance a base, you got obstruction, right. But what if the runner stops 3 steps shy of the contact and stands there? Do you still have an infraction? F2 taking a pitch in front of the plate that also made the batter bail out of the box... This seems highly unlikely. Once again I ask. What are you going to call the pitch? Nothing? What did the PU call the pitch on that triple steal? He didn't call CI or a balk. Did i ever say the bat was on his shoulder? and again the question has come up.. "what are you going to call that pitch?" the "physical act", is the catcher moving in-front of HP taking the pitch. the rule does not say 'contact'. so.. for all of you who think this is NOT CI, tell us what you're going to call .. ball/strike, and give your explanation as i'm sure everyone here is just going to ask you that anyway. and for the runner stopping and standing.. huh? never in my 58 years have i seen that, and i know, i never will... come on! ron-

as soon as he said "you've", i banged him for ejection. ron-

http://umpire-empire.com/index.php/topic/52489-catchers-interference-i-banged-him-for-it/ ron-

interesting... i've never asked, but always get paid just before the plate conference. ron-

What will you call the pitch? I think this is a legit question. If you're not going to call INT and the F2 catches it before it crosses the plate..what are you going to call the pitch? you can't call it ..anything.. except maybe a 'ball'. since the ball has not passed over the plate, and if the ball was a curve which hadn't lost it's velocity yet to drop in that pitch would be a ball.. my son is a pitcher. that said he releases his curve at the batter's s head (on a r-handed batter), the ball curves to the left, and drops in for the strike. if F2 jumps out in-front of the plate 2 feet, my sons ball would be (at that point) a ball. and most batter's @ 2 feet would be the split second decision to make that swing or not. therefore F2 has taken away their ability to make that swing. Hence CI. how could it be anything else..? i think 7.07 def covers this. which brings something up.. How many times have you "ever" seen this in NCAA/or any college game, or MLB.. Never... why, cause they'll get banged for it. ron-