pnewton

I amend my previous statement, in New England at least we are going with OBR now with the above listed changes.

I must commend you for not asking him how long he was going to wait to make a pitching change

A great time telling everyone that story

I attended a New England AAU umpire clinic this winter and we are going with the High School rules of the state that the game is being played in, with some modification such as mercy rules, time limits and DH/EP usage.

I might debate not stopping if I just hear thunder but if I see lightening we get off the field, it's the lightening that can hurt someone not the thunder.

Can we try to send an email to the commentators or something... these guys make our job so much harder when players, coaches, parents, and the guy driving past the field all take these interpretations as accurate and they don't even make sense. How hard is it to say "the throw has to go directly to the base, not where the third baseman happens to be standing"?

Association meeting this week it was announced that all of the Babe Ruth Leagues in our area are going to solo umpires. It was explained as a cost saving move on the part of the leagues.

I don't work USSSA but I do work a lot of AAU games, and apparently we do all right for ourselves $50 for 12s and under $55 for 13's - 15's 60 for 16's and up Not that I want to hijack a topic but this has me curious what the HS rates are across the country.

This is one of my nightmare situations, partner kicks a rule and I know it. I don't think that you can win. Because the coach was already in discussion with your partner I think I would do the same thing you did, but that doesn't mean I'm right either. If I have the opportunity to appropriately call time and get my partners attention and into a conversation before the coach can get to him I think we can work it out. I do like the recommendation to ask if unsure, gets him into that conference.

The word "except" seems important here, it separates the case of an IBB from everything else. If the IBB is the exception and in that exception F2 must keep both feet in the box until the ball leaves the pitcher's hand doesn't that imply that they don't have to keep both feet in the box when it isn't an IBB?

I apparently must apologize as I have not encountered the terms "type A" and "type B" and I guess I made an assumption they were coming from the other rule set. I stand by my call from above, if maybe not the interp. There is no way I am going to let an obstructed runner be called out at the base that he was headed toward (I do recognize the possibility of a runner being obstructed on their way to re-touch while a play exists somewhere else, in that case I am only letting him return).

If this is an OBR game (which original post says it is) then "Type A" and "Type B" obstruction don't exist, there is just obstruction. Once the ball got passed F4 he can no longer be making a play on the B-R so this is not an immediate dead ball. Wait for the play to end (F6 picks up the ball) and then decide where the B-R would have ended up without being obstructed being sure he gets to at least the next base after the obstruction. In this case it sounds like the obs was before 2nd and he wasn't going to make it to 3rd. I would have signaled and called obs when it happened just because, but then leave it be when the play ends.

Every assignor that I have worked for has taken a small fee (usually ten bucks) from each umpire that they assign to games as well as collecting a fee from each league that they assign. I assume that those fees from leagues are based on number of games as well as the level of competition.

One of my "brother umpires" turned me on to this site last season when in our pregames he would mention some of the things that were coming up in the situations forum or want to discuss the merits of some things from the mechanics forums. I figured I would join up so I could throw in my 0.02 for all to see. This will be my tenth season on the field. I work everything from Little League and Cal Ripken to HS Varsity and Legion ball and work about 100 games a season. I know that for some of you that isn't much ball to work but please remember that here in New England baseball can really only exist from April to August. Another odd point of my geography is that I know nothing about Fed rules (we don't use them in MA) so try not to get too upset when I try to apply OBR where it doesn't belong. Looking forward to getting this year started!

4.03 a The catcher shall station himself directly back of the plate. He may leave his position at any time to catch a pitch or make a play except that when the batter is being given an intentional base on balls, the catcher must stand with both feet within the lines of the catcher’s box until the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. PENALTY: Balk. I know this actually isn't all that clear but the inference is that he can leave his space as long as it isn't during an intentional walk.

I would be so screwed up with multi rule sets... you would be posting about me having to back my way out of rules messes every game!

I have scrimmages next week will be the first since first weekend in August... Oh yeah, we might get a foot of snow tomorrow!