Sayhey

I work travel ball. Parents pay $750 for son to be on team. Then they have hotel and food bills Assigning 1 man to a game like that would not work parents and coaches would not stand for it As far as the paycheck issue- my view is that if you refuse to work one man you open up a spot for another umpire to work and he gets paid He can buy more gear and tip the waitress at the pub and stimulate the economy. People will take advantage of you if you let them. In my opinion if you work one man you are allowing someone to take advantage of you. We are very big on partner loyalty. If I worked one man I would be lost without a partner. No partner to call the night before. No partner to ask about a check swing I have no partner going out on a trouble ball. No partner to drink beer or root beer with after the game. Our group is very social. If I worked one man I would need to but myself a beer and talk to myself at the pizza parlor. I've worked 21 years and never even heard of 1-man til I got on this site. So, good for me and good for everyone who stands up for themselves and refuses to work one man. It may be kids baseball but when they pay $750 to be on the team and parents are buying hotels and food on the road it is not child's play

Washington Husky rt. Hand pitcher comes set with shoulders opened wide to 1st base. Game vs Ole miss today. Pivot foot is on rubber in a normal fashion but free foot is exaggerated in its position opening up the pitcher!s shoulders and chest to 1st base. No one mentioned it til he picked r-2 off 2nd base. Ole Miss coach came out to argue. Announcers tried to guess what coach was arguing. I don't think it was the non pivot foot position. I think it was the hands moving before the step back toward 2nd base. I thought the hand movement was ok. So did the announcer We do not usually listen to announcers but this one seemed knowledgeable. Anyone see the Ole Miss vs Washington Husky game today?

Grayhawk, I have seen the united we stand strategy work. We do not have 12 million people in our Valley so out volume of games is minuscule compared to yours. We also do not have millions of potential umpires to recruit and train. I stand by my statement and I believe it serves every umpire in America to listen to me Refuse to work one man and your local area will change and stop assigning one man to a 3 man job. It is unfair and unnecessary. Are you telling me that a valley with 12 million people can not find and or train umpires so every game has a 2 man crew or better? Full disclosure would let you know that we split a 2 man fee 3 ways and have done so for 15 years. We do not umpire for money. We do it for the challenge and fun. We spend most of our check on pizza and beer after the game. I count myself blessed to work high school ball 3-man. It is a lot of fun Side note Billy Haze's 3- man clinic in Sacramento is great.the plate umpire and 1st base umpire from yesterday's Kentucky vs Kansas game were instructors at the camp last Nov. Benches emptied in that game. Billy Joe Speck and Scott Higgins did a great job of game management. You can attend the camp and then go back to your high school association and tell them you want to try 3-man. You will like it.

We are in southern Oregon. We are top heavy with college umpires in a high school group We like 3-man. It is interesting. I did not mean 1 man does not exist or was not used when baseball began. Most games only had 1 umpire in the big inning (joke) I was at Cooperstown last summer and there is an umpire exhibit. It is 2014 and no umpire should be put in a position to work alone.i have strong feelings about it.

Stand strong and refuse to work 1 man. There is no such thing as a 1 man umpire crew Who is going to buy you a beer after the game? Are you going to buy yourself a beer? Just kidding, but not about 1 man. 90 percent of our varsity games are 3-man J.V. is 2 man and the game does not start with 1 man. If we have a no show(highly unlikely) we get on the phone and find an umpire to complete the 2-man crew. This is the case at every level Park and recs tried to get us to work 10 yrs. 1 msn and we gently refused. Park and rec immediately found money for 2 umpires. When you work 1 man you are taking a paycheck out of an umpire's pocket. Stand together as a group and be respectful but simply refuse to work 1 man If the problem is lack of umpires I suggest recruiting and a higher pay scale to entice men to become umpires. We are fortunate, we have state championship umpires willing to work 10 yrs. ball Some associations only have a small pool to choose from because a lot of umpires refuse to work low level games and I understand that No such thing as a 1 man crew. It is unheard of in our area. We had a coach call late last week I searched high and low for two umpire but could only find 1, so no crew was sent. They plYed with volunteer umpires(fathers).

No violation that I can see if I understand you correctly. The pitcher is allowed to transfer the ball from glove to hand or hand to glove as he gets on the rubber. To be legal this action must take place as he gets on the rubber. In a perfect world he gets on the rubber with his hands seperated. If he gets on the rubber with his hands together And immediately seperates hands I do not have a problem. If he gets on the rubber with hands together and leaves them together he can not seperate them unless he steps off first or delivers a pitch or steps and throws to 1st or third or steps and fakes to 2nd. I think I have that right There are some rules experts on this site and they will correct me I am wrong and I welcome bring corrected if I have any of this wrong If I have a good working relationship with the coach I will talk to him in between innings I was involved in a 200 team memorial weekend tourney. Assignor spread the love around so you may have a 16 yr. old game followed by a 10 yr old game. 10 yr olds are comming set and leading off. We warned on Saturday and called balks on Sunday and Monday.

Jeff, thanks for taking the time to respond. You Are right about that. I asked for help and then wanted to argue when help was tendered. Stubborn and stupid. I did not even completely read the manual I was quoting. Jaska/Roder clearly states in the beginning of the balk section that the scenario I posted about is only a balk when a pitcher is on the rubber. Thanks for your patience and kind words.

Matt, you were right. I was wrong. I was being a dumbass and trying to justify my call, which I blew Thank you for your time and good advice This thread, which was started by me caused some sharp remarks from some, which I provoked. I take responsibility for that. Umpire in Chief, my apologies. I let my ego get away from me. To be fair, some of the replies were passive aggressive, which is a form of anger. Hopefully we all learn to be more respectful to one another as we move on with better and more healthy threads. Hope you have a great weekend.

If you read the thread carefully you will see that I thought The pitcher was in contact I called. Balk. In contact is definitely a balk. The thread clearly shows that I was unsure about this action with a pitcher off the rubber. There are restrictions for a pitcher when he steps off. He must seperate his hands he can not simulate a pitch or a wind up. Since 1st base is treated differently than 2nd base and third base I thought maybe there was a restiction for the pitcher in this very rare case. This situation does not happen often. If you read the thread carefully you will see I wanted to learn so I could get it right next time I thought Matts attitude was arrogant. I think most of you are Arrogant. Just because you say it does not make it so. Jaska/ Roder is endorsed by many pro umpires Jeff Nelson uses it as a textbook when he teaches. Joe Brinkman owned an umpire school and he endorses Jaska/Roder I apologize for my arrogance on this thread. I was like a dog with a bone when I began to see that I had blown a call. As for explanations, I had a rookie coach who was a gentleman and asked for an explanation. This took 30 seconds. It was the wrong explanation and I will get back with him on this rule. Finally, just because another umpire does not immediately agree with your opinion does not mean he is an ass and unteachabke Matt and I will never work a game together and that is a good thing. Not everyone is going to get a long. I will strive to be more teachable and be more if a gentleman on this site. I wish you all a good day.

Well let's all be blunt. You sound arrogant to me You have never worked a game with me and you are certain that you have better game management skills than me. That sounds like a sweeping statement to me based upon zero facts My rule citation to the coach is 8.02c and 8.05h-comment. You do not even have game management on a web site. I imaging your game management on the diamond is just as poor Certainly, telling a coach that it "is legal because it is not illegal", is never going to work. You will only incite the coach. I got on this site to get an answer to a rule question. This scenario happened tonight. I had the pitcher on the rubber My partner had him off the rubber. We both knew it was a balk with the pitcher on the rubber. As a crew, we were unsure if it was a balk with a pitcher stepping off. I am still unsure. We went with delay of game and awarded R-1 90 feet. Feel free to not respond to any of my future posts I was listening to you, I just was not convinced that you are correct. You sound very sure of yourself and your "bluntness" is not appreciated or respected.

The case play that Jaska/Roder gives (#12 on pg. 147) is a pickoff from an in contact pitcher. There is no case play offered from a pitcher who has stepped off. Jaska/Roder suggests a warning on the first delay of game. Infraction #2 is a balk and an ejection.

People on this site make sweeping statements with great certainty. Of course he is not required to throw to first, but when he does choose to throw to 1st base I am not convinced that he is free to throw to a 1st baseman off the bag by 15-20 feet. I have delay of game and a balk. In my opinion the pitcher can not play catch with the 1st baseman.

Stupid answer. You want to piss a coach off, give him a vague explanation like yours. Coaches need a logical answer. The Jaska/ Roder interpretation of the Official Rule Book was written because the official book is written in an extremely poor fashion. Page 142 of the 13th edition of Jaska/Roder was published in 2010 It reads as follows: it is a balk if a pitcher steps to first base and throws to a first baseman who, because of his distance from the base is (or would have been) unable to try a tag against the runner at first base. In my opinion Jaska/Roder is talking about an in contact pitcher here. They use the phrase," steps to first". They probably would not use this phrase if they were talking about a pitcher who was not in contact with the rubber since a pitcher off the rubber does not need to step toward a base to throw to the base. It is unclear if a pitcher off the rubber can throw to a 1st baseman off the bag. To say that it is legal because it is not illegal is a simplistic answer that does not satisfy me or any coach I ever met. I would appreciate hearing from someone with an M.L.B. Umpire manual Remember that a delay of game is a balk. You may be able to call a balk here and give delay of game as a reason. You must have a logical answer for a coach and a partner and yourself.

He did not feint a throw to 1st base, he threw to his 1st baseman who was 15-20 feet off the bag I can not tell a coach that it is legal because it is not illegal. I need something more than that I think it is an illegal move. I do not think it matters whether you are in contact or not. 1st base is considered a special base when pickoffs are involved.

Many case book situations explain to us what a legal action is. I.E. : it is legal to come out of the running lane in your last stride into 1st base. I was wondering why you consider it legal to throw to a 1st baseman who is 15 feet off the bag. To just tell me it is legal does not help me. I need to know why it is legal. Are you going to say he is an infielder?

Matt, can you give me a case play or a rule

Matt, the infraction is attempting a pickoff when the 1st baseman has no play. I.E. The 1st baseman is playing in or behind the runner.the pitcher must throw to the base or close enough to the bag that we can call it the bag.jim Evans talks about this and so does Jaska/Roder. It must be close enough that the 1st baseman can make a play

Let me be more clear. R-1. 1st baseman forgets to tell pitcher he is positioning himself behind the runner. Pitcher attempts pickoff at 1st base. When he turns he sees 1st baseman 15 feet off bag. He throws directly to 1st baseman. This is a balk in my opinion The question is: does it matter that the pitcher stepped off the rubber before he threw to the 1st baseman?

Balk called with 1st baseman off bag . The pitcher had stepped off the rubber. I contend that it makes no difference if the pitcher steps off. Umpires and coaches want to say that a pitcher becomes an infielder when he steps off and can do anything he wants too I say that is inaccurate. i.e. You can not step off the rubber and simulate a wind up or a pitch. I am happy to know if I am wrong. Then I can get it right next time. Thanks for everyone's time on here. Umpire Empire has made me a better umpire

Why is it illegal to throw to a base from a wind up position in Fed. Rules?

You can call a balk when the pitcher throws to a shortstop or 2nd baseman off the bag if you rule that the pitcher is delaying the game. I would warn once and then call a balk for delay of game. Preventive umpiring would prevent this call. I have never seen it called but it is possible For what it is worth which is not much You can call a balk when the pitcher throws to a shortstop or 2nd baseman off the bag if you rule that the pitcher is delaying the game. I would warn once and then call a balk for delay of game. Preventive umpiring would prevent this call. I have never seen it called but it is possible For what it is worth which is not much You can call a balk when the pitcher throws to a shortstop or 2nd baseman off the bag if you rule that the pitcher is delaying the game. I would warn once and then call a balk for delay of game. Preventive umpiring would prevent this call. I have never seen it called but it is possible For what it is worth which is not much You can call a balk when the pitcher throws to a shortstop or 2nd baseman off the bag if you rule that the pitcher is delaying the game. I would warn once and then call a balk for delay of game. Preventive umpiring would prevent this call. I have never seen it called but it is possible For what it is worth which is not much

Loud enough to communicate. Any louder and you are just drawing attention to yourself I sat in row 1 in Seattle at a day game with the roof open and Jim Joyce was so loud he was annoying. High pitched and elongated strike call I thought it was unnecessary and I wanted to duct tape his face.

The Fed. Book is so poorly written that associations need interpreters to tell the working umpires what the writers meant when they write the rag they call a rule book. We are dealing with people that can not understand that a runner on third base is R-3, not R-1. People that write a casebook that is so hard to follow that you must read the question 2-3 times. Pathetic excuse for a rule book. Just to further confuse the situation : O.B.R. Provides no provision for any other runner being called out other than the batter runner Feds say "the other runner being played on". If a batter/ runner intentionally interferes you bang the runner who is close to home but R-2 interfering you can only call the batter/runner out if you are calling 2 out

Old skool may be Brian Knights father up in Montanna. If so, how is the fishing up there? Can someone , anyone, pleeeezzz tell me why we need different rules in high school than summer ball like legion and summer college ball If you are in high school keep your helmet on and don't crash the pivot man on a double play. That is the only changes we need to the obr. O.B.R. Needs intent to get a double play and Fed. Needs a possible double play. Why not one rule book. What are the Fed. Rules writers trying to accomplish by treating this situation differently than O.B.R. How is this possibly a safety issue.

If you get a chance to watch Matt Cain work for the 1st place Giants you will see that he has almost zero movement when coming set. He does not move his non pivot foot and he has almost no hand movement. The same with his fellow staff member Tim Lincecum. Both have thrown no hitters and a perfect game for Cain. we are leading off and coming set at 10 years of age in our area. The traveling teams want this component in their games. Sometimes we warn and then call a balk later. We are not strict, only calling obvious balks and talking to coaches in between innings. There is no requirement for a pitcher to "stretch" as he comes set. He must get on the rubber with hands seperated and he must bring the hands together to come set and he must pause before pitching. Those are the 3 movements that he must make.