BuckeyeMike

LMFAO. I feel for you brother. Except I like spicy pork rinds and Bud Light.

​​Truer words have never been spoken. It (the inherent need to prove you're right) happens on this forum all the time, it happens with our wives and significant others, and it's a human trait that deserves some inflection. How many arguments/fights develop b/c of this need? It takes a bigger person to look beyond the immediate gratification of being right, to the detriment of the relationship. ie....Coach/Umpire, Husband/Wife, Umpire/Umpire, etc. We've had discussions about this on here before about the need to be right at all costs and the damage it undoubtedly does to the relationship.

Agree with Ricka.......if you choose to converse, make it short and sweet. "Yeah, the throw DID beat him, but you tagged him up on the hip and he got under it"

Can anyone post a video of the 3rd out at the top of the 2nd inning? R2, 2 outs......single to F8, who comes up gunning to Home. Close play, and I think PU got it right, but his positioning/view of the play was suspect. He could have been hosed pretty bad but the way it developed, I think he ended up seeing it cleanly. IMHO, he should have taken a read step or 2 to stay on F2's left hip.

Congrats to you good sir! There's almost nothing better than the adrenaline rush of having butterflies, feeling the pressure, and then being locked into your zone and living in the moment of playoff baseball. It really doesn't get much better.

Congrats!! Remember, when you feel those butterflies and that pressure..........they're a PRIVILEGE. Enjoy the JOURNEY. I echo Grayhawk's sentiments.

I've been known to take my hat off and scoop up a screamin' foul ball while in A, turn and fire it right back to the pitcher........in men's league.....not a HS game. They love it when an umpire shows some athleticism.

I had a………a…………uhh….….”SPECIAL” partner tonight for a V game, lemme tell ya. I had the 1st V game and it was over in 1:40 with no comments or situations. His took over 2 hours with NUMEROUS comments and situations. Said he’d been doing it 25 years and apparently he’s a 1st year guy 25 times over. Standard signals were foreign to him. Concepts of PU covering 3B? FOREIGN. I’m not going to do a laundry list, but the transgressions could fill a standard 10 ½ x 8 college-ruled notebook page. I was embarrassed to be on the same field with this guy. Among the highlig………LOWLIGHTS are: Calling and taking time to sweep the plate in the middle of the at-bat…..like with a 1-2 count. Totally broke the pitcher’s rhythm/mojo, and judging from the dust cloud coming off the brush, there was a thin film on the plate. Strike zone the size of a dinner plate. Must have been 20+ walks. (In the 2nd inning, due to all the moaning and groaning from players, coaches and fans, he calls me in to ask about his strike zone. I tell him he HAS TO OPEN IT UP SIDE TO SIDE…..not so much up and down, but you gotta get bigger side to side.) There was little-to-no change after that conversation. My personal favorites were……. Calling the pitch BEFORE it smacks the glove (resulting in numerous verbal strike calls on swings of the bat). Bailing out on almost every pitch and then correcting to see where it actually ended up. And the coup de gras…..taking more than 3 minutes to annotate a simple pinch runner. Ugh.

Right, I kind of agree. I didn't say "mandates", I said they REALLY WANT us to.....they desire that we try to restrict first. I'll add that simply leaving the coach box and coming onto the field to argue a call is very dependent on the manner in which the coach conducts himself, not on the act itself. Ex....if he jogs out and asks (rather than yells), I'm not EJ'ing here. I know I'm probably splitting hairs with you here, and I don't mean to be argumentative, but I was never saying that you must restrict first. And we agree that what we do is dependent on the severity of the behavior.

In FED, they really want us to restrict them to the dugout first, THEN eject. I'm not saying a straight up EJ isn't the right call here, but "they" want us to restrict them first. Why was BU in a deep C with what appears to be no runner on 2nd? And he didn't move much AT ALL toward 1B....definitely didn't gain the working area. Super quick call too. I need to process that for a split second longer if that's me. Of course, the hand up.....wtf? And a final "BULLS$%T" from the coach as he's leaving? whoa. Oh, and the kicking of the dirt at 3B which wasn't detected. This guy might just be gone immediately with no restriction. I don't know.

I gave my free copy to @StrikeToWin.

I know that my state association (Iowa) has made the rule that eye black will be "a single stripe" and not go down the face like a WWE wrestler. Maybe your state has adopted something similar.

​Why not? I thought this was universally accepted as the interp for a step. ?? You seem to have some other information/interpretation or even potential pitfall concerning this......I'd like to hear it.

Had a 3 car pile-up just 20 yards over the right field fence right in the middle of an at-bat.....that was interesting. I'm down and set, pitcher is in his wind-up and SCREEEEEECH.........*SLAM* I called the pitch and then immediately called time as I could tell that all eyes were NOT on the ballgame anymore. The ensuing sirens and peripheral action was quite the distraction to all in attendance.

I was in your situation a few years ago and this link was given to me. I can't vouch for the accuracy, but at least it's a lead. http://www.refereeumpireschool.com/camps-clinics-and-more-informations-2/

Their website needs some serious work. I was all over it and can't find the age levels of the games, any of the rules, or any specifics whatsoever. Being in Iowa and not too far away (although unavailable THIS weekend), I would be more interested if I knew what I were getting into. I'll still contact Denise, but after the fact, and try to get some details pinned down.

I think I need to clarify. By all means, if you see it, call what you see.....I'm not disputing that and I'm certainly not saying to "make sh!t up". I'm talking about NOT clearly being able to tell if the tag was applied or not.......being straight-lined and such. That's when I think the expected call should be made.

I'm a fan of Marvin's......got to meet him at a clinic last year and he's good shiz.

thanks to this thread (and no thanks to my aching feet), I went to the podiatrist this week and will have orthotics in 2 weeks........can't wait to try them out.

​I was just kidding around with the "prime time" stuff. Do whatever makes you look and feel professional. I've just never heard of anyone tapering their baseball shirts is all. I did it in basketball b/c 1) an evaluator and referee legend in Utah told me I should. 2) I felt I looked sloppy, just like you said you do in baseball. 3) It's obvious that NCAA and NBA refs are doing it........not sure MLB umps are tailoring their shirts, but maybe. Peace. To each his own.

When you DON'T make the expected call, you have a Sh!tstorm. Pick your poison.

Look up Perfect Game leagues in your area. Not sure if they do the summer leagues there, but it might give you insight to future games.

I have all my basketball shirts taken in (down the torso area) but I've never even THOUGHT of having my baseball shirts altered. Ya'll are PRIME TIME. lol

^^^ THIS ^^^^ The appeal needs to be for not retouching home plate on his way back to 3B.....same as an R1 rounding 2B and not retouching 2B on his way back to 1B.

I'll check it out. BTW, Even in FED, the pitch counts. (Just clarifying) So which penalty do you think should prevail across the board? The OBR or the FED version? I'd like to see all codes treat this the same. I, personally, happen to like the FED penalty better.