Kevin_K

https://youtu.be/g-ROao1clcY

I'm a moron. Reading is fundamental to understanding. My eyes saw offensive and my brain read defensive. My apologies @JSam21.

Can you cite this please?

This ⬆️

I am also from NJ. There is no objective measurement employed to assign the HS state tournament. There never has been and there will likely never be. Hence the amusement when people ask question like the one you posed. Often, I shake my head when I see the names of umpires on late round games because I have worked with them and their greatest qualification for being on the field is longevity. In NJ county tournaments hold equal weight in many respects to the state tournament. County tournaments are held in season and are usually played on a once a week schedule as the regular season progresses. One of the county finals in my area has a crew that includes an umpire who has officiated for more than 25 years. He is a great guy and does a great job in many of the youth leagues in the area. His HS experience is thin and he struggles with mobility, rules knowledge, rotations, and, in many cases, judgment. He has also never taken any active role in any officials association or training program. So how does that assignment happen? Maybe because his first cousin is a long time influential member of the baseball community? We won't ever know. If there is a rating system it clearly cannot be how assignments are made. This is not sour grapes or the green eye of envy. I have worked many high level contests in multiple sports, including state finals, and I think that there are a lot of officials who should be in the rotation because of their abilities on the field and their activities in the officiating community off the field. One person makes the decision for all assignments for every single post season game in the entire state. For those of you keeping score, New Jersey has 6 groupings in HS sports based on two factors - public or private; and student population. The public schools classification include 4 sections each (that's 24) and the privates include 2 sections (that's 4). Each section is a 16 team tournament, so there are a total of 15 games per section. That's 90 games and approximately 200 slots to fill in about two weeks. The only way all those slots get filled is from recommendations from the local chapters that are run by...... that's right......... the good old boys network. So, maybe amusement isn't the best way to describe the smirk, head shake, and WTF? that so many of us seem to repeat year after year. That's how things like what happened in 2016 don't really shock me any longer. What word might be better?

Can you clarify something? Are you saying you would not call this as CI in an NCAA game? If so, can you help me understand why it wouldn't be.

That's the new CI rule interpretation in action! From Randy Bruns; September 11, 2024 Rule 8.2.e Exception and 8.3.p If, with R3 is trying to score on a squeeze play or a steal of home, the catcher steps on or in front of any part of home plate without possession of the ball, or touches the batter or their bat, the pitcher is charged with a balk, the batter shall be awarded first base on the interference, and the ball is dead. “In front of any part of home plate” is defined as a step toward the pitcher and any part of the catcher’s foot on the ground beyond the back point of home plate.

I would suggest it's a hybrid of the scissors, which was a more widespread plate stance years ago than it is now. For your reading pleasure:

If I am not mistaken, the process is kiss the ring, profess blind acquiescence to any and all schedule changes, keep every date available only to a single assignor, volunteer to teach the next generation of officials while bolstering the bottom line of a narcissist, and make donations to the charity of your assignors choice. Don't be too concerned with on field performance because no one ever comes to evaluate anyone.

I might suggest this to almost every partner I have had or ever will have. For every situation. At every level.

Little different from our ole' pal Mr. Harrelson

That answer sounds very familiar doesn't it @Richvee?

These are two great improvements in the collegiate game! Games have pace and are usually finished in a reasonable amount of time. Too many HS games are too long because of stepping off, stepping out, asking for time (that's our fault), players visiting the pitcher, backup F2 for F2 on base at the end of an inning, and everything else that adds 20 seconds here and 30 seconds there. Before you know it, 20 minutes are added to the game

Two games in my umpiring experience has a batters foot been alleged to have been on the ground outside the batter's box when making contact with a pitched ball. Neither one was so egregious that even casual observers would have taken notice. Both times I spoke to the aggrieved DHC about the circumstances. One was a pants on fire coach and the other was not. Both received the same response from me. "I can watch each pitch or I can watch every batter's feet. Which would you like me to watch?" Both returned to their dugout and the issue was suddenly no longer an issue.

I appreciate the feedback from all parties. The case book plays are tangential and provide some direction but no clear guidance. The wrinkle here is that the overthrow offered the potential for B1 to advance to second which was nullified because of the contact with F3. That's what pushed me toward obstruction. On the field I ruled it as obstruction immediately and in an animated fashion. The DHC and I had a spirited conversation offering many of the points raised here that ended with something like: We can go round and round on this and neither of us is going to convince the other. Ultimately the advanced runner had no impact as the offense was retired without scoring anyone.