Mad Mike

Donny said to reporters after the game that the only reason it was argued was the fact the guy never made a turn towards 3rd base. He claimed they were shown video in Spring Training by MLB saying if the guy runs through the base and doesn't turn toward third, he can be called out. I would like to see the memo too..... https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7430216/2026/07/08/phillies-coaches-tossed-reds-elly-de-la-cruz-second-base/

I wanted to throw a shout out to Sandpoint, Idaho, baseball team. They were great sports and stayed positive throughout the State tournament. What was really impressive was that even in the face of committing errors and grinding out wins, they never got negative towards their teammates, opponents, or umpires. Too many teams would have folded and starting incessant harping. Very enjoyable to work with teams that keep a tough mental mindset and focus on playing the game right!

One suggestion before pulling the plug, is there video of the game available that can be shared with him by someone in a position of "authority" in the association? Perhaps seeing his mistakes on film will allow it to set in. If he is not interested in the feedback, then perhaps post season is not for him and he will make that abundantly clear to an assignor. Otherwise, it sounds like time to blackball him.

Remember the movie "Deliverance"? Well, that is what hillbilly umps are sporting in the South!

Shouldn't that be, "Well played Mauer."

What no Navy shirts?

NFHS NFHS allows both live and dead ball appeals. My question is related to what constitutes a proper live ball appeal on a runner who failed to tag up. SITUATION: R1 and R3, 1 out. Batted ball to deep right field. Caught for out #2. R3 does not tag and scored. R2 tags up and advanced to second. Ball comes in from the outfield and is thrown to the pitcher. Pitcher engages the rubber. Pitcher, without disengaging, steps and throws to third. Third baseman, now in possession of the ball verbally appeals R3 leaving early. Is this a proper method to appeal? Some umpires believe this is a balk and cancels the right to appeal (because third is no longer occupied and you can't throw to an unoccupied base without stepping back off the rubber). If there are any casebook cites, interpretation cites, etc. please add those. I have a steak dinner riding on this!

@SeeingEyeDog High school level. Our commissioner is a college official. I understand the point's above about the timing of the flag. What we don't know is if this guy had been warned earlier in the game and/or his coach. Since he didn't even look over at the official, this is more than likely going to increase the chance of a flag being dropped.

Our football commissioner gave us some good advice to avoid flagging for an offside penalty: If it is a regular play, warn the player and let the coach know. If it continues, a flag will have to come out. However, if it is a trick play, then the offense has to execute perfectly. So, for example on a kickoff, let's say the kicking team boots it deep. If they have a gunner a yard beyond the ball before it is kicked, we will notify the special teams coach that # so and so was offside. If he does it again, we get that one. On the other hand, if the kicking team executes an on-side kick, the free kick line is treated like a pane of glass-nobody better be off-side. They have to execute trickeration perfectly to avoid a foul being called. In the Chiefs case, they ran a trick play......and did not execute perfectly. Frankly, Andy Reid should know better and so should the players. If this had been a run of the mill play, I would bet money no foul would have been called....unless Tony and/or the Chief's coaches had been previously put on notice.

@JonnyCat makes a very good point here. If new guys join up and work by themselves, they get an earful from coaches and fans. Guess what? They don't come back due to feeling like they are all on their own....which they essentially are! Try that in any profession, if you don't get positive feedback-even when mistakes are made, you either think this is not for me or why would I want to put myself through all this crap?! New umps also get bad habits which screws them in the long run and makes it miserable for coaches, players and fans too. If it seems like nobody has your back, then you either become one of three people: 1) A redass umpire-throwing anyone out who says one minor thing 2) A push over who takes abuse left and right 3) A used car salesman or some other profession, just not an umpire

Kind of late to the party, but to answer @collectablechris question, take a look at this from closecallsports.com: https://www.closecallsports.com/2023/04/odor-misses-home-kim-scores-odor-out-on.html

A little different approach was taken by a local football league in our area. They implemented a policy that if a parent or guardian of the kid gets 86'd from a game, then the kid attached to the adult gets banned too. They didn't do this lightly. It was after several years of having repeat problems with the "adults" they had to make the decision to cut their losses and remove the reason for the "adult" coming to the games in the first place. It is sad to see the kid get affected by the adult in this scenario. However, they had the adults and kids sign an agreement before the season started. The rule was very clear to everybody involved. One parent stepped over the line and he was booted out, along with his kid. They did agree to refund any fees if they had to kick a kid and parent(s)/guardian(s) out. It has worked out pretty well. Last year, for the first time in a while they had fewer problems to deal with. It seems to have placed the adults on notice they better stand up for their kid in the correct way-which means cheering them on and not getting over the top with poor behavior. This seems to be an approach other leagues should consider trying. If the kid ain't on the diamond, then maybe the asshat won't be around causing problems for everybody.

And now for a little story, check out this 8 year old kid who might just be the youngest umpire ever! He has one hell of a chain saw strike three call! Batter up! This 8-year-old is looking to become the world's youngest baseball umpire | Watch (msn.com)

OBR Situation: R1 & R3. No outs. Pitched ball. Batter swings-no interference. Catcher throws to second and retires R1. F6 prepares to throw home to get R3 who is advancing on the plate. As the slide from R1 begins to conclude, R1 reaches up and prevents F6 from throwing home. Umpire rules interference on R1. Since R1 is already out, question is: Do we send R3 back to third, or declare him out for his teammates interference? I looked at a couple of rule cites 5.09 (a) 13 and 6.01 (j). However, while 6.01 (j) addresses double play attempts, I would think it might still be applicable in this play, similar to a defensive team attempting to get a double play at first-only in this case, it will be a home plate. If we don't get an out on R3 here, while we do not allow a score to occur, we are not really penalizing the interference. On another interference scenario: R1, with a batter striking out, stepping across the plate, and umpire rules interference-the catcher does not retire the advancing runner. We have the batter out on strikes and R1 out for the batter's interference. Please chime in how we would handle the R1/R3 situation above and if you think these rule references are on-point. I am hoping to hear from @Senor Azul too!

Tell the coaches you are going to talk to their batters with something like this: “You better be swinging. You're standing in the strike zone.” But seriously, know the zone for the level you are playing at. As others noted, refer them to the rule book. But practically, call more strikes and your game will go better. Coaches don't need to know if you are gonna call pitches strikes that are in the channel (the area between the edge of the plate to the start of the batters box). They will find out soon enough!