MadMax

6 hours ago, FranklinT said:

Has anybody taken a good hit with this upgraded padding?  Any reviews/feedback?

"You have helped our work considerably! Jolly good! Thank you very, very, very much!"

23 hours ago, Tog Gee said:

For illegal acts there are "don't do that" items, while items a-d are explicitly balks:

Illegal acts include
6.2.1 

a. applying a foreign substance to the ball;

b. spitting on the ball or glove;

c. rubbing the ball on the glove, clothing or person if the act defaces the ball;

d. discoloring the ball with dirt;

You’re being quite draconian. 

None* of these happen in the modern pro game. Why? Because there is a substantial supply of rubbed, clean baseballs, and pitchers are examined by the umpires. 

Even in adult amateur, it never ceases to amaze me, these yokels bring us 3 balls each, and often times… they’re still in the packaging! (Cue the “protection” and “safe s3x” jokes). So what do most umpires do? Scoop up some dirt and rub the baseballs with it! 
Uhm, hypocritical much? I’m not against or outlawing rubbing up pearls… I’m against the pedantic, draconian fervor that we belt out, “That’s a Balk!!” and act all sanctimonious to amateur players. 

Same can be said, in an amateur game (think: high school), a pitcher is tossed a brand new, shiny pearl from the PU (“Nice gun, Blue!”), and he immediately looks at it, and stoops over to scrape it across the dirt of the mound, trying to make the ball more grippy / less slippery. 
Am I (as BU) supposed to belt out “Time!!, that’s a Balk! (Or, “That’s an illegal pitch! Ball added to the count!”)”.  No. For starters, the ball is (still) Dead anyway, because my PU partner hasn’t made the ball Live yet (said / pointed “Play!”). Second, to be that aggressively punitive has no place in the amateur game. I simply say, “Hey! Ya can’t do that. Let me do that (or, conversely, direct for another ball to be relayed out). If the ball’s too slick, just say so.” 
This sort of mitigation, instead of officious officiating, really shows well in the amateur game. If a pitcher starts aggressively rolling/wiping the ball against his pant leg… am I going to stand there, watching this, and drop an emphatic “Ha! Gotcha! Illegally defacing a ball! That’s a Balk!… Gary! Punch that box on the Umpire Bingo Card!” Instead, that wiping the ball on the pants leg probably means that there’s something wrong with the ball. So, call Time, and just direct the pitcher to get a new ball (from the PU). 

* – Of course, applying a foreign substance to a baseball is a serious offense; not only is it an illegal pitch / balk, but it’s also an Ejectable offense. It has happened in the pros, but it’s exceptionally rare. Item A is so serious, that Items B–D don’t happen in the pros, as they are constantly changing balls out. 

23 hours ago, beerguy55 said:

Yes - if the pitcher does any of these, it is a balk:

Hey! Hey! 

Use your sign! Gosh! 

On 8/24/2024 at 6:02 PM, StrasburgUmp80136 said:

We are located in Colorado, about 20 miles east of Denver, in a town called Strasburg.

21 hours ago, Velho said:

(you did say you are from Massachusetts, correct?)

Uhm… close! 

Good humor aside, Velho, I gotta commend you… 

21 hours ago, Velho said:

https://www.nfhs.org/sports-resource-content/baseball-rules-interpretations-2024/

I wouldn’t have figured on finding this. This a step towards modernization, but still nowhere near where it needs to be. I can’t help but point out the irony. No less than 10 of the 20 listed “situations” deal with electronic technology. Obviously, technology has permeated into High School sports; what technology is being made available for us (umpires)? Would it kill ya to post photos? Animated diagrams? Videos? 

On 9/10/2024 at 12:19 PM, StrasburgUmp80136 said:

Is there a good site that has the rule books & case books?

Heeuuuuoo boy (that’s the only way I can transcribe that reactive sound)… you’re only dealing with four core, foundational rulebooks, and 2 of them are related. 

• Official Baseball Rules (OBR)
• NCAA (ie. College, incl. NAIA)
• National Federated High School  (NFHS, the Fed)
• Little League®️ (LL; based on OBR, but with published differences to warrant a separate Ruleset) 

OBR does publish their Rulebook in paper format (every 2 years(?)), and also makes a PDF version available (deep) in the MLB website. 

NCAA makes their Rulebook available in their website, and thru the association portals (plural) of their constituency. You have to be an enrolled umpire to “get” it (officially; your association or a colleague may relay it to you). 

LL does go to extensive measures to train and equip umpires calling sanctioned games for them; these resources should be available thru local and/or regional chapters. 

Now <claps hands together and kneads them pensively >… that brings us to The Fed. I rag on them so much because, despite being based upon educational precepts and governing just about every educational institution’s baseball games, they are woefully deficient in educating the participants – coaches, players, and umpires. It’s like in an age of computers, they’re still using calculators. The rules and casebooks are (famously… or insidiously, take your vernacular pick) published on paper, and distributed to the local associations. Then, it falls upon the associations as to how to distribute them, how to supplement them, and how train with or through them (and here’s where we get the infamous “local interpretations”). 

Would it kill them to maintain a central, cohesive website or archive? Would it kill them to create a training platform? Would it kill them to produce a series of videos and/or virtual demonstrations? 

That burden (shouldn’t, but does) falls on the state/local associations. The only one I’ve seen, with any reliability, or structure, or effectiveness has been put out (on YouTube) by GHSAA (Georgia). 

20 hours ago, BigBlue4u said:

Everything being equal, decent strike zone, decent knowledge of the rules, etc

I think BB4U is on to something here, @StrasburgUmp80136, and I’d like to encourage you – that at this amateur level, all things are equal, and they’re defined and unified by context. Call a strike zone that isn’t “OBR -based” or “Fed -based” or “USSSA -based” or “PG -based”, but instead one that is contextual. It is dependent on whether you have 10 year olds, 12 year olds, 15 year olds, or 18 year olds… or perhaps the 30+ year olds (amateurs). 

Sportswriters can, and indeed should, be at liberty to opine about Rules and game protocols. They have the burden of investigative proof at their disposal. I believe there’s a symbiosis between the Game of Baseball, its participants, the sportswriters & journalists, and the fans demonstrated throughout history. A great degree of the fan ← → participants connection is because writers and journalists can and do opine, and weave words, and tell tales, and endlessly bemuse what-ifs, what-coulds, and what-abouts. 

It’s the on-air announcers and commentators that are wrecking the game, or at least our engagement with it.    

Would it kill ya to have a “copy” of the OBR readily accessible in the booth, so at the very least, your broadcasters can read & reference instead of just “winging it” and running their mouths?? 

Well, @Umpiresrock74, you did a really top-notch job on @JeBa’s Platy. I just want to remind him and everyone, to avoid using Lysol, or anything with bleach in it, to “freshen” or disinfect it. Technical soaps (sport wash), OdoBan, and Febreze (weaksauce) are much less caustic. 

5 hours ago, JeBa said:

Excellent craftsmanship/sewing, materials and fit....(see new photos - compare to old protector/padding photos).

 

On 8/8/2024 at 3:40 PM, MadMax said:

Unlike its bulkier sibling, the Gold, the Platinum’s stock open-cell foam was only 3/4” (instead of the Gold’s 1”… which, super-curious, is befuddling… as they both have the MLB logo on them… which means that 3/4” is “adequate” for “MLB speeds”… so why is the Gold such a fat-fellow at 1”?? Hmmmm??), and it included closed-cell segments at the armpits and flanks. [Michael] reduces the foam thickness down to just at 1/2”. 

Instead of crude, cheap, irritating nylon, Michael employs a softer, technical mesh fabric. Much better feel, and much better performance on moisture-wicking. I strongly recommend to stop using caustic cleaning sprays (Lysol, etc.), and instead use a Febreze, OdoBan (my preferred product), or a sprayable soap. Your CP ain’t supposed to be clad in camping tent nylon; it’s supposed to be as comfy as camping underwear. 

Gone is that stoooooooopid, completely unnecessary billow pad. 

As per the other recent Platinum overhaul, see above ☝🏼. 

@Lindsay (and T-Mac) needs to be made aware… that game is in Kamloops, BC and as such, that’s an all-Canadian 3-man crew, with their own umpire “faction”. They use American NCAA rules + WestCoast League modifications, but the Canadian umpires do things slightly different – must be a “metric” thing. 

@BCBrad, you can validate, yes?

44 minutes ago, dumbdumb said:

1. was there contact with the empty glove or was i the only one seeing/or dreaming that.

13 hours ago, MadMax said:

The BR cleanly vaults him – no contact, no tag. 

What I meant in my earlier posting – devoid of seeing that fine detail of the empty glove contacting the BR (way to see that with your one good eye, DD) – was there was no contact of consequence, that often influences amateur umpires to call something. 

Not all contact is bad contact. Not all contact implies OBS or INT. Not all contact needs to be stopped, adjudicated, and “punished”. 

2 hours ago, dumbdumb said:

And maybe i forgot the rule or it changed.

Uhm… 🤔… you do indeed have contact between an empty glove and the BR’s leg. Well spotted. But the BR was adjudged Safe. He was not (legally) tagged. He was not awarded 1B on an OBS call. 
Nor was he ruled out for vaulting / hurdling over the fielder, nor was he adjudged to be Out of the Basepath (a few of those calls going around this MLB season). 

So what’s the question? 

3 hours ago, maven said:

In OBR, this is nothing—not hurdling, not OBS, not INT. Good no call.

(Maven knows this already… ) 

And yet, this same play can be performed, by the same exact players, in the same way… and viewed by the exact same umpire(s)… and if played under NFHS rules, is ruled (adjudged) as an Out. As a reminder, American Legion and USSSA (as prominent examples) are OBR. 

Same players (kids). 

And everyone wonders why our jobs are so hard. 

13 minutes ago, noumpere said:

BU can (should) call "time" in this situation and then sort it out.

<sarcasm> But, but, but! @BLWizzRanger‘s colleague has an aversion to saying “Time!”, and instead promotes proclaiming “Dead ball!” on everything! It’ll be better! </sarcasm> 

Seriously… how is that to function? 
“That’s a BALK!! Dead ball!” 
“That’s Interference! … Dead ball!” 
“That’s Obstruction! … Dead ball!” 
{hit to outfield, BR arrives at 2B, holds up hands in the universal request for… well… } “Dead ball!” 
 

Do we see how ridiculous this is? 
“Oh, but… you’d say ‘Time!’ on those… I’m just saying it on pitches!” 
So on a potential Hit by Pitch?

”Yeah! That exactly!” 
Why? Why can’t “Time!” be called on that? 
“Because we (I) don’t know if that hit him, or hit the bat!” 
Oh, since “Time” and “Foul” both result in a dead ball, you’re advocating that by calling “Dead ball!” you’re accomplishing the same thing, and saving yourself the confrontation with a coach (either one) trying to explain why it’s not a Foul or HBP? Sound right? 
“Exactly!” 
<sarcasm> Smmmmaaaaaart <sarcasm> 

BLWizz, I’ve heard this argument before. 😁

53 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

Note to self:  I really need to work on staying mobile.

As you are well aware, this isn’t directed at you, but instead is prompted by what you said, directed at everyone in a similar… position(?)… circumstance(?)… 

2 critical things: 

1. Stop perseverating on “being stopped and stationary” for everything. Instead, thru practical repetitions, begin to incorporate the muscle memory so as to know – almost unconsciously – when to move and when to stop/pause/perform-a-signal (mechanic). To be fair, this cannot be properly guided by an evaluator or instructor; instead, this has to guided by a mentor (or vested colleague) or developer, with a great degree of this being self-pushed. Don’t look at it as “get better”, look at it as “be better at… “
2. Reduce or refuse the dependence on diagrams. Sure, they can give a cursory guide as to where to start (IP), and where approximately you should/could/would go on a generic play, but the specifics are best learned by viewing, processing, reacting, and applying. Diagrams completely lack the temporal (time) component, which is crucial to success with this. 

The key to “mobility” (“staying mobile”, as you termed it) is to be anticipating most of the components of a play as it unfolds, and then reacting accordingly, as if by nature. 

1 hour ago, 834k3r said:

I can apply to my FED games

I’m going to kindly correct you: don’t limit it to “FED games”. There’s nothing about a Fed game – other than rules & their application – that dictates, directs, or demands that we physically perform any different from game type to game type. Sure, there may be minor details regarding movements, but you’ll find many more similarities than differences. 

7 hours ago, dumbdumb said:

at 9:09. what cha got.

An exhibit as to why Professionals playing (and officiating) the Game are Professionals. 

Even if we apply NCAA rules to this, the F1 had the ball in his possession when his momentum slides him into the basepath(line). The BR cleanly vaults him – no contact, no tag. 

I’m umpirically (new word!) impressed with U2 Alex MacKay at 6:31. An arcing series of read steps, with a Pro’s body already past the (oversized) base, and picks up a lunging swipe tag to clip the hand – and signal it – with the antifreeze in the blood to stride away (undoubtedly confirmed on video). I think he’s even a 3-digit! 

On 9/1/2024 at 8:45 PM, BLWizzRanger said:

I got into a philosophical discussion with my partner about saying 'dead ball.'  I don't say it, he does, and he has tried for the second time to influence me to use it. 

If this was a truly philosophical discussion, with both parties being generally equal (as opposed to a/the typical downhill directive of evaluator / trainer / instructor / chief → →  novice / trainee / student / apprentice / underling / peon), then he (being your counterpart) needs to defend and advocate for its use, since he’s in the (substantial) minority. There should be pros and cons presented, and examples of use to ruminate over. All we have here is one habit trying to “out-substantiate” or “out-muscle” another habit. 

So… why do we do “the/this/that habit” (whichever it is)? 🤔 Is it trained into us? Is it engrained or impressed into us by someone we’ve worked with or for? Or, is it picked up and transposed from other applications we’ve immersed ourselves in? 

Hold that thought. 

There’s a similar amateur phrase that pops up ever so often, that of “My Time! My Time!” There is no need for embellishment, or possessive pronouns! So why do some of our colleagues (continue to) use this malapropism? Well, they got it from basketball refereeing, where Time Outs are ascribed to either team… unless, of course, the referee ascribes it to himself; thus, “my time.” 

So, does “Dead ball!” have a similar origin story? Likely. And, it likely stems from football, wherein one of the officials, instead of (repeatedly or additionally) blowing his whistle, will tell adjacent players “Ball’s dead gentlemen!” or “Dead ball! Dead ball!” on an incomplete forward pass, or on a play ruled down, or dead. 

This borrowing of terms is frowned upon by TPTB, because TPTB want to know and trust that you (as an official) are fully immersed and engaged in the sport at hand; their sport, the one they chose to place upon / assign you to. 

On 9/2/2024 at 7:16 AM, noumpere said:

Higher-level umpires do not say it; lower-level umpires often do.

Lower-level guys are the ones working multiple sports, thus, there are increased chances of transposing terms. High-level guys don’t do this, partly by specialization and focus on one sport, partly by (substantial) repetition (over the years), partly by disciplined training. It’s that last bit that gets TPTB all jazzed up, when they get to “impress upon” the next generation / wave / class of officials. I won’t say “umpires” alone, because this occurs in just about every profession, and indeed across multiple sports officiating. Master craftsmen don’t want to entertain new, experimental, or alternate methods from their apprentices; they expect their acolytes to respect their experience, pay attention to their wisdom, and follow their practices. 
I know this well –  I’m the son of a master craftsman (and coach, and quarterback, and pitcher… ).* 

14 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Ferraris and Porsches are both great cars, each with their own pros and cons. Softball and baseball are both great games and so are the umpires who work those games.

You know, thank you for bringing up this comparison. They are both great cars. However, the more emotionally and financially invested an acolyte is to Ferrari or Porsche, the more dogmatically and vociferously they will defend their preferred marque, and will – get this – claim and smear the other marque as inferior. Not “different”, or “alternative”; inferior. Lesser. Worse. 
Softball does not want to be viewed as baseball’s younger, lesser, less prestigious, less capable sibling. The PTB at the head of Softball – both players & coaches, and officials – don’t want softball derided as “easy” (easier); they want the same regard, the same respect, the same – here it comes – investment. 

On 9/2/2024 at 10:44 PM, The Man in Blue said:

It doesn't make me a better umpire, it makes me somebody who will listen to him with all his grievances against the game.

“As long as I sit in this chair (as TPTB for WIAA Baseball), the shirt color will never be black”. – Now-retired PTB of WIAA Baseball. 
New PTB of WIAA Baseball? “Black is back on the board.” Wow. You’re just left wondering, which black-clad MLBU ran over that guy’s dog earlier in life? 

On 9/2/2024 at 6:54 PM, Jimurray said:

I was surprised to hear "dead ball" from the PU on a HBP in a past College World Series.

Huh. Just like a CWS CC & PU going to one knee on an elaborate ꓘ mechanic, like a samurai, for all the world to see, but has the gall to say that a fellow PU’s K call is “too showy”, too “look at me, I’m umpiring”. 
Gee, hypocritical much? 

On 9/1/2024 at 8:45 PM, BLWizzRanger said:

Don't holler "I have no balls" when teams are lackadaisical in bringing baseballs back to you

4 hours ago, 834k3r said:

I said this very thing at a JV game last year. No one said anything (that I could hear, anyway), but I made a mental note of how it sounded.

Worse yet, you’re one of those “announcer umpires”, who give the count after every pitch, to full detail – “2 balls, 1 strike”… pitch <thud> “2 balls, 2 strikes”… 

“Hey Blue, what count do you have?” 
“I have no balls, and two strikes!” 

“Yup, we thought so.” <snicker>

* – As such, I was a catcher, a wide receiver, and became an umpire. Spot a trend? 

15 hours ago, concertman1971 said:

wearing TW pads... he is a Nike athlete for his shins/CP..

Odd that his mask ain’t a Nike frame – Icon Ti, Icon Steel, or Teardrop. It’s a “typical” catcher’s frame, with the double-wire eyeport. Likely a FM25. 

While it’s rare to see TWs on a non-umpire frame, it’s not unheard of. Zorbium is much better than upholstery foam or gel foam. TW never offered (never even considered it) leather or vinyl, which was much more durable (and cheaper!) than t-fab. Of course, those more spartan materials were put into catcher’s masks because catchers masks end up in the dirt so much. 

13 hours ago, Sambuddy13 said:

We all know if the first baseman throws to first for the force out, the run does not count, however if the batter is tagged out, there's no force out. 

WTH? 🤨 

We’ve all heard the term “swipe tag” before, have we not? 

A batted ball is fielded by a fielder, and he makes an off-balance, off-target throw to F3 (1st baseman) at 1B. Unable to stay in contact with the base, the F3 leaps, catches the throw, and… slaps a tag on the BR prior to him reaching 1B, and he’s Out. Considered the same as if the F3 caught the ball while in contact with the base, or if he fielded the ball himself, on his knees, and then crawled over there to touch the base with his bare hand, or glove, provided he’s in possession of the ball. 

14 hours ago, MSB256 said:

We play USSSA then OBR.

11 minutes ago, grayhawk said:

Seems to me that a fall ball league, at 10U, is making a huge mistake introducing these kids to open bases.

Here’s your root culprit – USSSA. 

Now, to be fair, it could be any of the nation-spanning Tournament Series (TS) out there on the landscape, but USSSA, in particular, is known to foster a particularly … I’ll choose the word… corrosive brand of baseball. 

You can see evidence in how USSSA treats and structures its events. USSSA will choke the calendar with events. Each event will try to rope in as many teams as possible, and offer these teams a “guarantee” of X number of games in this event. Then, they stratify the teams within age levels (which, in my opinion, is one of the foulest plagues killing the great game) – A, AA, AAA, Elite, Premium, Standard, ad nauseum. The games get underway, and the entire objective is to score as many runs as possible, and to win. Of course, that’s the objective of any game – to win. However, the “how” is emphasized, and that’s the impetus for run (mercy / slaughter / et. al.) rules, and run differential, and the like. Time limits may be abhorrent to Baseball, but that’s the only way these TSs can operate and profit. 

The kids’ individual performance(s) is not the focal point – instead, it’s the collective performance of the team, wholly measured by runs → wins. Wins leads to playing on Sunday / last day, and playing on Sunday / LD → (best chance of) winning a/the trophy, or medal, or banner, or whatever little chotchkie trinket dopamine hit the TS Event dangles out there. The parents get to whoop it up, and get the dopamine hit of their own that all the “practices” and $200 bats, and trips to Dick’s Sporting Goods, and sitting in Starbuck’s drive-thru, and coordinating where grandma & grandpa need to go and which gate to go thru, and getting all the photos on Insta/Face/Tik/X – and getting them Liked! – is all “worth it!” 

Here & Now has completely eclipsed Later & Better. Few care about the developmental process any more. 

8 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Can I also add to the mix...OBR has no dead ball appeal. Did plate put it back into play before they ran their appeal?

If you watch the X video (above, supplied @Velho), a/the ball is indeed made Live prior to the Appeal being conducted. 

So let’s set the stage… at the close of the previous play, it’s now R2-R3. Sanchez is the announced (next) Batter. The Cubs elect to “show him 4”. Time is called (it may have been in the previous play; no difference), and PU indicates “4 (balls)”, inducing an IBB (a Dead-ball event). The Marlins immediately opt to substitute Pache as a PR. Sanchez drops his gear and heads towards 1B, but doesn’t complete the 90’ to 1B, instead coming back and returning to the dugout. Pache zips on out there, and assumes his position on 1B. This alerts a very shrewd Craig Counsell. 

You/we can read Counsell’s lips rather well as he’s inquiring with the PU. “I want to appeal that…” (paraphrased). The PU completes his lineup card notations recording the substitution. You can see Counsell directing the pitcher to conduct the appeal, and you can see a bench coach / staff member pantomiming the pitcher to fully come set (Runners on base) before stepping off to conduct the appeal. 

Then we cut back to a view of the battery, and the (next) Batter is in the box, the Catcher is in (his) the box, and the PU does the “Pro-ball start the clock” signal. We have to remember, in Pro (uppercase P; I think lowercase p does this too, now, due to the Action Clock) baseball, as soon as the Pitcher is engaged to the rubber with a baseball, that baseball is Live, and we (participants) simply await PU’s signal to start the clock; the Pitcher is, with that ball being (en)Live(nd), is under Balk (Ed. to add: and Step-Off Counts!) restrictions. 

But yes, the appeal was indeed a (proper) Live ball appeal. 

10 minutes ago, cwbaseball11 said:

Would a Honig's $7.99 harness work or would I still need the sticky tack/velcro?

I know this harness well (best conventional harness, as a value, on the market; waaaaaaay better than the atrocious Wilson harness). While it would work, it’ll slide even more readily than a neoprene or flex harness because it’s just coated nylon webbing. 
Not really ideal for skullcaps. 

13 minutes ago, cwbaseball11 said:

Any tips or tricks?

“Spray-tack”. 

This is used on bats, in lieu of pine tar. It’s also found in fabric/hobbyist stores (Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, Jo-Ann Fabrics, etc.) to tack fabric pieces together prior to sewing. It’s not a cement or glue, per se. 

Spray on the inside surface of the harness every few games, and you should see the harness cling to the skullcap better. 

2 hours ago, beerguy55 said:

Rule 5.05(b)(1) Comment: A batter who is entitled to first base because of a base on balls, including an award of first base to a batter by an umpire following a signal from a manager, must go to first base and touch the base before other base runners are forced to advance. This applies when bases are full and applies when a substitute runner is put into the game...

Wow. Color my interest piqued, and in the Jeopardy category of Obscure Baseball Rules, this one is in the Dub-Jep round, at $1800. 

If we go simply by what transpired in the video, and with that Rule citation, then it wasn’t kicked; instead, in the words of NCAA umpiring, it was enforced as written. 

Now this sets up a “spirit of the rule” argument. The rule’s purpose must be something entailing substitutions… which are a very big deal in MLB, more so than any other level, hands down. 

On 8/25/2024 at 11:22 PM, Velho said:

Is this why we got the question?

This situation (Cubs vs. Marlins) is a strange one, and we really need to hear/read what MLB decrees on this, because if it truly is for Sanchez, as B/BR not touching 1B on an IBB, but his substitute (Pache) does, then that goes against the provisions of the Rules regarding substitutions, especially on injuries to a Runner (or the BR) incurred on a play (such as a HR, GR2B, OBS award, OOP award, or HBP). 

It may have been an illegal substitution, and I can see the case that Counsell and the Cubs made for it. If Sanchez was going to be immediately replaced by Pache upon being issued a IBB, then the Cubs would never have intentionally walked Sanchez – they would have pitched to Pache. We need to remember, this is all happening during Dead ball – an IBB is a dead-ball event, as is a substitution. 

It cannot simply be that Sanchez didn’t touch 1B on the (I)BB, because there are numerous instances of Batters being HBP, and being so injured, they are directly removed from the field, and their substitute assumes their position at 1B. Also, and admittedly more rare, a Batter has hit either a HR OOP or a GR2B OOP, and injured himself (Achilles tendon tear, for example) during the swing or exiting the box, and the batting team has been allowed to substitute for him, and the substitute completes the obligatory base touches. 

So, this will be interesting. 

On 8/25/2024 at 7:54 PM, Amgolfer said:

After a walk, when can time be called?  MLB level.

On 8/25/2024 at 8:17 PM, SeeingEyeDog said:

The way I have been trained by the professionals and college guys in my local association for the levels of ball I work is that we do not call time following a walk until AFTER the batter/runner has touched 1B…

I’m going to tell you, hand-on-heart, that those guys aren’t following what they’re preaching to you. Granted, they may be training you tailored to the levels that you (and most of us) work, which is amateur, for the majority. 

Anything televised, or with paychecks involved? They’re calling time immediately. On Ball 4, you’ll see college batters start eschewing the 15 pieces of armor they’re wearing at the plate, while the catcher is already out of his crouch and headed towards the mound, and a (pitching/head) coach is stalking out from the dugout and about to cross the foul line, steamed at __________ (his F1, his entire team, his school, life, the PU, his choice of lunch today). The PU has already called Time. 
Or, on any professional game (lowercase p or uppercase P), as soon as that pitched ball is scuffed, it’s getting changed out. Pass ball or wild pitch, different story. But if that Ball 4 is in the catcher’s possession, and it skipped in the dirt or mud or clay, and needs to be changed out, then you better believe the pros are not waiting the BR to trot 90’ to 1B first before making that change. Watch any MLB game… it happens constantly. 

10 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

there is a black/navy combination.

$24.99? For two belts in one?? How dare you! How dare you not get a $40-$50 patent leather belt with a chrome-silver buckle, or spend $70-$100 on a Japanese gold-buckled belt. You won’t match your partner(s) on the all-too-crucial pre-game (or post-game) crew photo that the association leads will throw on the ole’ slideshow at a meeting! 

What kind of umpire do you think you are??! 

And on the navy-game / navy-guys subject… I find it strangely duplicitous that these guys who seethe contempt and disdain upon you (or any other “lesser umpire”) because you don’t have or wear a navy ballcap and navy ballbags then roll their eyes in even more contempt and derision when you “dial up the details” and upstage them by wearing a navy mask, with navy pads, and navy harness, and… a mudder’flippin’ navy belt. Kerchow! 

… 

We’re so petty.