Oldcrow

This can't be further from the truth. Many of the traditions of college baseball come from Professional baseball. Many of the Managers in college baseball have had some type of professional experience either as a player or bench coach. In the pros, umpires, managers, coaches and players are all on a first name basis. When these former players and coaches enter into the college ranks, these traditions follow them. I have no idea where this stuff comes from. I follow Big Ten baseball closely and no where, at no time is a head coach referred to as a manager. Not on a university website, Big Ten website or in person (ie interviews). They are and always have been "Coach" or 'Head coach"....That is true in DI thru DIII. Go to Youtube and look for various interviews with college head coaches. They are always referred to as "Coach" Again, whether it is collegiate softball or baseball, they are known as "Head coach" or ''coach".....And just as in college basketball or football, players refer to their coach as "Coach". My daughter plays DII college softball and she would never use the coach's first name. Never At the pro level, it is completely different

If you decide to advance to the college level and call the manager "coach" he may decide to rip you a new one. He is a manager, coaches work for him and it's disrespectful. If you can't remember his name then "skip" or "skipper" would be better. There's nothing requiring you to use their names but it is more professional and at the higher levels they should be using yours also. It will be noticed if you don't. I decided to speak to a college coach about this and she laughed at the thought of being upset about being called ''Coach" and wondered if they are producing way too many hyper sensitive coaches or umps these days. In college, How do administrators, players, etc, address that manager? As "Manager Joe"? As "Skipper Joe"? No, they are addressed as "Coach Smith". She? I didn't know we were talking about softball here. At the college level in baseball, first names are used by every partner I have worked with. Would most coaches get seething mad? Probably not, but that is the norm in that setting. Just like other cultural norms, customs, etc. Not sure what the difference would be...A manager is a manager... Softball or baseball. Both are collegiate

No one disagrees with that...That is umping 101...But I am referring to the video...Those are so far overboard and classless.

Wow. Does the league certify, in writing, that they have trained each "volunteer umpire" in every single rule and interpretation and properly tested their knowledge to demonstrate proficiency before ALLOWING them on the field? No offense, but what a crock of ###### that is. I would never volunteer my time for a league that tried to load all of the liability on my shoulders. All I can think of is that iconic Quote..."They don't pay me enough for this S*&t".....lol.........Volunteer??

Nothing is worse than an ump who show boats on a third strike call.....As a one time player and then manager, he would be chasing me from the field and afterwards I would lodge a complaint with that umps organization. The above video is without a doubt an extreme and I doubt some of them are schooled and registered umpires. Still, it is no excuse for simply wanting to be the show. These players and especially these batters are human beings. Being called out on a third strike is bad enough, no need to rub salt into the wound by being so demonstrative. It shows a lack of character and a lack of a true understanding of the game from the point of view of the athlete. Guess you have never been a pitcher. There's a big difference between rewarding a pitcher with a firm called third strike mechanic and showing up the batter who just went down in flames. Tim. Exactly...The pitcher wins either way. A simple, firm called third strike is ALL the pitcher needs to make him deliriously happy.....Anything more than that is showboating so the ump can be "The show" Besides that, if I were ringing up many batters and acted in some crazy, demonstrative way, I'd be wore out by the time we got the game done.... Either one of you guys been to Evans or Harrys? I have not...Like Tim, (I am paraphrasing here so forgive me Tim if I'm not close enough) I am too old and have been doing it too long to do that....I'm happy working travel and soon high school again after from daughter is done with college ball.

Nothing is worse than an ump who show boats on a third strike call.....As a one time player and then manager, he would be chasing me from the field and afterwards I would lodge a complaint with that umps organization. The above video is without a doubt an extreme and I doubt some of them are schooled and registered umpires. Still, it is no excuse for simply wanting to be the show. These players and especially these batters are human beings. Being called out on a third strike is bad enough, no need to rub salt into the wound by being so demonstrative. It shows a lack of character and a lack of a true understanding of the game from the point of view of the athlete. Guess you have never been a pitcher. There's a big difference between rewarding a pitcher with a firm called third strike mechanic and showing up the batter who just went down in flames. Tim. Exactly...The pitcher wins either way. A simple, firm called third strike is ALL the pitcher needs to make him deliriously happy.....Anything more than that is showboating so the ump can be "The show" Besides that, if I were ringing up many batters and acted in some crazy, demonstrative way, I'd be wore out by the time we got the game done....

If you decide to advance to the college level and call the manager "coach" he may decide to rip you a new one. He is a manager, coaches work for him and it's disrespectful. If you can't remember his name then "skip" or "skipper" would be better. There's nothing requiring you to use their names but it is more professional and at the higher levels they should be using yours also. It will be noticed if you don't. I decided to speak to a college coach about this and she laughed at the thought of being upset about being called ''Coach" and wondered if they are producing way too many hyper sensitive coaches or umps these days. In college, How do administrators, players, etc, address that manager? As "Manager Joe"? As "Skipper Joe"? No, they are addressed as "Coach Smith".

I never talk to the player...I don't want to take them out of their game when it was clearly unintentional....But I will talk to the coach during the game when I get the opportunity to tell him or her they really need to work with that player in not throwing the bat. It's amazing how many times a coach had no idea the player was doing it....Or at least, so they claim.

It amazes me that there are numerous companies that offer the service of shaving and rolling...Not sure how they live with their conscience. If I knew a kid was seriously injured due to one of my shaved bats, I'd want to hang myself.

We decided not start travel ball with our daughter until she was 12U.....We thought that anytime before that was meaningless because she is learning very basic skills when she is 8, 9, etc.....And she has done rather well, winning a state championship in High school and she is entering her senior year playing DII college softball.

I read a long time ago that there were devices being developed that would test either the trampoline effect or the acoustic signature of all bats and that some day Umps would be required to use one or the other prior to all games....My first thought was, ''Great, More time and expense wasted checking equipment".

I would think so, But there is no way to know a bat is shaved by a physical inspection. If you begin removing equipment you suspect has been altered with absolutely no proof, you are asking for problems. Whan all players are using only one bat and it sounds " Funny" Its mine. Agreed...But for me, I have a hard time with the acoustic signature of a shaved composite bat. I know guys that use them in slow pitch and I cannot tell the difference

Yep. Seperate all of the players and ask them about the superbat. Exactly...If it was altered, the truth will come out. The fact that all of them were using the same bat makes me believe it was altered. That is, if they were truly all using the same bat. Some teams may have four versions of the same bat

I would think so, But there is no way to know a bat is shaved by a physical inspection. If you begin removing equipment you suspect has been altered with absolutely no proof, you are asking for problems.

My first year of doing High school ball...Ground out and the batter/runner is out by two or three steps...I give the simple fist and the batter/runner complains after crossing first. He says, "Make a call!"......I call time and warn him and his coach that another outburst and he is done. Well, right or wrong, I couldn't help myself when on his next AB the exact same thing arises and he's out by a long way on a grounder....This time I decided to show him up and yell "OUT" and use the classic right arm throw....Not a word was said to me. I wanted him to learn that doing the latter was simply showing him up and he doesn't wan that. After the game the coach talked to me and thanked me for doing it. Said no one likes the kid, not even his teammates.

There will certainly be some knuckleheads who will claim the ump should have done something, but what can he do? Nothing. Not a thing. I actually hope the parents win the suit if it is proven the bat was altered. This madness has to end before someone gets killed

Shaving bats to get an edge for 12 year olds....I think it's sick

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-prep-rally/houston-parents-file-1-million-lawsuit-against-little-093113342.html

Nothing is worse than an ump who show boats on a third strike call.....As a one time player and then manager, he would be chasing me from the field and afterwards I would lodge a complaint with that umps organization. The above video is without a doubt an extreme and I doubt some of them are schooled and registered umpires. Still, it is no excuse for simply wanting to be the show. These players and especially these batters are human beings. Being called out on a third strike is bad enough, no need to rub salt into the wound by being so demonstrative. It shows a lack of character and a lack of a true understanding of the game from the point of view of the athlete.

Every time someone trots out that quote, I always come back with this one, which sums up how I feel about the subject: "One of the really wrong theories about officiating is that a good official is one you never notice. The umpire who made that statement was probably a real poor official who tried to get his paycheck and hide behind his partners and stay out of trouble all his life. Control of the ballgame is the difference between umpires that show up for the players and the managers." - National League Umpire Bruce Froemming Coming from the loudest, biggest mouth in the history of officiating......Shocking....You can dance that quote out every single time and it is just a ridiculous generalization Sure there are exceptions. Ron Luciano was hardly unnoticeable and yet, one of the very best to ever step on the field. But in general, when you as the umpire become the "Show" as we see in the above video, you take away from the game. I would much rather be unseen and generally unheard. I take pride in the fact in that 15 years of umping I have only tossed a few coaches and I attribute some of that to being unseen and unheard except for making good calls

Agree....Another one of those circumstances I would want to see unfold. It sounds like interference, but then again, I almost hate to reward the Defense when they misplayed the catch

I agreed to do a LL tourney and the league president told me I needed to have a rule book with me......I just laughed and said Umpires do not carry rule books.

If we need to fix a field we fix a field - don't care who it is that helps. Gets done a lot quicker that way sometimes. You are just asking for the game to turn into a travesty if you allow coaches to just come on to the field with a rake to fix a field because it is quicker....In the OP he said the coach did it without being asked or given permission. In this case no way should a coach become the ground crew. If you allow this, what happens when the opposing coach enters the field with a rake? You allowed one to fix the field and now you will not allow the other? No way do I ever allow a coach to get this done. Nonsense. It depends on context. At higher levels, of course there is someone who is the right person to do the job. In LL and other lower levels, you get whoever can do the job on the field and get it done. (The permission to delay the game to do it is a completely different issue than who does the fixing.) Yes it does depend on context. The OP states this is a tournament, that's all the context I need for this discussion. Exactly....I have never seen a tournament at any level where a coach of team playing actually came out with a rake to fix the field, especially under the circumstances listed in the OP....If the Tournament doesn't have the people ready to do it, then I'd find other places to work...

Thanks. I was just curious if anyone had actually seen it happen. Also, on the pitch vs. throw to retire a runner question. I think the only way something ends up as a throw to retire the runner without disengaging also ends up being a balk 99% of the time. I mean we have all seen a runner break from third and a pitcher stops after starting, or in some way alters his normal delivery. And if he is pitching from the wind up there is no way to legally disengage and try and make a play once his motion has started. Yeah, it's a huge gray area that Jaksa-Roder discuss...They claim all that is needed is the runner to be advancing and attempting to acquire the next base....Truly a judgment call if there ever was one.

OBR rules say a Pitcher can remain in contact with the pitching plate and throw to an unoccupied base to retire an advancing runner.....That being the case, I am still unsure how we can say that a throw to home plate in this case is a pitch and not an attempt to throw out the advancing runner. HeadhunterLA, I have had two bang bang plays on steal of home attempts in my 15 years.... While I have not seen this exact circumstance, it sure would be possible....For me, In both cases the runner was out and I did call the pitch....But I'm just unsure what to tell a manger who would argue that the throw was an the attempt to put out the runner rather than a. pitch in this circumstance