Concernedcitizen2

http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=29611087 Sound guys mess up and play a distracting sound mid-delivery causing the home team pitcher to spike the ball into the ground, ump seems to rule it a ball. However, if it had been the visiting team pitching and the home team sound guys played a distracting noise (presumably accidentally) could the ump rule no pitch or somehow penalize the home team?

As an umpire when can you say "no" to a fielder asking you to move over a step or to adjust your positioning because of the way they are playing the hitter, are you always required to adjust in that way?

Alright, so I'm still learning, so this might be a very obvious answer, but it looks like Gary Darling is on the first base side of second base in the first two plays, but third base side on the last one. As far as I can tell, the situations are the same, left handed-hitter, only runner is on first, the first video is one out, the second two are two outs. Anyone know why he changed spots? Also blown call on the 2nd steal? http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=29380149

So nobody else thinks the ejection was unwarrented? Players throw equipment down/take out their frustrations all the time in the dugout

Is that grounds for ejection though? From what I can take from the video, he's jawing at the umpire as he's walking back (for which he definitely could be ejected) but once he's back in the dugout hitting the phone, why could the ump eject him for that? The bashing wasn't directed at the ump

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Now that you bring that up, interested as to what you guys think of having umpire's able to make announcements to the crowd via a mic like they do in Japan. So if it's a call that's not obvious (umpire interference, batter with a foot out of the box at contact etc.) they can tell the crowd. I can think of a few times I've been at the park and have no idea what the call was (people at home can usually figure it out through replays). So what would you say to a Japan style umpire with a mic (similiar to an NFL ref)?

Sorry if this has been posted before. Alrighty, I can see the balk on the 1st and 3rd play. I think it's a clear issue of stepping more towards home than first as his the pitchers' right feet look to land fairly close to the left foot in terms of the opening you can see between the feet. However, I'm not sure the balk on the second one. It starts at 2:26. Is he coming set twice? Is he not coming to a full stop and coming set?

Yeah, definitely fiddling with the mic there as Girardi gets to him

Thanks guys, that clears things up a bit, so in the following case (Greinke ejection) if the runner had taken off for second right after the point of ejection, would Greinke be eligible to participate or does the ejection also imply time is out? Looks like the first base umpire never signals for time.

I can't think of the actual examples, but I know I've seen this type of play happen and I'm wondering what the ruling would be on this type of play. So here's a made up example: 0 Outs, R3. Grounder to short, R3 tries to score, shortstop throws home, umpire says safe and the catcher starts to argue BR takes off for second, catcher is ejected while BR is halfway between 1st and 2nd, can the catcher then throw the ball to second? Or is the fact that he is ejected disqualify him from play immediately and another fielder would have to go over to home plate and get the ball?

I'm trying to remember the situation and teams where this happened and I thought this forum might be helpful. I remember a MLB 5 or 6 years ago a game in which a batter was thrown at and started to charge the mound, but before he could get there, the umpire (who was much bigger than the hitter) was essentially able to bear hug him from behind and stopped the fight before it started. Does anyone remember who/what/where/when? I think one of the teams was the Angels. And I think it was a latino player who ran at the pitcher and because he was so small, I'm also thinking a middle infielder. Does anyone remember the umpire? I've been trying to find a video of this, but have been unsuccessful...

If you've noticed, you'll see a combination of 'strike calls' in MLB ..... Yeah, I've noticed a mix of MLB calls but I'm wondering (I've never kept track) if those are mostly by older guys who might have been taught under a different system and the younger guys go with the hammer? For people that went to the professional umpire schools, were you able to get good marks for pointing instead of employing the hammer? Or is it everyone has to use the hammer and then as people move up in the ranks they get a little more leeway?

As someone who has never really umped seriously but has an interest in it, I have kind of a noob question. My classic idea of an umpire calling a strike (1 or 2 looking) is to turn to the side and point and with the point indicate how many strikes (hopefully that makes sense). But whenever I see clips from the umpiring schools, it seems they teach you to keep looking in the pitchers direction and over your head do a "hammer" to indicate a strike looking (that's not a 3rd strike). Is there a reason for this? Is the hammer technically correct, it's just a lot of umpires don't do the correct way? Or is it just that I haven't seen the clips from umpire school where they teach other ways to signal a strike? Is it that you need to do the hammer to get good marks from the school and then once you graduate you can develop your own style? Would that work for minor league umps?

I've worn turf shoes (which I imagine are similar to umpire shoes but please correct me if I'm wrong) at many baseball practices and while I felt comfortable shagging fly balls, stretching and doing basic jogging, I never felt comfortable having to sudden changes of direction with them. I get that there is a safety issue with umpires stepping on other people's feet, but isn't there just as big a safety issue with players possibly stepping on an umpire's feet? I feel like I would consider it a little ridiculous to see an umpire in cleats just because it's not common, but if that perception wasn't out there, would we still all feel the same way?

Why don't umpires (or NFL refs for that matter) wear cleats? They have to do quite a bit of running and turning/pivoting. It seems like cleats would be helpful in these situations, especially for games with a slick field. There are all black (or primarily black) cleats out there, is there a reason umps don't do it? They're worried it will tear up the grass or something?

I play in 3 rubber baseball leagues at the moment (I teach English in Japan). Most Japanese people play rubber through 9th grade, then switch to hard ball for high school/college/pros but men's leagues almost always play rubber. That said, I have never seen an umpire use anything other than a conventional mask.

I'm interested too, is there a reason these should be in PMs as opposed to available for everyone to read? Not trying to be accusatory or anything, might be a perfectly valid reason, just would like to get some feedback on the two schools if possible...

Thanks for the support guys, is there any book you recommend I start reading? I'm not sure what's considered the authority on mechanics? I try and watch umpires when watching games, but obviously it's going to take some sort of formal study and I'm not sure where to start.

I'm 24, been playing baseball my whole life, up through the NCAA level and now currently playing in a men's league (although not a high talent pool). I have always been interested in umpiring and baseball rules. I've had the idea of going to an umpiring school (probably HW, even though I know this site partnered with the Umpire School). Would it be realistic to possibly graduate into an invitation for a tryout? As I understand it, graduate in the top ~10% of your class and get invited to a tryout and then from there into the minors and so on. My gut instinct tells me no, or close to impossible. I have almost no umpire experience, just some BU work in a men's rec league (teams that weren't playing on that day have to provide umpires). I also did some of my NCAA team's intersquad scrimmages when I wasn't playing in them as the coach knew I had an interest. I played catcher through high school and legion ball so I am somewhat used to that perspective of watching pitches come in, but I of course know that is not sufficient preparation and it takes a lot more. I am in a kind of unique job situation at the moment where I could go to the school using vacation days and no negative reprecussions in the job, the job ends at the end of July 2014, so I see this as my last opportunity. That is why I wanted to go now. However, do I essentially have no shot? On the school website they talk about having no umpiring experience might be better because you don't already have bad mechanics/technique ingrained in you. But I'm thinking this is just a marketing ploy to get people to come to the school. In reality, is it only those who have high school umpiring experience who can make it to the next stage? What would I need to do now to get ready for the camp in January 2013? I have none of my own gear (except a jock strap/cup and turf shoes). The school always says they can provide some if needed, but it would be best to have my own right? Should I just read the official MLB rules or is there a guidebook to the rulebook somewhere that I should read? Is there a source that explains mechanics? Essentially, is it worth the $4,000 investment to go to the camp (currently living overseas so travel costs would be pretty high). It's always been a life long dream of mine to become a major league umpire (even when I was in middle school and most of my friends wanted to become players) I feel like I should act on it, but don't want to flush away $4,000.