lawump

Um, they passed a rule without thinking it through. Then the umpires told it was a disaster, so they just issued opinions at the annual coach's clinic that made it clear that it applied only to missed bases and leaving too soon (when the runner was not actively trying to correct his mistake). When I write "just issued opinions" I mean verbal opinions at pre-season clinics. I really think this rule is on its last legs. There are a number of constituencies working to end it. We're getting closer.

Yes. It is in the South Carolina High School League's (SCHSL) rule book (which is called the "AD Notebook" on their website (www.schsl.org) ). It reads, simply, "Dead ball appeals will not be recognized".

Or move to South Carolina! 😳😂😳😂

Although, I have seen umpires who are so bad that coaches just stop arguing. The coaches literally give up. Those umpires are literally so bad, but think they're doing great because they have almost no arguments. They're having fun. I'm being totally serious in saying this. There was an umpire in our area of the country who was nowhere near good enough to work NCAA Division 1 baseball. But, somehow, someway, he kept getting games. In one game, he was calling strikes on pitches that were literally causing dirt clouds to form. The third base/head coach (who won a damn NCAA title in Omaha) just mumbled to U3, "I'd go argue, but what's the point. He's been horrible for ten years; ain't no amount of yelling going to change that and I don't want to get suspended." You could argue that U3 (not me) should have ejected him for calling his partner horrible. But should you really EJ when it is painfully obvious to the other umpires on the crew that the HC was not wrong??? LOL.

In a sense, I feel your pain, HumblePie. If one learned OBR through the Jaksa/Roder Manual (which I did as that was the textbook at the umpire school I attended), one would be banging their head up against the wall reading this approved ruling. J/R went to great lengths to differentiate between a pitch and throw...and took great pains to use the correct term each time...and that Manual would never used the language used in the "APPROVED RULING". (FWIW, J/R also went to great lengths to differentiate between a "catch" and merely "gloving the ball", too.) However, this is mostly semantics as the full language of the rule and MLBUM make clear how to handle a balk followed by a wild pitch.

Okay...now I'll share my actual story. I'm open to criticism. This is the only illegal substitute I've ever had in nearly 25-years of calling FED baseball. High school game I'm the plate umpire. Game is being played between region (conference) rivals; both of whom are state championship caliber programs (they've each won titles and they're contenders every year). I'm not posting that information in an attempt to impress anyone with the fact that I was umpiring such a game. Rather, it is an attempt to convey in words (which is hard to do) the atmosphere of the game. (Intense game with a large and loud crowd.) This was also a very well-played game (as one would expect) that was moving at a good pace (the game was in a "defensive flow".) Late in the game (I believe bottom of the 6th), the home team's leadoff hitter got a single. The head coach (coaching third base) started walking down the line and said, "Sully, 26 is going to courtesy run". I took out my line-up cards and started to review. FWIW, I write the courtesy runners (and charged conferences) on the back of the lineup cards. I did a quick glance and saw that 26 had not been a CR previously. So, I wrote (in shorthand), "26 CR F2, 6th". Lo and behold, two pitches later the visiting head coach comes out of the dugout and says, "Sully, can he do that?" To which I replied, "do what?" The coach said, "number 26 was used as a pinch runner back in the second inning." (Aside: the teams knew that runs would be at a premium. So, when the home team had a big, slow kid near the bottom of the batting order get on base in the second inning, they used 26 as a pinch runner.) Now, should I have remembered that 26 was used as a pinch runner in the second? Maybe. The fact is that I did not. And the reason I did not is that I was totally focused on balls & strikes and outs & safes due to the competitiveness of the game. Should I have checked the front side of lineup card to make sure that 26 had not appeared in the game previously in some other capacity other than as a CR? Maybe. But, first, I wanted to keep the flow of the game going. I just glanced at my CR notes on the back of my card and moved forward. Second, I did (and still do) expect the coaches to know that you cannot use a player who had already appeared in the game in another capacity as a CR. So there you go...there is my actual illegal substitute play. As for the resolution? The good news is that having earned the respect of most head coaches in my area over the last 20+ years (and having a good working relationship with almost all of them), the home head coach heard the visiting team's head coach's protest. When I turned around to start walking toward the home team head coach, he walked towards me and just said, "I F*#Ked up didn't I?" I said, "yes." He asked what the penalty was, and I told him, and he simply said, "I'll never make that mistake again." We've laughed about it several times since then.

The case play says "...if R1 chooses not to slide, R1 must veer away from the base if the fielder is there attempting a play." My initial thought in reading your post was that the word "veer" could mean ducking as that would be getting out of the way. However, that is not what the casebook says. It reads, "veer away from the base". I don't think ducking would be "away from the base". If anything, his head would actually be closer to the physical location of the base as a result of ducking. So the lawyer in me says that the only way one can give substance to the phrase "away from the base" is by holding that if he doesn't slide, he must avoid by physically moving away from the base. Ducking obviously doesn't move one away from the base.

Let me take these four questions in order: (1) You're not punishing the team for the umpire's screw-up. You're punishing the team for their own screw up. Teams are required to know the rules. The fact that the umpire didn't preventatively catch the team about to break a rule (even if you believe the umpire should have) does not remove the requirement that the team is not allowed to break the rules (in this case, the courtesy runner rule). (2) A player who violates the courtesy runner rule is an illegal substitute. (See Paragraph 7 of the Suggested Speed-Up Rules on Pg. 67 of the 2025 rulebook and 2-36-3 (e)). An illegal substitute, unlike batting out of order, may be discovered by either team or "by an umpire" (3-1-1). So, if the umpire catches it two pitches down the line, the CR will be called "out" and restricted to the dugout for the remainder of the game. (3) No, the plate umpire is not supposed to stay silent. See (2), supra. and 3-1-1. (4) Yes, I'd call the runner out and restrict him to dugout for the remainder of the game. I will add: In my opinion, it is not even the umpire's screw up. If the umpire can catch it and can prevent it...great. But, it is not the umpire's fault if he doesn't; umpires are not required to pro-actively prevent teams from violating rules they may not fully understand. The primary reason you make notations and records on your lineup card is not to prevent rules violations (though commendable, that's a secondary reason) it is so you have a record that you can refer to in case you are requested to adjudicate a potential rules violation. The teams are supposed to know the rules and not violate them. If a team is saved by an umpire who happens to have done a great job and caught a potential violation before it occurred...then they are lucky. But if not, they are not off the hook because an umpire didn't do the team's job for them. I will further add: With respect to your comment, "I wouldn't punish them for my mistake and I would fix it on the spot,"...then you would likely lose a protest should the other team protest. At least you would in my state.

Instead of saying who can't be the CR (there are eight players who cannot have a CR), say the two that can. (I apologize for the incorrect number when quoting you...the system did it automatically and I cannot change the "1" back to a "5".)

Not as catchy but I would replace with: "All overthrows are two bases (except by a pitcher in-contact with the rubber which is one) either from the time-of-the-pitch or the time-of-the throw." (I apologize for the incorrect number when quoting you...the system did it automatically and I cannot change the "1" back to a "10".)

Your original post misses the other half...its not just that no run can score when the third out is against the B/R before touching 1B, its that no run can score on any play where the third out is recorded and that third out is a force out (against R1, R2, or R3). (I apologize for the incorrect number when quoting you...the system did it automatically and I cannot change the "1" back to a "3".)

I added the language that many NFHS umpires fail to grasp. There were numerous arguments (mostly on Facebook) that said a runner could not be called out for a FPSR violation if he didn't actually slide (went straight into the bag standing) because the rule says a runner never has to slide. It got so heated...and there was so much misinformation..,that I actually reached out to my contacts in Indianapolis and strongly suggested that they re-insert plays in the casebook that confirm that if the runner does not slide on a FPSR, he must avoid. After I reached out them, they did a little informal research of their own (thinking that I may have been blowing the scope of the problem out of proportion). However, they were quickly very surprised at how many umpires did not understand this requirement and how this requirement to avoid had been lost to a great number of umpires over the prior decade or two. So, they re-inserted those plays in the casebook two or three years ago. See 8.4.2 SITUATION Y (pg. 86, 2025) (I apologize for the incorrect number when quoting you...the system did it automatically and I cannot change the "1" back to a "9".)

I can confirm that Rule 21 is posted on the door into or inside the locker room of every professional umpire locker room I have been in. I can also confirm, though I have been in far fewer, that Rule 21 is also posted in every clubhouse/locker room I have ventured in.

That was painful to watch on so many levels. I guess I'll add it to my video library under "how not to do things".

You're still a kid, too! LOL