Mudisfun

The biology I was interested in as a 15/16 year old kid was not the biology they were teaching in that class. We can leave it at that 🙂

Tell us how you really feel John Most districts in my area are fairly punctual, some paying via Arbiter Pay the same day as the game. The only outlier is one district which only cuts checks once a month. Do a game a couple days prior to that cut off, your paid almost immediately. Do your game the day of? You will be waiting a month. I had 1 check from water polo I had to chase down from a tournament which the school was profusely apologetic for and who cut a check the same day to rectify. I find a nicely worded email to the coach and AD normally has the intended response. Only 1 time in 10 years have I had to reach out to the school Principal and it was amazing how quickly the AD suddenly became responsive.

I was hoping no one noticed that! You outed me! And I 100% agree... I had a hard time in biology myself!

So here we are, the last week of the regular season and of course things are heating up... Both stories below are Varsity 2 man games. Working the bases and the home team brings in a new pitcher for the 6th inning. Top of the 7th inning, the VTHC is having a chat with my plate partner, about what I have no idea. I count warmup pitches for him and they throw down. As I am moving to head to A, my partner calls me over. Appears that the HTHC failed to list #2 on his lineup card when we exchanged everything at the plate meeting and the VTHC just caught it and wants to protest the use of an illegal player. OK... um, rule 1-1-2 says the coach will provide a line up card which lists all players and subs... Case book 1.1.2 Situation: Team A's HC in the 3rd inning wants to substitute a player who is not on the original lineup card. RULING: There is no penalty if a coach wants to substitute a player whose name was not listed as a substitute on the lineup card... Game ends and the VTHC, whose team lost, still wants to protest. We know him, so try again to explain the rule, but to no avail. My response to him is that this was a league game, so he should file his protest and let the league handle it. Pretty sure where this is going... Entire conversation is cordial and my partner and I depart with a chuckle as we head to the car. The other game... Ugg. First batter bottom of the 1st and F1 throws 4 really bad pitches. VTHC asks for time to check on his players health, so we both head to the mound. F1 is still recovering from an injury and is unable to proceed, so pitching change which of course takes time as the new F1 is in no way ready to throw. After 5 minutes or so, we get going. At the end of the 1st, we have a 0-4 score and have already burned 45 minutes. Third inning, score 0-6. R1 and a high fly ball roughly 2/3's of the way to the fence right on the line. I tell my partner I have the ball and get about 1/2 way up the 1st base line. F9 makes contact with the fly ball just inside (maybe an inch or two) fair territory and then proceeds to let the ball bounce off his glove as well as fall down. R1 easily scores on the play and the B/R gets to 2nd. VTHC comes out and of course wants to discuss the fair/foul call. I tell him what I have, that he saw me get at least to the 45 foot line and that I have the ball touched over fair territory. He accepts this (not happy about it) but we move on. The fans for this team however cannot move on... and so it begins. Fourth inning and the HT F1 is and has been dealing all game. He is a D1 commit and is throwing consistently in the low to mid 90's which is over powering most of the batters. Now I will admit that I punched a batter out on a high and outside pitch which in hindsight I should not have called strike 3. Batter is unhappy, fans are unhappy and now the 'call it both ways', 'your missing a good game (I know, the good game is 3 miles away from me)' and other BS starts from the losing side fan base. VTHC comes out with a foul ball (of course) and makes sure to complain as well because, we know his team is down 6 or 7 runs at this point because of this call... I tell him I heard him, we're not going to debate balls and strikes but he of course keeps it going. I then go to the 'this is your official warning for arguing balls and strikes, if you continue then you leave me no choice but to restrict you to the dugout' vernacular. He goes to the dugout and pretty much that is all I hear from him the rest of the game; but the fans... time to get more aggressive. Bottom of the inning and we have runners on, specifically where I do not recall. Ball hit to the outfield and there is a throw home to try and retire a runner. The throw is offline, which pulls F2 up the line towards 3rd. The runner having rounded 3rd at full tilt is running an arch, so is well in foul territory, so no OBS by F2. As the runner is passing F2, the ball gets there and F2 attempts to swipe tag. I am in the wedge and see clear air between F2 and the runner. Runner does a flop/collapse and tags the plate. SAFE! No tag! F2 and F1 are unhappy, the fans are PISSED at this point and now the 'YOU SUCK BLUE' is being screamed by the visiting team fans. The VTHC never even came out to discuss this call at all. Same inning and bases are loaded. Ball hit to F5 who finally recalls that there is a force at 3rd. Foot races R2 and both slide for the base. BU calls the runner safe... Of course this elicits another screamed round of insults. VTHC goes to my partner on the call. My partner without being asked by the coach got us together and he asked me what I had. Now looking down the base line, I have a great view and I tell him I have the glove hitting the bag before the runner. My partner was not in a great position since F5 started initially to move towards 1st, so he started moving to take the throw there only to have F5 reverse to 3rd. Partner reverses his call and inning is over. Fans are still losing their minds... HTHC comes over and asks about the revering of the call, and I tell him what transpired, which is OK with. Considering it is 0-8 or 0-9 at this point, all is good. It is at this point though with the visiting fans really being amped up that I tell the HTHC that we need to get a school Administrator there to restore order. The fans are abusive, they are hurling insults and are really getting aggressive. This is not acceptable at a High School game, period. Without batting an eye, he tells me absolutely, he is on it. 5 minutes later he gets with me (line up change) and tells me the AD is there and is not leaving until the game is concluded. I have no idea if just his presence or if the AD had a discussion with the group, but I never heard another word from that side of the fence. Game ended, partner and I walked to the card, changed and departed with no further issues. I have been umpiring for +/- 15 years and doing HS for almost 10. This was by far the absolute worse fan behavior I have experienced. The vitriol and venom coming from the parents of these students was absolutely horrible. Was I perfect? Of course not, but in no way was I officiating the game in a manner which would truly open the door to the insults they felt entitled to throw at me. Did I screw that one batter? Yep.... that was not strike 3 and I screwed him. Was the runner at home truly out? Not from my vantage point. Was the final score of 2-10 my doing? Nope... I have a thick skin, but if I was much newer, there is a high likelihood I would be donating my equipment today and telling these people to pound sand and to be happy that they just lost another official to cover their games. Can't wait for playoffs starting next week.

My pregame is unless F7 or F9 are threatening/running to the line, or the ball is heading to the fence with a fair/foul decision needing to be made (again, threatening the line), then the ball is with the field umpire. Plate partner has the best view of what U1 is doing in this situation and with a quick glance can determine that he needs to get base touches. We have all been there... Man, that is a great hit! Wow, it is a home run! Oh, wait, I should be doing umpire stuff and not fan stuff right now!

That's funny and nearly close to being true. No... they pre-print their cards and have all the players listed as subs. Starters are then scratched from the sub list before the plate meeting.

Had a game the other day where no kidding, there had to be 30 players in the dugout. I just asked the coach if all of his hundred players were listed. If he missed one? Oh well, add him in if needed.

Did the runner from 3rd touch home plate before the appeal was completed at 2nd? If so, then yes, the run scores. If the appeal happens before the touch of home, then no, the 3rd out was made before the run scored. Timing play.

I have done similar as well. I think the main takeaway, if we approach the umpire is to 100% stay away from any actual calls they made, unless it is a rules issue being discussed. The moment the conversation veers into judgement calls, then we just become another fan who is bitching about a call we did not like. I have had them ask what I thought of their zone in that game for instance and my reply is to ask them what they thought of their zone? Did they feel they were consistent all game? Did they think they saw each pitch well based on their set up? I tell them I am 100% not going to provide an opinion as I am a biased spectator when it comes to those issues and there is little to no value, minus something like hey: don't call a pitch that bounces and then goes thigh high through the zone a strike 🙂

When my son was playing HS ball, there was a newer umpire working his game whom I did not know. He was setting up in really bad locations as well as doing some other not too smart stuff. I took pics of him: bad head height (head level with the catchers and then 3' above the catcher), not setting up in the slot and a few other mechanics issues. As I am in the same association, I looked up who the umpire was and then emailed him/introduced myself to him. I sent him the pics, and just said look, I'm in the unit, I help train guys and I have zero input on the judgement calls you made, so please understand my input is all mechanical to help you be consistent and to be safe, especially since you are solo and are not going to get any meaningful feedback. Your head height is all over the place, don't follow F2 into the other batter box, stay in the slot and do not step into the battery without your mask on as a freshman pitcher is more than likely going to throw not noticing you are not ready ay all. He responded back with a thank you and said he was not aware he was even doing a bunch of these things. Since I stayed 100% away from ball/strike, safe out, etc... the feedback was decently received.

The 'training' issue I have more issues with once we hit an age where there is an on-deck batter is not them trying to use the wrong side... nope. It is getting on deck to recognize he/she is the pass ball with no one on, or the foul ball to the back stop ball-shagger. Go fetch!

So the way we have interpreted this in our league, our district and how it was taught at the Western Region week long when I was there in 2020 was, for Majors and below: Prior to the start of the inning, the first batter of the inning is allowed out of the dugout with their bat. They are allowed to take swings and do what we would consider normal for the first batter who is coming to the plate. All other offensive players, unless heading to a coaches box are required to be in the dugout, no bats in their hands. There is no on deck batter allowed at this level or below. Other than that first batter of the inning (or if there is a pitching change, that batter who should/will be up), no player will be out swinging a bat. When the next batter comes out of the dugout, that batter is permitted to take a couple practice hacks since they are not coming from a position where they are allowed to prepare. Intermediate and above, the on deck batter is allowed, so 'real baseball'. Hope this helps! And @Velho, thanks for the props, but I am just another LL Volunteer.

I found the problem as to why your are getting pushback...

Had this happen in a HS feeder game a few weeks back. ball 4, wild pitch heading direct to the on deck batter. I see him ready to field the ball and loudly tell him 3 times, "don't touch it, don't touch it, don't touch it!". Of course... he fields the ball. Issue here is the B/R was rounding, his coach is yelling for him to go to 2nd and the catcher most likely had a play on the B/R. I killed it, announced interference and called the B/R out on his teammates interference. Was it the right call? 50/50... will that on deck batter ever touch a live ball again? Betting no...

Had a buddy remind a base coach that if they helped, hindered or in anyway assisted their runner physically that would be interference, the 3rd out and would not hurt any players stats... This like your inning was a 20+ run disaster. Next pitch R3 led off, coach bear hugged him, we pointed and got the 3rd out... Do what @wolfe_man suggested. Use the time to work on something... it may be a sh!t show, but at least you can use the time wisely.

For HS Baseball we register for the coming season in October/November via our association website. When we get to the payment section, the site kicks to Pay Pal and processed your payment and then returns you to the site. For my HS Water Polo association, we Venmo the treasurer and he then marks us as paid.

If I think he, in a continuous motion, picked to 3rd for the purposes of the play (he's going!!!!!!), then most likely nothing, barring the start/stop reasoning @maven discusses above. People make too much out of the throwing to an unoccupied base provision and want a balk when the defense makes a thrown due to some action by the offensive team: actual steal or attempted steal which made the defensive team think there was going to be a play at the next base. The only time you are really going to the unoccupied base balk is something like R1 only and the pitcher while engaged with the rubber throws to 3rd, or even 2nd but with the R1 standing on first and not doing anything to provoke the throw.

Spoken like a true umpire. I love it!

100% agree. This should be a substitute in games which 'mean something'. Off season and you want to get F2 off the bags to start gearing up? I'm all for that.

If you rule MC, then you have to apply the penalty and eject. If you rule only interference, then you can get the out and not eject.

You are not being harsh or critical; I take no offense. I know if using this mechanic that I can get from RF to the plate without falling over myself. And to your point, a foot race between me and a 17 year old should always result in my losing... if I win, that kid needs to be running a lot more laps. Like, seriously... a LOT more laps. I chatted with my HS IC yesterday and his response is that U1 going back to the plate is not an approved mechanic for HS, at least in our area. You can argue all you want about not everyone using the same mechanics, but this is the way it happens to be here, at least for HS. We all use the same FED rules as well, but we do not allow courtesy runners for example when other states do, so not everything is always the same even when using the same manuals. He went on to say that having U1 take plays at home is an advanced mechanic taught in pro school and other higher level programs and one he uses when pre-gamed with his partners. I have no problem working with someone who would want to use this mechanic, but to just assume someone is going to be there without discussing it prior would end up poorly. As mentioned before, I work games in Orange County which is well known for its very low level of baseball and extremely poor umpiring quality, so I can completely see why none of my partners in all these years have discussed using this mechanic. I'm going to bring this up with more of my partners and see what they are also being taught as we all work across various programs, levels and with different assigners.

You do what your association dictates you do and how they have trained you to do it. I'm not defending the process, but where I work games, if U1 goes out, he/she stays out and does not come back into the play to take calls anywhere on the field. If I suddenly jumped and ran to home to take a play, the look of confusion I would get from the PU would be quite humorous. If I was being evaluated by my association that game, I would be marked down for using a non-prescribed by our unit mechanic. YMMV, but this is what it is. Many of our umpires barely can get out of their own way due to mobility. Hoping they go out, stay with the play, make a call and then get all the way back home may be hoping too much.

Something we can pre-game, but I have never used this mechanic at any level, from LL through HS Varsity. I don't disagree with it, but this is not taught in Orange County.

I agree with pretty much everything you put except the above. Our mechanic is once you go out, you stay out. The plate umpire is responsible for all plays on the bases, including back into home. The base umpire can help with interference and obstruction, but they are no longer going to officiate a play. Your association may handle this differently, so not saying it is better or worse, just not what we do in my area at any level of 2 man.

You have to understand the purpose of the FED rules. In simple terms, many of the rules are meant to simplify the umpires job by removing choices. Balk? Don't need to worry about a HBP, ball 4, ball being put into play, etc... ball is dead, nothing else happens, award a base. For many of us who do games at multiple levels, some of the rules seem to suck, but then again, in the middle of February I can call balls and strikes and stay in practice. What is an umpire somewhere in the Northern parts of the country doing? Shoveling snow most likely. When the weather is good enough to get HS games in, many of the schools have a very short amount of time remaining in the school year, so having easy to implement rules just makes it smoother. And this is not just Baseball. I officiate water polo and the HS rules are also different than the USA Water Polo and FINA rules.