BillKen

It isn't that bad...there is one bad miss, but the others he's missed are very close. http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/zoneTrack.php?month=8&day=05&year=2015&game=gid_2015_08_05_bosmlb_nyamlb_1/&prevDate=0805

What I mean by changing the game is the way this umpire freezes (we all do from time to time), but then goes against his instincts and calls the guy out with the ball on the ground. He knows that he has a safety net (less so since he is a AAA call-up guy) that is going to bail him out and the fact that he has to worry (second guess) about it at all likely causes the freak out to begin with. When Bannister comes out, its almost like he can't wait for replay to fix it for him. BTW...Any idea why did this need to go to IR? Maybe since it was going to be a CC review anyway, it is inconsequential...but I would think the crew would conference and get the ball on the ground safe call...and make the defense challenge for the out if this had happened earlier in the game. Any thoughts on that?

Prior to MLB putting replay in, this would never be called out in a million years. I've not seen an umpire freeze like this in a long time. Your browser does not support iframes.

Here's my take.

If he made contact with the ball, yes, you could get INT on the runner. I am pretty sure that throwing hands up in Fed is grounds for INT.

^^^This! Screw that "parnter". He has no business showing you up like that during the game. I get it that you might not have the "political stock" to tell him that he's being a "Richard"...but trust me...he is. Sounds like he gave you good advice, but he has no right to put on a clinic there. Good luck with that going forward.

This list isn't all inclusive...but there are a lot of familiar faces being ejected this weekend! What shall we blame it on...Rat Season, Full Moon, August Heat, or tight pennant races? Francona Harper Scioscia McClendon Gibbons Hurdle Votto Maddon

Had a collegiate summer wood bat league with the local D3 assignor as my partner. Been looking forward to working with him since I got the assignment because I was hopeful that he might see something he liked and invite me to work a few games next spring. VT scores 5 in the top of the 1st and it just goes downhill from there. Final score 18-0. I did get to showcase a few rotations and advanced skills (had a close play at the plate and another situation where a run scored on a time play that started with only 1 out)...but the majority of the night was filled with subpar pitching that didn't give me many callable pitches and an expanded zone to get some Eric Gregg-like strikes! I hate blowouts!

You got an out and dealt with a new situation so you learned something. Nothing wrong about either of those things. I'm just sad you don't have an ejection story to go along with it!

Once U3 killed it, I think they echo'd the call.

Getting hit where he did probably allowed both pads to take the force. Had he been lower, it would have been all into the forehead pad. We are all lucky when we don't get hurt on these! He has the logo blacked out on that mask...I'm betting those are Team Wendy pads.

Ties go to the umpire...and umpires reward great defense!

This goes along with what Kevin said here. You came on here to tell us your story. You didn't really ask for suggestions or attaboys....but such is the nature of this group. We are all big fans of umpires. We all care enough to interact with total strangers of all experience levels so that we end up with a product that looks somewhat similar "From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee, across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea... We want umpires to be great all over the nation. When guys offer you feedback, it is on you as to how you receive that. I think everyone was very congenial to you with their offerings for the most part, I didn't see any personal shots at you. Now just like when you go to the doctor and get a prescription, it is up to you to follow the dosage and actually swallow the pill. If you don't like the doctor's diagnosis or treatment, you can go home and try your grandma's Hot Toddy recipe (and continue to be sick but since you're drunk it seems better), or you can suck it up and take the medicine even though you don't like it. The same thing happens here. The veterans who care enough to read all of the stuff that comes into this board are doctors with a lot of experience. They've seen a few ailing umpires...and been sick themselves on plenty of occasions. You are more than welcome to disagree with them when they tell you that you made mistakes and could have prevented these ejections. I had a HS football coach tell me when I was a kid that "The minute you make an excuse, you forfeit your ability to learn." That has stuck with me for over 30 years. We all screw up. And the worst thing that a student can say is, "Yeah, but...." You are going to be faced with other situations where you might want to come to this resource for some learnin'. How eager are people going to be to help you when you are the "Yeah but" guy? This is friendly advice and you can take it or leave it, but you have a choice. You can take the medicine or not...but arguing with the doctors is not a good option.

When a hundred people all say the same thing, its a pretty safe call. @ElkOil, I didn't believe it either until I got mine, but they do match the hype. "You will forget that you have them on", is a common theme...because it is absolutely true. I've taken 3 solid shots to them and never felt pressure. Just get them!

The ONLY reason they don't call it in MLB is because they have IR to back them up. They agree that its a bs rule, but they make the choice to force the manager to challenge it. I'm sure that they will entertain a request for a CC review late in a game if the manager doesn't have a challenge, but they are not going to let that cat get out of the bag for calling it on the field. NY is making that call and thats how it is. The MiLB guys dont have that luxury...so they enforce the rule as written. If you don't like the "Dead Ball Fed Balk Rule" you still do it because that is what the book says to do. They are in the same boat. Early in my career, a guy told me, you'll really never be wrong if you enforce rules that are in the book.

Thanks...I learned something today. I thought it was all the same.

In Fed, you can be guilty of OBS and have the ball...example would be 1st baseman dropping to a knee to block access to the bag and picks off R1 who was leading off.

This whole thing is crazy. The problem is with the harness, but the picture shows a velcro strap circled...but actually they are just telling you that your lot # is under that strap. Anyway, knowing that product recalls only come after MULTIPLE reported failures...and a cost/benefit analysis on the cost to do a recall vs the potential loss in a lawsuit. I'm surprised that Diamond is doing this. Has anyone ever had a problem with a Diamond harness? Please chime in if you have.

I'm glad you are on this site if you are an umpire...because if you won't eject over this, you could use some training in my opinion. This is textbook even if it never touched the umpire. The helmet hitting him just made it easy and kept him from ejecting the manager too. Just so you understand (I don't know you or your experience level), I'm not slamming you personally for saying this. But as a guy who could potentially follow you or be paired up with you in a future game, not ejecting for this makes it harder on all of us. When we are inconsistent about this level of unsportsmanlike conduct, we send the message that things like this are subjective. Why would throwing a helmet down on the plate be remotely OK? He is clearly mad at the umpire on this and the 37,000 fans who came to watch him just got cheated...by him. There is nothing wrong with us setting a standard of decency and consistently enforcing it from T-Ball to Fenway Park.

Surely if it was a balk it would have been called!

Congrats! Did you learn anything?

Working with someone who is clearly better than you is always a chance to rise to the occasion and learn...and usually a lot of fun. If you are not striving to get better and push your limits, you are pretty much done as an umpire. I'm working with a D-3 college supervisor (who I want to work for next year) and former Atlantic League umpire next week. Our game is just a "JV" game to him, but for me, it will be one of the most important ones of my season. I can't wait!

I don't mean to demean the OP in any way. I sometimes like to answer questions with questions to get the person asking the question to think a little. It is the teacher in me! So, if a bouncing ball could be a strike, does it make sense that somewhere along the way pitchers would have worked that into their arsenal and it would be a more regular part of the game? Others have already adequately answered...but its fun to think about stuff like this sometimes! What if bouncers were legal? Would that give the defense an advantage or the offense?

Just your thumb over the end of your garden hose will work too! If you want, you can even spray a little bit of Simple Green on there and rub it with a damp cloth before you wash it with the hose. As always...give it plenty of open air and time to dry before you pack it all away!

Do you really think that every MiLB is going to put in a Ball/Strike machine and have it connected to a central operations center? I just don't see them putting in a $500,000+ system in place at Bristol for a nightly attendance of 1000 people so that they to improve the accuracy of the umpiring from 95% to 99%.