andydufresne

The batted ball hit the ground. R1 returning is a tag play. The PU treated it as an appeal play.

I stopped umpiring (even after 32 years, I didn't "retire"; I just stopped doing it because assigners killed all the allure of self-employment as a sports official) ten years ago, but I used to have a lot of fun with that question. In the 1990s/2000s there was this huge emphasis on shined shoes. Most of my partners were on board. I thought it was silly. At the plate meeting for the second game of doubleheaders, I used to do this: I'd tell the managers, "Before the first game, my partner and I were both here just like we are now. One of us had shined shoes, and one did not. Who had the shined shoes?" Nearly every coach/manager passed on the question. "Who cares?" was the most common response. Some guessed. Nobody got it right because it was a lie. We both always had our shoes shined before game one. My point was that for all the big deal they made of it, nobody really cared, or even noticed.

The bases were loaded on the walk-off hit. At the eight-second mark of the video, presumably R2 has touched 3rd. Anybody know if something unusual happened that might invite an appeal? Is there any other reason U3 would still be standing there?

Please do not use my likeness without express written permission.😉

deleted because it's the same as Jim Murray's catch and carry thread.

MLB rules contain a rebuttal presumption that with runners on base the pitcher is in the set position. The rebuttal is that the P declares he is in the windup prior to pitching to the batter. Lively did not declare, so he was in the set position. He then failed to come to a stop.

I sold the gear and called it a career after the 2015 season, so it's been awhile since my credibility has been on the line. Today I was watching a game and I heard that old refrain I always heard on every whacker where some player, manager or fan disagreed with my call: "Jeez, blue, that wasn't even close!" When I worked, every call was easy and I was either blind or incompetent. So that's the reason for my question: has the game changed at all and now there are some close plays?

I quit after 33 years in 2015. Over the years, when the ADs all went to using assigners to hire officials, and the assigners decided where, when, and even IF you worked, and dictated common game fees for all regardless of ability, it ruined a big part of the allure of officiating as a second job, which was deciding your own schedule and rates. In my latter years, I got lots of calls from TDs, assigners and ADs "desperate" for officials for tonight's games. I would say I would work and told them my fee. They would be aghast: "We don't pay that much." They'd tell me their (ridiculously low) fee and I'd say, "I don't work for that little. Good luck with your search." On a few occasions they called back and agreed to my fee, but you could tell they held grudges over it. I tell that tale because I have been one of those guys who got paid $35 more per game than the other umpires because they agreed to an insultingly low fee when I would not. I'm with the TD on this one: the umpires who agreed to $50 got paid what they agreed to work for. Why were they mad at the TD because other umpires were better negotiators?

Remember that the next time people complain about your strike zone. Not only that, but your statement is an oxymoron.

I almost always let my partner pick. If he didn't care or didn't want to pick, I'd have us each flip a coin simultaneously with the caveat, "If they match (i.e., both heads or both tails) you have first plate. If they don't, I do."

No.

I live in a larger city surrounded for thirty miles in every direction by a bunch of small towns, so the city is the host to men's rec ball covering players from 3000 square miles. One year the league changed the mercy rule from 10 after five to eight after five. Many players drove an hour or more to play and objected to sometimes getting only two at-bats--those at the bottom of the order sometimes only one. They showed their displeasure by agreeing among themselves that if the losing team was down by eight or nine runs after four at-bats, the winning team would deliberately allow them to score enough so that the mercy was not in effect at the end of five. That went on for two years before the league relented and changed it back to ten.

It was actually a well-played game, but it was the worst experience. JUCO game from back in the days of the hybrid trip rule--three free trips for the game, but only one to the same pitcher in the same inning. Last game of regular season. Game decides 4th place; winner advances to conference tournament, loser goes home. Bottom of 7th, V up by 2, one out, R1, R2. V manager put his closer in the game to start the inning, and had made his 2nd free trip earlier in the inning with R2, 0 outs to decide to walk the batter (he wanted a R/R matchup and a double play setup). H manager is entering a PH, and as I am getting the change on my card, V manager says "Hey Andy, I got one free trip left, correct?" I hardly look up as I'm writing and say "Yeah." When I'm done writing I look up and V manager is at the mound. There's nobody in the bullpen warming up. He leaves the mound, but F1 does not. I tell him he has to remove his closer. "What the $%#@ are you talking about? You just got done telling me I had a free trip left!" "You do, but you couldn't use it on him." "#$@%. I'm not taking him out." "Well, we're not resuming until you do." "$#@^*?%$#$@ I got nobody ready." "New guy can have as much time as he needs." "This is some &*%$#?><@$%&@#$*?*&^#$#@.....#$^&^%$@^$%#&%^*&(<?>++" I gave him a lot of rope because nothing had a "you" in front of it. First pitch by new pitcher splits the OFs. Throw comes to plate too late to cut down tying run, and B/R advances to third on the throw. 2nd pitch to next batter bounces away, R3 scores. H7-V6. I am surrounded, and nobody is saying, "Nice game, blue." "YOU &*%$#?><@$%&@#$*?*&^#$#$$%$&*%(&*&^(*@^%$*y)m&^^$&%^#%$@%$#&*^^&*&*&^$$@#^u&$%&^$&^?#$%@$^(%^%^$*&%#&^%$*??<*&^$%##$&^*$@^!!*&^%#*&)*??*^^$&^%#$#^%**)&#$@#$!!$@#%^$^@%^(&*(*)_???<<~~&%$#^$%@#$@&%^(*)^*%(&%)*(_()_*)(^*$#&$%^@#$%^*&(*^%$##%$^%&*^)&()*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Four ejections by me, one each by my partners. If only I had seen him going to the mound I might have stopped him to tell him the ramifications of another trip right then and the whole thing could have been avoided. That REALLY sucked. And it was my own lack of awareness that caused it.

That wasn't cheating--it was a perfectly legal tax avoidance strategy.

I taught a lot of pitchers how to come to a complete stop with runners on third using that philosophy.