SteveJ

With no outs, R1 on first and R2 on second, B3 has a 1-1 count. On the next pitch, both runners attempt to steal. B3 swings and misses the pitch, but his swing continues around and hits F2. F2 has caught the pitch and is in the act of throwing toward second base when the swing hits him. Your ruling is?

Only in the 90's down here in Tucson but even with the colder weather we still play all year

From our local league's rule book SECTION PB 0.27 JEWELRY No jewelry of any type is to be worn by a player while on the field during the game. DEFINITION: Any ornament for personal adornment, including but not limited to necklaces, earrings, bracelets, including those made of base metals, glass, plastic, rubber, cloth, leather or the like. Medical alert medallions are permitted but MUST be taped to the body and worn under the uniform. Religious medals are permitted, but MUST be taped to the body and worn under the uniform. NOTE: The rosary is not classified as a religious medallion. PENALTY: FIRST OFFENSE –warning is issued to the team in violation. SECOND OFFENSE (Same game) – bench restriction for the player(s) in violation. THIRD OFFENSE (Same game) –ejection for the player(s) in violation and the team manager, plus the league will assess the team a fine in the amount of $100.00. If a player refuses to remove the jewelry when instructed, the umpires have the authority to eject the player from the game. If a bench restriction occurs in the first game of a doubleheader, the player will be eligible to participate in the second game. Sweat bands are permitted, and shall be worn on the wrist.

My longest game, not counting rain delays, was the second game of a D2 double-header. We went 7 innings in 3:47. It was an ugly high scoring game. The first game was a little better, 9-innings in around 3:15.

I can't speak for the rest of the guys on U-E, but I really appreciate you taking the time to convince me that I have been negligent in enforcing this rule. I am always looking to improve. I just hope that all of the years that I have not been strictly enforcing this rule has not had a negative impact on the thousands of games that I have worked. I would like some clarification if you don't mind. Let's say that bases are loaded when a ball is hit foul. Would I require all the base runners to be standing on their respective bases at the same time before putting the ball back in play or are they allowed to retouch the base then lead off before I put the ball back in play?

Doesn't have to be all the details but something to the effect "Coach Smith was ejected from the game between the Homers and the Out-of-Towners for profanity toward an official, he will be suspended one game" I like the idea I think his picture should be posted. RATBASTARDS! Sorry- WELL not really! Front and side view Arizona pink pajamas. Here in Arizona Sheriff Joe is the man! Pink undergarments, living in tents in the desert, no frills...... Sheriff Joe for president!!

Kind of what he said.....but he's happy to work at any level the league decides. He said that he likes to work on the bigger fields and likes working games with the older kids because the quality of baseball is better. He said that he learned a lot from what happened in our game and feels that he is better prepared to deal with bad situations. I hate to see him held back. He works very hard to learn umpiring, both on the field and the rules. I gave him a copy of the 2014 NFHS test and he only missed 3 questions and that was because of the way the questions were worded. I guess I will "mull it over", speak with some of the evaluators, and to the assignor to see how they feel. Don't let a third world unfortunate war story hold him back... Many 18 year olds with the same amount of experience as him would have done the same thing he did... Hell, a rookie 40 year old might do the same. As far as the NFHS test goes, that's very impressive, but make sure he knows that there are differences between OBR and NFHS and that it's important to know what he's working on any given day. I'm assuming your league uses the Federation if you gave him that test, so make sure he knows to switch to OBR if he works an OBR league or tournament. We make sure that all of our umpires know the rules prior to working a particular league game.At various times of the year we have leagues playing that use NFHS, NCAA, OBR, and modified OBR rules so we have rules clinics before each league begins play for all officials/coaches. The new guys are usually on the field with a more experienced partner, at least for the first few games.

Kind of what he said.....but he's happy to work at any level the league decides. He said that he likes to work on the bigger fields and likes working games with the older kids because the quality of baseball is better. He said that he learned a lot from what happened in our game and feels that he is better prepared to deal with bad situations. I hate to see him held back. He works very hard to learn umpiring, both on the field and the rules. I gave him a copy of the 2014 NFHS test and he only missed 3 questions and that was because of the way the questions were worded. I guess I will "mull it over", speak with some of the evaluators, and to the assignor to see how they feel.

Well said!

I agree. My recent experiences working youth baseball is forcing me to become the less tolerant umpire from days long passed. Back when I first started umpiring you never had the problems we have today. Recently our league expanded to include 10U, 11U, etc so I have started working the little guys again when evaluating our new umpires (that's where they start). I have been surprised...no make that shocked, by the behavior of the players, coaches, and parents. It seems that the younger the players the worse the coaches and parents act. Our league is evaluating whether or not to continue having lower age youth baseball. This year they have increased fines and punishment that can be levied against teams/individuals. We will have to see how that works out. So far we have lost 3 teams that "don't like the new rules"......better that they are no longer in the league.

Except with the coach being a cop, I wonder how much would have actually happened. This happened in our area a couple years ago, a cop coach attacked a good umpire I know. Guess what happened to him? (hint: any guesses other than "nothing at all" are wrong). http://workplace.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/06/17/adult-brawl-ends-youth-ballgame.html Wow! Unbelievable!

"You will only regret the ejection you missed"-.mstaylor Very true!

A foul ball to the mask ended AAA umpire Angel Compos season last year. Regardless of the mask you can still get seriously injured. I worked a college scrimmage with Angel a few weeks ago and he says that he is coming back this season. I wish him luck in his quest to become full-time in MLB.

I'm not sure that asking for a clarification on a ruling is an objectable offense...depending on attitude of course. I am approachable...now. Back when I first began umpiring we were taught differently and acted differently. Today's umpires are kinder and gentler. I remember years ago going to a NCAA clinic and being introduced to the "new" K & G umpire ways for the first time. I still have the umpire's manual (stored away some place) they gave us outlining the new approachable/be willing to change your call umpire. Talking about teaching an old dog new tricks!

I appreciate everyone's input. This young umpire has been working his way up from 10U, 11U, & 12U ball. Our league goes no lower than 10U. This was his first 13U game, but it has not been his last. He worked two 13U games today under the supervision (protection) of senior umpires. No issues! Is it a mistake to allow him to work 13U ball? Maybe, maybe not. On that day it was a mistake because he obviously wasn't prepared for the way the coach approached him but today it was different. After considering what you guys wrote, he will not be allowed to work 13U games (or higher) for the remainder of the year (2014). He will not be allowed to work higher levels of ball (above 12U) until I feel that he is mature enough to handle the older players/coaches, even though he demonstrates excellent mechanics and rule knowledge. He turns 16 in a couple of days so I'm sure that he won't have to long too wait. I spoke with him in length regarding everything...he is a squared away kid who still has the burning desire to be a baseball umpire. This entire incident has bothered me for 2-weeks. I have been debating with myself the choices I made that day, hind-sight is always 20/20, that's the main reason I posted the story here.... I wanted to hear other opinions. Whether I like those opinions or not I appreciate/respect them. In my defense, as soon as the coach got upset and came out of the dugout I did stop him and as the post indicates all the anger was then directed my way, which was what I was expecting. I admit that I have been kicking myself for ever letting the coach stay in the game after he came out of the dugout to yell at my partner. We are asked to "try to keep the coach in the game" and I guess that I was trying too hard to accomplish that but the coach crossed lines that I would never have allowed before -- I will never allow again. When I pulled the players off the field I considered calling the game at that point. But, I didn't want to punish the players and continue to escalate the problem. The threat of a forfeit caused the coach, an off duty police officer, to assist with the removal of the parent. However, I will not be so nice in the future. After talking with league officials I realize that when they said "try to keep the coach in the game" they never meant for it to go this far. They agree that I should have tossed the coach, the parent and like you guys have said, forfeited the game. As a result of this incident our league now places the responsibility of fan behavior on the manager/coach and now includes monetary fines as well as game suspensions and like in this case a possible lifetime ban from the league.

Is this the state of youth baseball in your area? The event I am about to describe has never happened before in a game I was officiating. I haven’t been working the younger age groups for very long so maybe things like this happens more often than I know. 2 weekends ago I was working a 13U game with a 15-year old umpire. This kid is very good for the amount of experience he has, heck he's very good for an umpire with years more experience. He will become one of our league’s best umpires if he stays with it. His only problem is that he is still struggling with standing up to aggressive coaches. My partner had made a couple of close, but correct, calls against the same team so the coaching staff and parents were a little edgy. As part of my partner’s training I wanted to see how my partner would handle the situation(s) Some additional background information: A couple of plays prior to the events I am about to describe: Runner on 2nd. Line drive hits F1 in the shoulder and the kid almost goes down. KBL umpires are told that player safety comes first so I was concerned and focused my attention on the pitcher. My partner watched the play on the B-R at 1st. After “time†was called the offensive coach appealed to me that his runner was obstructed while trying to go home and had to remain at 3rd as a result. I know that it was my call. If there was OBS at 3rd I missed it. I tried to explain it to the coach. Now here’s where the excitement starts: The next B-R was a “banger†at 1st. Again my partner was in position, set, and made a great call but it went against the team that all of the calls were going against. The coach got very upset, came out of the dugout and hollered at my partner. My partner looked like “a deer in the headlights†so I called “timeâ€, took my mask off, walked toward the dugout, ordered the coach back into the dugout and issued a warning to the coach (I know, I should have tossed him). Then a male parent yelled out, “You’d better give me a warning tooâ€. I first looked at the parent so that I knew who he was, and then I turned to the coach and issued a warning for him to control his parents. Then the parent went “crazyâ€. He started calling me a “mf’erâ€, an a-hole, and a few other choice things. I told the coach that the parent was now ejected and had to leave the area. Then the parent took his drink that was in a plastic container and tried to throw it on me, all the while continuing to curse at me. At this point the coach hadn’t made any attempt to get rid of the parent. So I addressed the parent and told him that he needed to leave the area. He said that he wasn’t leaving and that he would be waiting in the parking lot for me after the game, he repeated that threat several times. At this point I ordered the players off the field, called my partner in, and told the coaches that the game would be a forfeit if the crazy parent didn’t leave. Finally the offending coach, who is a cop, got the parent to leave. I asked the coach why he hadn’t acted like cop sooner and stopped his parent from acting the way he did. His answer was “he didn’t commit an overt act against meâ€. I said “What? He threw his drink contents at me, cursed me, and threatened me multi-times. What did he have to do start beating the s**t out of me before you would have done anything?†Then I reminded him that he had been yelling at a 15 year old kid who was trying to learn umpiring just like his kids were trying to learn how to play baseball. I told him that my partner had gotten all the calls correct and that the only possible missed call of the game was mine, not my partners.†He told me that he was sorry and I told him not to tell me, go tell my partner. He didn't. I resumed the game after speaking with the coach. Follow-up: The league has banned the parent and the coach. They were going to ban the entire team but I requested that the kids not be punished for the stupidity of the parents. The team has decided not to sign-up with the league again and is now playing club ball….. Unfortunately I have learned that this is the second incident like this in the past year in our area (different team). Youth baseball has certainly changed a lot since I played Little League more than 50 years ago!

I agree! A major problem with some youth programs is that the coaches (and parents) think they know the rules when they haven't a clue.... The league I work for spends a lot of time and money instructing umpires, managers/coaches, players and parents on the rules. In fact today we conducted rules training for the 13U PONY league that begins playing here next Saturday. We covered the main PONY and local league rules (no time to cover the entire OBR book) and then they scrimmaged for a few hours (until the rain came).

I understood the situation. From the OP I assumed that Eastside Coach went to the umpire and asked for an explanation. He wasn't challenging/arguing a judgement call. IMHO he was just asking for clarification on a rule. Nothing in his post indicated that he was angry at the umpire or disrespectful. Like all of you I would love for a 12U coach to be as knowledgeable, regarding the rules, as most of the guys here on U-E. But, that's rarely going to happen. So I have learned that when dealing with lower age bracket coaches I might have to take on the roll of mentor at times. As long as they approach me in a calm and respectful manor I will explain things (non-judgement calls) to them. Would I expect a college or even a high school varsity coach to question me on plays like the OP? No I would not. But they to might want an explanation regarding a play. But I expect a different level of rules knowledge from them so they might upset me easier. We all know that mastering the rules of baseball is not easy as just reading them. So I keep that in mind when dealing with lower age bracket coaches. I want to help them learn, not just be looking to punish them right away. So like I said earlier, if I am approached in a calm and respectful manor I am happy to educate the the managers/coaches in a positive manor. I am not trying to convince any one here that my way of handling things is the best way. I am just merely sharing how I handle things, as part of my U-E experience.

Last night I took my "late-in-life" son to his first Little League umpire clinic. So, I just happen to have a 2014 LL Baseball rule book sitting here on my desk. The rule is 7.13, page 88 & 89. LL takes up an entire page on the subject of leaving early. Under no examples is the runner that left early OUT. In fact, in some examples he/she is allowed to go to the next base (when forced to do so). Sometimes the runner leaving early is removed from the bases with no run scoring and no out called. Example 15: Bases full, any runner leaves too soon, batter reaches first safety on any ball bunted or hit within the infield, all runners advance one base except runner advancing from third. Runner advancing from third is removed, no run is scored and no out charged. If on the play, a putout at any base results in an open base, runner who occupied third base returns to third base. Example 16: Bases full, any runner leaves too soon, batter received a base on balls or is hit bay a pitch, each runner will advance one base and a run will score.

I'm a new guy on this board. I find this site to be informative and educational but some of you guys tend to be a little rough on some of the "Guest" who venture on here seeking your wisdom and guidance. Eastside Coach simply wanted to know if a call was correct. Eastside Coach used words like "very young" and "fooling us", that seemed to offend some here. My guess is that he wasn't trying to slight the umpire only to supply information to set-up his OP. Richvee did an excellent job of answering the coach's question. Some of you ventured into areas that to some might seem a little condescending with your responses. There's no question that the coach needs to learn the rules. But honestly, how many 12U coaches have you guys met that are "experts" on the rules? In fact I'll bet that there aren't very many "young" umpires working 12U ball that are experts on the rules. It is obvious that some of yours definition of a "young" umpire may be different than Eastside Coach's. While the guys working MiLB are "young" umpires (most of you are young umpires, age wise, to me) my guess is that the umpire that Eastside Coach was talking about was just a little younger than most MiLB umpires. I'm not looking to start anything with any of you guys. I just wanted to offer this thought: I believe that we all have an excellent opportunity to educate both young umpires (young = less experienced than ourselves) and non-umpires with U-E. We should use it in a way that advances baseball rules knowledge, not look for ways to address-down those who venture on here wishing to learn.

Hello everyone My name is Steve. I am retired and living in Tucson, AZ where I umpire a lot of baseball and play a lot of Texas Holdem. I am new to U-E but I have been umpiring baseball for a long time at levels from 10U up to college. At the ripe old age of 62 I am winding down my umpiring career and revving up my poker career. I currently only work for the Kino Baseball League. I am also an instructor/evaluator for the league. The KBL is strictly for the competitive and serious players and teams. KBL is not a recreational league! Our leagues are for skilled players who wish to compete against other highly skilled players and teams in Southern Arizona. KBL offers various structured competitive age divisions and seasonal leagues to meet the needs of youth baseball in Southern Arizona ranging from open divisions for club team to specific divisions for area high schools programs. NOTE: I got that from their web site I work: Pony (13U); Babe Ruth (13U-14U-15U); Cal Ripken; Connie Mack (18U); American Legion; KBL High School Leagues: frosh, JV, & Var; and the Sun Belt Collegiate League (part of KBL). I also youth ball from 10U – 13U that are not affiliated with any of the organizations above. And starting this season I have volunteered to work a few games for the Rincon Little League. I almost forgot, I also work many of the intra-squad scrimmages at the U of Arizona. I’m looking forward to sharing adventures with you guys (and gals) on U-E. Hope you all have a great season!

Really? I'd like to see that paragraph, can you publish it? I think that I would memorize it....

MY PRE-GAME CONFERENCE CHECKLIST Fair / Foul: Discuss plate umpire responsibilities and base umpire responsibilities with bases empty and runners on base. Line Drive and Fly Ball Coverage: Discuss plate umpire responsibilities and base umpire responsibilities with bases empty and runners on base. When in doubt, go out! Rotation on Batted Balls Through the Infield: The plate umpire should advise the base umpire(s) when he/she will rotate to third and whether a verbal signal will be given. Signals and Verbal Commands: Discuss your methods of communication. Discuss the signals you will use for rotation situation, infield fly situation, repeat count and outs, request for meeting between innings, ball in the dirt, etc. Balks: See a balk, call a balk. Checked Swings: Give me what you’ve got Balls in the Dirt, Swinging Third Strike: Discuss whether the base umpire(s) will be assisting the plate umpire in determining whether a swinging third strike was caught cleanly by the catcher. Discuss signals to be used. Foul Balls Off the Batter: Discuss whether the base umpire(s) will be assisting the plate umpire in determining whether a foul ball struck the batter while in the batter’s box. Foul Tip Third Strikes, Catch or No Catch: Discuss whether the base umpire(s) will be assisting the plate umpire in determining whether a foul tip third strike was caught cleanly by the catcher. Double Tag-Ups: Discuss plate umpire and base umpire responsibilities when more than one runner is tagging up on a fly ball. Infield Fly: Discuss when the infield fly situation is in effect and the proper procedure for calling an infield fly. Swipe Tags and Pulled Foot Plays: Discuss whether the plate umpire will assist in determining whether there was a swipe tag or pulled first on a play at first base. Discuss how the request for assistance will be made. Interference at First, 45-Foot Running Lane: Discuss who will make the call of interference at first before and beyond the 45-foot running lane. Interference at Second and Force Play Slide Rule: Discuss who will have primary coverage of the slide at second on a force play. Collision at Home, Interference and Obstruction: Discuss who will have primary coverage of interference and obstruction on plays at the plate. Overthrows, Dead Balls, and Base Awards: Discuss who will have primary coverage of the ball on overthrows at first base and third base. Appeals: Discuss how you will communicate to each other that you are taking responsibility for ruling on a defensive appeal. Arguments and Ejections: Discuss how you each expect the other(s) to act if you are involved in an argument or if there is an ejection.