kylehutson

Just saw this and knew I had to insert it into this conversation... https://babylonbee.com/news/to-increase-excitement-mlb-to-allow-each-team-to-call-in-one-tactical-air-strike-on-outfield-per-game/

Any live runner can physically assist other runners. However, a trailing runner cannot pass a preceding runner. So if the Batter-Runner (BR) pushes the runner that started on 1st (R1), that's fine. If BR clearly passes (i.e., closer to 2nd than R1 is), then BR is out (even if it's because R1 was running backwards toward 1st).

But here's the difference. How many of those "party favors" did they make in that batch? 100,000? 1,000,000? What's RefSmart's total possible market? 20k? Certainly not enough to get any real economy of scale.

There is software on them - on an EEPROM chip most likely. The dipswitches just tell the EEPROM what mode it's in. There SHOULD be an updatable firmware. I still have the skills to do this. What I lack is the time and gumption. If those two things ever coincide, there will be an open-source refsmart-like device available.

Further - if it hits me, that means the catcher missed it. I hope it bounces to the dugout and the runners all advance.

Or if you do, be sure to enunciate so the grandma in the back of the bleachers can hear. And make it "I don't have any balls!" (I've never done this, but I've been sorely tempted a couple of times with teams that I knew would know I said it on purpose.) I do have one guy I regularly work with that does exactly this. He's never gotten any pushback from it that I've seen. As for the original question. I've had the "dead ball" coached out of me by others (but also when I started, I also got so much training that I wore my hat backwards and tapped my fists together on a full count). Honestly, I now do what my evaluators ask of me. I'm just a soldier in the Charge of the Light Brigade.

Welcome aboard! I got my start pretty much the same way, except my son was 10 when he started (my small town's rec league only requires umpires to be 2 years older than the age they're umpiring, so at 10 he could umpire 8U). He gave it up by the time he graduated high school (and never worked anything beyond our rec league), but I took a liking to it and stuck with it. You've found the best online resource for umpires on the Internet. I promise that if you read here for awhile, you'll be a much better umpire for it. You'll actually get correct, rulebook answers (as opposed to the online arguing and know-nothings elsewhere). I just looked at a map, and apparently I just drove through there last month - I drove I-70 to Denver for work. Dang. I'm going to have to start using this now.

My sentiments exactly. I wear an F3 mask with the Skully - best protection money can buy from what I can tell. I took a foul ball of the top of my mask a few days ago that I'm sure would have completely rocked me without the Skully. I just grabbed a new ball from my bag and handed it to the catcher. Play on! I do think it is a little hotter than a regular cap, but as others have mentioned, that doesn't mean as much sweat dripping down your face, since it has the built-in sweatband. Oh, and the other downside is that if you are out in blistering heat, it can take a couple of days for that sweatband to dry out. If you're working plates on back-to-back days, sometimes it will still feel a little damp on the second day. I'm not going back. YMMV.

Not a book, but if you're a visual learner, Take a look at ump-app.com - very comprehensive and well researched and produced.

You're assuming that a runner would keep the team in mind over his own personal ego. Not completely unheard of in MLB, but certainly rare. And if they're that smart, and also selfless... Cool, let them do that. Are you going to tell your speedster to try to hit an IFF so you can trade an out for speedier runners? Let's face it - the IFF/INT situation is even more rare than the selfless MLB player, and this would just help avoid arguments and ejections in these cases. Obviously (or should be for this forum, anyway).

Were I in a position to make an MLB rules change (and obviously I am not), I would change this rule so that on an infield fly, any interference supersedes the infield fly. You would end up with the runner out (like they are now), a dead ball, and the B/R on first base. It takes away the argument that the defense is getting a double-play when none was otherwise possible, and it still provides incentive not to interfere (because you don't want to keep running the bases yourself. Inadvertent? Doesn't matter to the team (they still have the same number of runners on base), even though the runner might be mad.

It sill works with other shapes - I just spent this weekend working American Legion with their ginormous rounded-corner rectangular patch using the patchlatch. That area is the only area that it adheres, but unless your patches are made of paper, they'll stay flat if you store them anywhere near properly.

patchlatch.com, my friend

This spring catchers managed to get both of my plate shoes of my "dirt set" (I have plate shoes that are for turf only, and my others for dirt). I've left them gashed for a couple of months and bookmarked this discussion. I'm working post-season on a dirt field next weekend, so thought it was time to make them look good. I bought some black "Flex Seal Max" spray, taped off the mesh parts (and the tarsal plate, soles, etc. - everything I didn't want sprayed) and gave them a spray to see how it would work. Holy crap, these things are gorgeous and with a minimal amount of effort. I wish I had taken a "before" pic so you could see the difference and how horrible they looked before. I'm going to give one more coat on my left shoe (right side of the photo) as the worst of the gouges still has a small spot. Thanks, @spiffdawg7 for the tip - I never would have thought of this.

Bringing this back away from politics and onto baseball... https://www.kwch.com/2024/07/12/longtime-mlb-umpire-holcomb-native-todd-tichenor-sharing-dream-with-son/ I've worked with Kaden. My first comment to him after him introducing himself was "Considering your name and where you're from, I'm guessing you have a hell of a mentor." He's a good kid, and I wish him the best.