Nafxos

Sounds like it came from the Making Sh*t Up Umpiring School, which a few of my partners have also attended.

I took a foul ball directly to my right forearm last night. I honestly thought it might be broken for a couple of minutes. Now I have a nice circle of lace marks - it looks like a giant squid got a tentacle on me. It's swollen pretty bad but the really nasty bruising / discoloration hasn't set in yet. I'm sure it will be gorgeous in a few days.

He didn't agree with me. That was the problem. As soon as I realized what he had ruled I told him I thought he was wrong. But I wasn't going to make an obvious scene in front of the coaches and players, so the call stood.

I agree that it was a gross misapplication of the rule, but I'm not sure what I could have done to "fix" it. That was the third out, the teams were changing places, and the HC whose player was wrongly called out wasn't complaining. I told my partner between innings that I thought the call was wrong and that the rule required actual assistance by the base coach. But I can't exactly come storming in from C and overrule him.

JV game last week, but under OBR not FED (we don't use FED rules in Massachusetts). I'm BU. Batter hits one over F8's head on a field with no fence and scores easily on an apparent inside-the-park HR. I'm heading back to A when I hear my partner call the batter out. I'm assuming that he must have missed 3rd or home and been called out on appeal. Between innings, PU tells me he called him out because he high-fived the 3rd base coach (a teammate, not an adult coach, although it shouldn't really matter) as he rounded third, and "that's an automatic out". My jaw almost hit the field. We needed outs, but I can't imagine making that call in a million years. Scariest of all, the OHC accepted the ruling. Is there any ruleset where high-fiving a coach on your way by would be an automatic out? I hardly consider that "assisting" the runner in any way.

I got my 2015 MLB rule book in the mail this week, and that was the first thing I noticed. Haven't really gone through it yet, but at first glance I like it. Instead of chapters called "the batter", "the pitcher", and "the runner", we now have "playing the game" and "improper play, illegal action, and misconduct".

We had been in contact by phone. At 3:10 he said he was "almost there", so I decided to wait.

​He was on the dish. Arrived at 3:25 for a 3:30 game. And I had to lend him a ball bag, indicator, and plate brush. Should have known right then that it would be a long afternoon.

Had a 7-inning JV game yesterday that took 2 hours and 50 minutes. Final score was 16-11. Pitching was brutal. Fielding was worse. One runner called out on appeal for missing home plate. An absolute train wreck all around. B7, visitors up by 5 and bring in a new pitcher to start the inning. I'm BU and watch the new F1 hit the backstop with half of his warmup pitches. I'm thinking we're going to have a 6-run rally for the home team with 10 walks. Instead, first pitch single. Second pitch is a ball from the full windup. Third pitch R1 realizes pitcher is in the windup and takes off, batter hits line drive to F4 for a DP. Fourth pitch, pop out to F3. Game over. Strange days indeed... And don't get me started about my late-arriving, not having the right equipment, and not rotating to 3rd several times partner.

My first time ever working on a 90-foot diamond was a preseason varsity scrimmage that I really wasn't ready for in terms of the speed of the game. I had studied all of the mechanics manuals but to that point I had only ever worked solo behind the plate on a 60-foot diamond, and I really didn't know what I was doing out on the bases. I'm in C, ground ball to F6, and I end up positioning myself directly in the line of his throw to F3. I didn't get hit, but I did have to hit the deck hard and fast. Haven't made that mistake again.

Got to see umpire interference live for the first time yesterday. JV game. R2 and R3. I'm PU. Partner is in C. Batter lines one towards LF that clips my partner in the heel. We killed it immediately, put BR on 1st and sent R3 and R2 back. Offensive HC was annoyed that he lost a run (or possibly two), but he accepted our explanation and ruling pretty quickly.

​If you don't call time while sweeping the plate, I'd answer yes to both those questions. The ball is live, runners can advance, and runners can be thrown out. Why would the ball be dead if you haven't called time?

​The most common situation would be immediately following a passed ball or wild pitch with a tag attempt at home, which leaves the plate completely buried and the former R2 now on 3rd. F1 has the ball at the plate and is walking back to the mound. I generally try not to call time unnecessarily, but in this case I don't think it wastes any time (once I've determined that R3 isn't going anywhere and F1 isn't doing anything other than heading back to the mound).

Serious question about calling time to sweep home plate - should we call time if there is a runner on 3rd? I'd like to think R3 won't decide to come barreling home if he sees me bent over with my ass to the pitcher, but you never know.

That changes things completely. Yes, that's Type B obstruction on F5. But no, I'm not giving R2 home. I'm going to award him whatever base I feel he would have reached without the obstruction, which is 3rd.

​Then you say "IFF if fair". I'm fine with giving PU first crack at popups to F3 and F5 near the line. But why should I just point and not say anything as BU on a clear IFF to F4 or F6? I'm not trying to pick a fight. I've just heard this more than a few times from veterans, and it doesn't make any sense to me. See it, call it. What am I missing?

​I hear that from some veteran partners and I've never understood it. What's the advantage to that mechanic? If the BU has an IFF, why can't he call it? Especially on pop ups to F4 and F6, where he has a much better look at whether the fielder can catch it with ordinary effort.

My advice is don't listen to coaches who don't know the rules. Or the difference between interference and obstruction. I'm having a hard time imagining how I'd have obstruction on F5 here. But even if I did, I'm putting R2 on 3rd, which is exactly where he ended up anyway. What did the coach want, his runner awarded home?

I guess I'd need to know what exactly the "slide or avoid" rule says, but it sounds like R3 didn't slide and didn't avoid. If we're using the NCAA force play slide rule I'm grabbing 2 outs here.

Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy to allow stealing for 10U instructional ball? Maybe it's a regional thing (I'm in the Northeast), but when I try to imagine 10-year-olds leading, stealing, and balking, all I see is a 2-hour train wreck. What size field are these 10Us playing on? 50/70?

I don't have a rule reference or interpretation handy, but if I saw that on the field right now I would say "foul". I would not rule it a bunt attempt with two strikes.

​I addressed it with the HC between innings (it was actually a know-it-all assistant who was moaning). One inning later, I got an apology. They must have used a phone to look up the rule online. The HC actually said "You could have won a few free beers with that one", as if it was some sort of obscure ruling. Unbelievable.

I has a daddy coach (13U Babe Ruth) last night ask why a pop fly to 1B with no outs and R1 only wasn't an infield fly. I told him there's no infield fly with a runner on first only, and he spent the next inning muttering to his fellow coaches and players that the umpire doesn't even know the infield fly rule.

How much leeway should I give the on-deck batter in terms of where he stands while a new pitcher is warming up? I don't want to come off like a redass, especially in pre-shaving age games, but I hate seeing kids standing just outside the dirt circle trying to "time" the new pitcher. Or when the first batter of the inning crosses over to the opposite side of the plate from his dugout to get a better look. Should I nip this in the bud right away and tell players to stay near their own on-deck circle? And does your answer vary depending on the ages of the players?

That's exactly what I think happened. I blocked this date back in January, accepted the new assigner in March, and the existing block wasn't added to his calendar. All fixed now, but a bit of a PITA.