Velho

It is not currently an out. Maybe it used to be in OBR? (though 2011 OBR (oldest I have handy) reads the same as today with no distinction between batter-runner overrunning 1B on a hit vs a walk).

Appears NFHS was an out until 2018 (which lends credence to it previously being an OBR out since I doubt they made that up of their own accord). See below a U-E thread on it.

3 hours ago, Justafan said:

is a runner hit by a batted fair ball (absent through/by a fielder and IFF exception) always interference?

Yes.

Dead ball. Runner is out. Batter is awarded first and other runners return unless forced to advance.

5 hours ago, MadMax said:

Eric Gregg -throwback game. 

With that zone, that'd only be what? A 45 minute game?

You know why, right? Because they are OBSstINaTe.

attempt at directly playable video

Always a good one to test one's rule knowledge

https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/TUFYT2RfWGw0TUFRPT1fRHdSWVhWY05VRlFBQVZ0UkJ3QUhCMUpTQUFCVFVBTUFWd0FCQ0ZaWEF3QlNWQU5X.mp4

51 minutes ago, BLWizzRanger said:

Mark Madden is.... well, Mark Madden. Love him (minority) or hate him (majority) he always has a thought provoking opinion. His wrestling schick that he uses often, does get old quickly though.

Not being local to PA, I didn't know he was still around. Haven't thought of him in nearly 25 years.

I'd speculate that, because he's ignorant, he'd argue there are [correction: AREN'T] enough qualified umps and the game play downside of 4 to 3 is minimal.

We also need to remember to ask with all things: "what are they getting out of this?".

Mark Madden is a former pro-wrestling guy so knows how to get heat. And if making it personal is needed, well that's fine with him since "personal issues draw money" (RIP Jerry Jarrett)

On 7/31/2026 at 3:33 PM, umpintosh said:

I'm pretty sure your supposed to be using a harness that has a grippy back (ex; delta flex, ump-life, pretty much any neoprene ones)

That is what I use for that helmet. It took a little adjustment but has been fine - until yesterday when it once strangely fell off as I looked down. I'm going to play with it and see if I can recreate it. If so, I'm contemplating strategically adding a small piece of rubber to the back of the harness.

His measured performance equals 💰💰💰

Crash Davis:
You know what the difference between hitting .250 and .300 is? It's 25 hits. 25 hits in 500 at-bats is fifty points, okay? There's six months in a season, that's about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week, just one; A gork, a groundball—you get a groundball with eyes—you get a dying quail...just one more dying quail a week, and you're in Yankee Stadium.

12 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

we have our second WPBL ejection tonight (first player ejection)!  

Very little in the video that I saw. Didn't see the thumb nor anyone getting animated (your Cardinals had some interesting stuff that Lindsay will definitely be covering though)

Serendipity thank you: turns out I know the PU - and wasn't aware she was calling these games! 

1 hour ago, eddieq said:

I'm still young (mid fifty's) so I'm sure I'll eventually need the replacement.

Maybe but keep doing what you're doing. Getting stronger / maintaining strength goes a long way towards delaying a replacement as long as possible.

If it's meniscus, from my very limited experience, try the strengthening rehab but, the youth mutant healing fades so they don't heal themselves anymore. I had a buckle tear that got scoped a year ago. Been a big difference in pain and no longer fear it locking up randomly (which was inhibiting stretching and strengthening).

Compare and contrast 

4 hours ago, eddieq said:

The coach tried the "but it's the Special Olympics" with me on the out of the box call.  I told him, "Right, Special Olympics.  No special treatment though."

emphasis mine...

"No special" [i.e. different] treatment, including coaches to umpires 🤣

I'm sure they were great and better than 99.99999999% of all other games but still, trying to work the umpire with a version of "how can you call that there", it just made me laugh.

42 minutes ago, jimurrayalterego said:

Revisiting the thread due to this. Maybe time is automatic?

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EDizB5S45/

Thanks. I had wondered why U3 called time.

Video below for folks.

1 hour ago, eddieq said:

Worked the Special Olympics softball championship for my state.

I had the luck of doing that 2 years ago (though it was 10 or 11 games in one day, was definitely feeling that). So much fun.

6 hours ago, dumbdumb said:

so? zone is from middle of plate and not the front as to where it starts like MLB?

As @Jimurray said, MLB is middle for them late for ABS. Front of the plate is used for umpire gradings and middle of the plate for ABS

25 minutes ago, jimurrayalterego said:

CCS has some posts showing a strike overturned to ball on ABS where the ump doesn't get a missed call because the pitch was a strike at the front of the plate.

Yep. Not uncommon. Just had one this week.

41 minutes ago, BLWizzRanger said:

Margin of error in the system? MOE half inch plus the inch on the black gives you 1.5 inches, which is half of a balls width, relatively.

Plausible line of thought (good job  ) and bless you for bring up MOE.

If that is what they're doing, they're doing a horrible PR job (and noteworthy they're shading to more balls than strikes).

3 hours ago, JSam21 said:

On 8/25/2026 at 6:15 AM, Jimurray said:

I think the wording I saw was if any part of the ball passes through the strike zone. 

Right... and making the plate measurement 19" is how they get there with Trackman, since it plots only the center of the ball. 

Not challenging the understanding nor saying you decided it

... but how does that makes sense? The ball is 2 7/8" - 2 15/16". Why would 1" accommodate for the full width of the ball?

Though it's unclear what manager said, would like to see U1 (U2 for @The Man in Blue  ) display more calm.

13 minutes ago, Kevin_K said:

I'm not quite sue if this is real or a shot at the NJ overlords.

Feels tongue in cheek to me (especially given the last paragraph).

For clarity: That was all the ROTD. I didn't add anything.

Interesting one from @Little Ott in todays ROTD

First play of the game so, no one on. B1 hits a two hopper to F6 who throws to F3. As U1 you:

A - Come out from behind the plate by moving to your left, then jog directly behind B1, straddling the first base foul line until you get to the 45' marker.

B - Come out from behind the plate by moving to your left, then jog a few feet to the inside of the foul line until you get to the 45' marker.
C - Come out from behind the plate by moving to your left, then jog a few feet to the outside of the foul line until you get to the 45' marker.

Answer A in 49 states
Answer B or C in New Jersey

With no one on, U1 trails the batter-runner on a potential force play at first-base for four reasons:

1 - To check for runners lane interference outside of the 45' running lane.
2 - To take charge of overthrows at first-base making sure he knows if the errant throw goes out of bounds.
3 - To help out, when asked by your partner, on swipe tag calls.
4 - To help out on pulled foot plays by the first-baseman or any play where U2 has been forced into foul territory by pressure from F4.

The problem with straddling the base line is that U1 has a different, but still as lousy a view of swipe tag plays as does U2 because the glove and the runner are in a straight line pointing away from him.

The New Jersey high school umpire over-lords have changed their mechanics telling U1 to come out from behind the plate and to move into fair or foul territory to get a better look at F3's foot and swipe tag plays.

They say also that, if U1 thinks the throw will cause a pulled foot, then he should go to the infield side of the foul line. If however, he believes there will be an overthrow or a swipe tag, then he should go to the foul side of the foul line. How they believe I will be able to make such a prediction while chugging after a 17 year old is a mystery. However, Frank Brocato offered this:

A few new things being taught:

While the aim is to GET to the 45' line, you should sacrifice the distance in order to be set at the point of impact (when F3 is about to receive the ball). This way your eyes are not bouncing and throwing off your depth perception.

The new way of thinking when judging an errant throw is to watch the fielder. The way he moves will tell you whether or not the throw is true. Once F6 fields the ball our eyes should go directly to the fielder and react to his actions.

I have been going to the infield side for a while now, and while I don't want to say that New Jersey has anything over New York, (Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen not withstanding), this mechanic gives a better look at blown plays at first. What is lost however, is runner's lane interference. Since I get lines from home to first every hundred games or so, and because I have made exactly one runner's lane interference call in the last 9 years, I'm taking the trade-off. (To be honest, I didn't make the call. My partner, Adam Cuniglio, alertly let me know what had happened so we could get the call right. I was so used to working without lines that I missed it entirely.) Look for me in the infield. That's where I'll be in the future.

On 4/17/2026 at 2:41 PM, BigBlue4u said:

I don't agree with this at all.  Here's why:  By signaling immediately you are, 1) Indicating to everyone that you saw what happened and 2) you have ruled on it. Don't make this type of play any more difficult by wondering what may happen.  

On 4/17/2026 at 3:53 PM, The Man in Blue said:

Building off that, it is an appeal play, not a wait-for-it play.