The Man in Blue

If we want to play the semantics game, NFHS, NCAA, and OBR all say " . . . if he runs more than three feet . . . " So . . . leaps and contortions are not running. We should be treating this like a runner's lane violation: where were the feet? As far as the runner going past the base, NCAA does specify "three feet left or right . . ." so oversliding is not OOB.

USA Softball tournament, early in my career (so I was a bit of a greenhorn redass). Pretty much the situation you describe, but first, a quick prologue. These tournaments are quality tournaments run by a joint venture of a local organization and the park district. Facility staff are all regulars and work these things all summer. As I am approaching the gate and wheeling in my gear for the day, HC BigPants is harassing the little old ladies working the gate about wanting them to let his parents in without paying or him not having his pass or some of his usual BS. I nod a sympathetic nod to them on my way in. During a morning game, while I am PU, HC BigPants presents as the HC at the plate meeting. In the middle innings, he decides he is going to start taking phone calls while coaching third base. I call time, take out my lineup card and walk down to discretely talk to him. I tell him he needs to take that off the field. He says "Yeah, yeah." I walk back and look up, and he is back on the phone. We are playing this game. "Coach, take it off the field!" "I need to deal with . . . " "I don't care coach. You can't have electronics on the field and I don't need you taking a line drive." "Do you know how much money I spend at this tournament?" "I don't care. You are going to have plenty of time to take calls if I have to remove you from the game." He relents, bitching and complaining the whole way. Fast forward to a late afternoon game with one of the several HC BigPants teams. The head coach presented to us at the plate meeting is a young female. Mid-innings with BigPants' BigBallers on defense. I have a whacker at second base, calling the BR safe as she stretched a single into a double on a lazy play by the outfield. Crowd is screaming and yelling. Here comes HCBigPants on the field. I assume he is headed to his pitcher, but he keeps coming to me. He starts very loudly with, "How can you . . . " I cut him off. "Who are you?" I don't think he even remembers our interaction earlier in the day. "I'm the head coach and . . . " I cut him off again. "No, sir. SHE is the head coach," and I point to the coach who came to the plate meeting. "I'm the one who writes the checks and I had to coach another team so she was just . . . " "And you were not at the plate meeting, so you are an assistant coach for this game. You cannot be out here." "You don't know how much money I spend at this . . . " And I launched him. The TD was already watching and had to get him off the field. I became the stuff of legends (for the next two days). The little old ladies at the gate heard about it. They brought me donuts the next morning. One of them told me, "I hate that @$$#0!3. Thank you for kicking him out, somebody should have done it a long time ago." So, no, tournaments don't make it confusing. They make it very clear. The person who comes to the plate meeting with the line up card is the head coach. We don't care what your org chart looks like.

I think y'all are approaching this wrong (and then I will circle back to @MadMax's point because, yeah, I got it and a box of donuts). The "head coach" as far as our concern is, is the person who may come out and address us. We don't give two squirts about the pecking order of the bench dads. We don't care who is listed on the Disgracebook page they are using for a "team website." We don't care who signed the registration forms. So, if you restrict the person who came to the plate meeting to the dugout, they no longer have the rights and privileges of the head coach designation. Whoever they deem Next In the King of the Hill Line now holds the rights and privileges of the head coach.

I saw that comment! 🤣 Sadly, the vast majority of our society uses "line" incorrectly.

I don't have him OOB when he goes past home plate. However, when he reestablishes a basepath and then does the Time Warp I have him 3 feet OOB at that point.

Tarps off!!!

Bruised ego? Oh, you mean the player. Why is the umpire going out to check on an injured player?

. . . and now the world experiences an albino alligator shortage.

Since we are going down the gear bag rabbit hole, I’ll be the brave one to step and say YOU PROBABLY DON’T NEED ONE. Unless you are working a location with a club house or designated umpire area that you will be using for the entire day or weekend, you don’t need one. Look at storage components that fit in your vehicle and piece together what works for you. It might be purchased storage components, stolen milk crates, or a custom built rack system … but make it make sense for you. Something that keeps your stuff organized, but can be unpacked at home.

It wasn’t the one I was looking for, but I’m going to settle for it …

Are those pants supposed to go with the white plate shoes from Japan?

Here is my beef . . . industrial safety equipment is likely changed out more often than it needs to be, however they have some idea of what that longevity is. Yes, I agree with "change the pads every year" is overkill. However, it would be nice to have an idea. Then again, I still criticize companies (even the ones I like!) for producing safety gear with no scientific testing to back it up. You have long (and rightfully) taught us about the various types of foam and qualities out there, yet we are settling for "well, it's different, it's better." You have also long criticized the "big players" for simply riding on decades old R&D with little update . . . and now companies are (seemingly) doing this R&D, but not touting it. Our gear is safety equipment. Maybe my time in an industrial field left me with higher expectations for safety equipment.

And that, son, is why we spend the money on the good stuff. I'm still curious what the shelf-life is of our various pieces of gear. That foam will not hold up eternally and will eventually start to degrade, so what is the shelf life of a set of TWs? Hell, it may be 30 years, I don't know.

Illinois has required this for a number of years. They didn't tie the law to IHSA, but to public recreational facilities. Similar to what @MadMax cited, IHSA adopted this requirement for us: 1.) All players properly and legally equipped? 2.) Location of the AED? 3.) Is there a trainer or qualified medical personnel on site? (No emergency plan question requirement, though this is encouraged to be discussed with event management before the plate meeting. The AED and trainer questions could be discussed in this pre-meeting or at the plate meeting.) Answering NO to number 1 means something needs to be rectified before we begin. Answering NO to number 2 means we play, but umpires have to file a special report after the game. Answering NO to number 3 simply means we have the authority to remove a player for suspected concussion protocols, and they may not return.

Coach: Can I appeal that? Option one: "Coach, you aren't that appealing. No." Option two: "After review, the call on the field stands. Coach has no more remaining challenges." Building on @wolfe_man and @beerguy55's comments . . . If you are the correct umpire for them to go to, make them explain WHY they want you to go to your partner. Step 1: Coach, what did you see? Step 2: What elements do you think I missed? Step 3: Why do you think I missed it? These are viable questions that can have reasonable answers. We all know it is difficult to see a pulled foot from C (particularly on softball or small fields where you work outside). Since we all know that one, there is no reason to shut a coach down on that one, but we still need to make them vocalize it. Coach could say, "I saw the tag miss the runner. Given your position, I think you were straight-lined and it looked like a missed tag when it wasn't. Could you ask for another set of eyes on that?" If there is no reason to grant the request, be clear in your answer. "Coach, I had a good angle and was right on top of it. My partner was all the way over there, so I'm keeping this one." Unless the coach is a total D, I have started leaving those conversations with "That's one I'd like to see on replay, too. I'm pretty sure I got it, but I'd like to know." This opens that door to let them know we WANT to get it and we aren't just being stubbornly argumentative. Yes, you have to be careful with that. Don't use it with a coach you don't know or one who is just looking for ways to get under your skin.