The Man in Blue

@SeeingEyeDog, I love you, but I'm with @MadMax on this . . . did you fall into a portal or drive to the game in a DeLorean? This has been going on for years. It used to be far more prevalent in softball, but then baseball dads on buckets realized their kids were not functioning properly unless the DOBs and assistant DOBs found a way to interject themselves into the game EVERY PITCH. It's not about you, Bucket! It's about the kids!

Jim, get away from the fence. Yes, we all know she has a lovely sun dress on.

I think we are agreeing . . . I am saying that the ball is 10 feet into the outfield grass, I shouldn't care if it is F6 who backed up and drops it, or if it is F7 who came in and drops it, the call should be the same as the play is the same. I'm not advocating for one call over the other (you guys got that), I am saying there should be no difference based on the fielder.

@Velho found one of those kickers that has always bothered me. We shouldn't be defining the action by the assigned position of the fielder, but by the physical location of the fielder. Alas, the book does not do it that way.

Congrats on Year 1, @orangebird! I can't say it will be true, but expect your game assignments to double next year. In areas that are not forced to use brand new umpires, there seems to be a stigma in Year 1. Year 2 magically becomes a different story, even when they know nothing about your previosu season. On the ball off the batter as PU, absolutely that. Give the PU a beat to make the call, then kill it if you have it. One of my pet peeves is a BU who says, "Well, yeah, I saw it . . . " This is not a call we should ever get together on to have that conversation, and we especially should not have to turn around and call a foul ball at that point. You are spot on with practicing mechanics. There are very few avenues for it.

I get what you are saying, @834k3r … my issue lies on the printed page more than the execution.

I thought it was to help prevent draining the batteries on all of their equipment.

I can only think of two bat issues I have ever encountered. One was a tournament in Mississippi, and we held the game up for 20 minutes while a coach protested a bat with the TD. TD said do not stop the clock, and it bit the coach in the ass. A couple of weekends ago, I came close to grounds for an EJ at a weekend tournament. Kid crushed a foul ball, then asked for time. He walked back to the dugout, smacking the very colorful bat on the ground. I don't know exactly what he did, but somebody asked if it broke, and he said yes. He grabbed another bat and finished the at-bat. The next time he came up, he came up with . . . yep. Before he even stepped in, I asked, "Is that the broken one?" He chuckled and said, "Yes, can't I use it?" He didn't put up a fuss and told me "I was just trying to finish it off." I told him he'd have to do that in a batting cage, he couldn't do it here. Preventative officiating.

I'm going to roll my eyes and say MLB can do what they want. When it comes to the level most of us work, If Fed says a wristband play card holder on the belt is not correctly worn, then neither are batting gloves in the back pocket. Edit: I admit I am a hypocrite. I'll allow the tag to swipe the gloves, I'm not awarding an HBP though.

@MadMax, my outrage goes beyond that, although I wasn't as vocal in my post. Somewhere along the way, that was LAZILY changed from batting glove to "sliding glove." Have you ever heard "sliding glove" used? Have you ever heard NFHS use it? No. This was an editorial change made by somebody who didn't like what had been previously handed down, and slipped it by. A "sliding glove" was never meant to fit completely in a back pocket, but a batting glove could. But then, why would we be bothered to actually FIX a rule? To add insult to that injury, it disregards EVERY example in the sentence before it specifically called out as "worn correctly and normally."

We can do that, but it will require a wholesale redefining of a fair/foul ball with absolutely NO reference or change to the actual rules.

I like many of your ideas, but I wanted to pull that one out. I have long wondered about assigning this way. Put out the available games with a deadline and let umpires bid. I'm not talking financial bidding (i.e., lowest bidder), but a "seniority" or "priority" system. This would require an association or assignor with a very organized ratings (and thus feedback, training, and defined expectations!) system.

Dropping this here just to tack on to the general sentiment of no respect for the umpires . . . Showed up for a DH on Saturday. As I pulled up 45 minutes before game time, I noticed my partner was one of only 3 cars in the parking lot. Yep, the game had been canceled earlier that week and nobody had bothered to call the assignor or the umpires. Check is supposed to be in the mail, we'll see if it is for 1 game or 2. E-mails have been going out at a furious pace this week, needing games filled, needing replacements, this game got moved and needs new umps because the other ones won't travel, Johnny GameHorder booked three games to ensure the best paycheck and needs to pawn off the other two . . . The worst one was sent out at 11:30am. A school added a JV game that morning and needed two umpires for 4:30pm. 5 hours notice and they expect two umpires to fall out of a tree like frozen iguanas.

And unless it says “Pocket Stuffing Glove” on the package, I am holding firm to it is NOT being worn properly and I refuse to reward that. Yes, YOU set that precedent, NFHS. When did that case play get changed to say “sliding glove”? It used to say “batting glove” and I’m 99% certain NFHS drove home the point of “don’t let a batter keep a sliding mitt in his pocket.” For a while it was one of those self-inflicted contradictions.

I tried to go to YouTube to find the video since I won’t click social media links. Several had click-bait asphalt titles reveling in the tragedy, so I refuse to click those, too.