The Man in Blue

I had the opportunity to work a HS game at Busch Stadium yesterday. 3-umpire crew. It amazed me how big the field felt and how small the stadium looked from the field. I started the game on third, but we swapped after 4 innings, and I went over to first. First play was a BANGER . . . they showed it up on the scoreboard . . . It was my day. Home team up to bat, down 1. R1. Batter hits it to left field and the left fielder misplays it. We are off to the races. PU rotates up, and I rotate to home expecting this to die at third base. It always dies at third base. There is a reason this is the Holy Grail. It never happens. Roundin' third and headed for home . . . no idea what color his eyes were . . . but here he comes. Ball firing in, head first slide . . . and I get the BIG SAFE call on the play at the plate for the winning run. And yes, I did it. The plate was already dirty, so why not. I think I should retire now.

Is that more an aspect of the CP, the harness, or of properly dialing your gear in? I give the Cobalt top marks in that regard. Mine never moves. I'm really wanting to try the Enduro, but I can't justify the want. (Although I worked with a guy this weekend who should have better gear -- yeah, Champro bro. He said he is going to finally buy some new gear after the HS season. I debated using that as my "I'll buy it and try it, and you can buy the other one off of me" move. That was how I tried and moved a Force3 that I didn't end up liking.)

I was going to let this get some more conversation before I hit submit, but I couldn't stand the suspense. I warned you. And jumping to 8-4-1d

It is semantics, so this is a lesson to communicate and be clear with things like this. Like I said, if all you tell me is you are killing the DH, I am taking the DH out, not the RF. The guy listed in the DH slot is the 10th player, not the defensive player. (Yes, the defensive player is listed 10th on the line up, but this is administrative.) You can't kill the defensive player. If you tell me you are killing the DH and he is staying in for the RF, then I am taking the RF out and placing your DH in that spot. Kind of like when a coach tells me he wants to put in a pinch runner for his pitcher or catcher. I don't assume it is a courtesy runner. I may clarify, "A pinch runner?" but I don't assume it is a courtesy runner and I don't explain the difference. Yes, I have had it happen more than once.

Wait. If all he said was he's "killing the DH" then Jones (DH) came out, not Evans (F9). Jones became the illegal sub when he came out on defense. If he said, "I am killing the DH, Jones is going in for Evans," then Evans would be the illegal sub.

I'm placing my wager on F3 being too far away. There was not obstruction and there was not a (pitcher) balk. The announcers were talking about a 3rd disengagement, but I'm pretty sure a catcher's snap throw does not count as a disengagement. *Pretty*Sure

I haven't submitted it yet. It's a weekly quiz our state sends out. I'm running a streak of perfect 5/5 weeks and am struggling with whether I give in and select the BS answer they want, or how it should actually be called. And by "actually" I mean "I say so." 😋 I suspect they want "A" because it states he "accidentally" hit the ball. (Sorry, golf swinging the bat near the ball is not "accidentally" hitting it. Golf swinging the bat near the ball is what is preventing the catcher from grabbing the ball, not hitting it.)

I have a hunch that I am going to highly disagree with the answer they are looking for here … Since the interference has to be intentional, I imagine the ruling they want is to leave the runner at second base (first option). I disagree with the notion that “golf swinging near the ball” is accidental and NOT intentional. What say you?

BRD Childress’s work was genius bordering on

Oh, come on, man! I deal with that $#!+ on a daily basis in my freshmen English classes. Enough already! 🤪

This guy always has an angle, because he is that guy. It is all about a power play with him. In this case, the angle is 90-degrees, fence to fence where the pole is. 😉 This has been a fascinating conversation. I am not tracking, but the answers from credible sources I have posed this to this week have been pretty much 50-50.

Careful, we have already seen how words matter here. It doesn’t matter if the catcher made normal effort or did … well … this. The standard is that it could have been caught with normal effort. The factor we don’t know is whether wind changed that standard.

Are reporters (media) not spectators? You can throw over them. I’m starting to come down on the “I’ll allow it” side, though I have no strong opinion either way. A fielder is not in DBT until they touch something in DBT. Air space isn’t the boundary. Well, maybe I have one strong opinion: the rulebook language doesn’t support it. Simple fixes. Language matters.

Weird duplicate after a reply . . . erasing the repeat.

Fun question … it was not @grayhawk who used that terminology first, but based on his reply … If a runner had been called out and you were correcting it … what bases are you putting them back at?

I read that as sending runners back who did advance (as in this play).

Building off that, it is an appeal play, not a wait-for-it play. Don't be Aaron Burr.

To me, this is the only question I have. If it was wind-induced, I have no IFF, all live action stands. If it was not wind-induced, I have the batter out on IFF (outcome does not matter for him, and sadly, neither does the catcher's particularly bad read and poor performance). I have the runners staying put, as it is not a dead ball, and runners advance at their own peril.

Why would you return the runners?

No. Challenges are supposed to fix the blatantly obvious misses. This system is far more broken than the umpires it is supposedly enhancing. GIGO = garbage in, garbage out. If the ABS cannot call an appropriate strike, how the hell is is supposed to fix anything? (Hint: it isn't, it is breaking things. That RoboManfred, such the hip, cool, young tech disruptor, that one!)

Fair point . . . . . . and the first car wreck I was involved in was a lady who ran a stop sign "but almost made it." That was her legal defense for clipping me. Guess who was wrong (and not "almost right")?

I'm leaning on @jimurrayalterego and I'm leaning on you not disagree, but to challenge you and your thinking. I believe you can work your way to either result. I also went to the logic you and @beerguy55 present for a moment, but then I came back to . . . A batted ball and a thrown ball are different, with different defined statuses. Yes, we know a batted ball can be caught over dead ball territory and can even go over DBT and blow back (I had a ball wrap around a light pole and come back for a catch). However, a thrown ball is different. A thrown ball is much more controlled and intentional, so a player is expected to exert that control and intentionality. Penalties and rules on thrown balls carry the standard "thrown into dead ball territory". I am finding nothing on allowing any different outcome based on the throw's exit of DBT. Like I said, I believe you can present a case for either side. Personally, I am coming down on the "no go" side, as batted and thrown balls are treated differently, and a designated media area and DBT are different things.

Blue is the fence line. Green is the proposed "allowed" throw over dead ball territory. Case play 1.2.8 Situation B does allow a thrown ball over a designated media area. While all designated media areas are dead ball territory, not all dead ball territory is a designated media area.

I will start with "I don't like doing this" . . . however there is a rural school that I cannot get to until just before game time. I don't like doing this, but the school and the assignor both know this and still keep asking to have me back. The game there today was moved due to rain, but still a location that I am pressed to get to. I pull into the parking lot, my partner acknowledges me, and goes to get the plate meeting going. I do a Wonder Woman change and run up to the field. My partner and the "visiting" coach (visiting team on their home field) are going toe to toe already. This coach is that coach. For a few moments, I thought we were going to get the "plate meeting ejection" marker on our Bingo card. For a hot second, I wanted to pull that ripcord, but I figured I just got there, it would be a really bad look. What they were going round and round on was the coach wanted the offset bullpens to be live, but allow a fielder in the corner to throw over the fences and through dead ball territory to make a play. The opposing coach was just standing there rolling his eyes. They looked at me. I said, "Well, the easy answer is to just go pole to pole and make the bullpens dead." The argument when on for a few more moments with both of them leaving at talking to the area clinician. Looking at the NFHS rule for a dead ball . . . "a pitch or other thrown ball . . . goes into a stand or other dead ball area or player's bench (even if it rebounds to the field) . . . " So, yeah, throwing into dead ball territory is a dead ball. There is no exception based on what happens after that (e.g., if it exits unimpeded). Just wanted to see if anybody has a different take. Coach tried a few other shady things during the game, but it wouldn't be one of his games if he didn't.

I may be jumping ahead of @Lindsay . . . but here you go. Another strike ABS would have called a ball. (OK, yeah, the umpire called it a ball, too. But ABS is supposed to fix that!) https://www.closecallsports.com/2026/04/mlb-ejection-010-carlos-torres-1-matt.html