mac266

I assume you took the wings off and that's why the velcro is exposed? I leave the wings on...so no velcro is touching me.

I knew what you were going to say just by reading the title if that tells you anything... ...which is why I refuse to work kiddie ball anymore.

Perfectly legal.

When I work high school baseball, the association does not want me to spot the pitches. When I work junior college, the association (a different association) says it's good game management. Do whatever your assignor wants.

^^^ What he said. 99% of coaches forget to read the part of the rule that comes after saying he cannot throw to an unoccupied base. It says "EXCEPT for the purposes of making a play" on the runner. So if the runner is trying to advance, the pitcher can throw to the base in front of him, which is unoccupied.

I assume you were joking and didn't actually call the girl out???

Dunno, but I don't use them. We read left to right, top down. So my indicator, which only has three dials, reads top down -- ball, strike, out--because that's how we give the count and I don't want to have to read the numbers backwards.

If anyone hits my kid, I guarantee you there will be a disturbance.

Situation: JuCo game, the home team is going to mercy rule the visitors but we haven't quite made it there yet. NCAA rule book. We're working two-man. With a runner on first, I'm in position B. The batter hit a screaming ground ball up the first base foul line. From where I was it looked like it was probably on the foul side of the line. As it passed 1st base, it did not change direction, bounce, or give any other indication that it had touched the bag. The PU ruled it foul. The 1st base coach (home team, leading by a billion runs), who was already circling his arm to tell the batter-runner to go for another bag, almost came unglued. As he started to protest, it was obvious he was going to point it fair while saying something to my partner. He believed it had touched the bag. My partner told him, "Don't you dare point. That was foul." A few more words are exchanged and we got the game going again. Between innings, I run over to the fence to get a drink of water; I have a water bottle with a carabiner on it to hook it onto the fence. Some home team players were on the other side of the fence, and asked me, "Hey, blue, did you think it touched the base?" I replied, "Not from where I was." After the game, my partner and I are having a drink and he asked me, "Did you tell those guys you thought the ball was fair?" Me: "What? No." Partner: "The coach said you thought it was fair." We talk a little more, and apparently between innings this guy had tried to throw me under the bus, claiming I had said it was a fair ball. You have to understand a little about me: Integrity is everything. If you have no integrity, you're dead to me, and I can't think of any way that you could ever regain my trust after betraying me. This guy, who was an assistant coach, by the way, is on my SH*# list forever. Not only did he blatantly lie, he lied about me personally to try to argue a point with my partner (did he think we wouldn't talk about this and uncover his lie???). I don't respect him as a man, let alone as a coach. You may see that as harsh, but that's how important integrity is to me (if he's willing to lie about another person in a baseball game, what else is he willing to lie about???). So here is my question: How do I deal with this? Please don't remind me to make every call as I see them, unbiased toward him. I know that; I'm the one with integrity, remember? What I'm asking about is whether or not I should say something to him. Out in the real world, off the diamond, I would be approaching him man-to-man and dealing with this issue. But I'm guessing that would not be the preferred approach in baseball. Just make a mental note that he's a lying douchebag and make sure my partners are aware of it?

You say that...but I just worked a JuCo game where a dude hit a home run and missed 2nd base. I would have called an out on a subsequent appeal, except the defense alerted him to his mistake and he corrected it. Holy Moses....

It's already in the NFHS rule book. My only hangup is that I'm the only one in my association who owns a pitch timer, so I'm not going to be the only one enforcing it. I do, of course, enforce it in JuCo games.

I bought a pitch timer for working junior college games (which uses the NCAA rules). So I thought about using it in high school games but I would be the only person in my entire part of the state doing it. I don't think it would be right because everyone would be thrown off terribly because they're not used to it. So, no, not right now.

This is not a new rule in any rule book. MLB has discussed implementing this in the future, but it is NOT in the rulebook. Secondly, you need to know that there are many different rulebooks in baseball. What MLB does is not necessarily what your league does. Definitions change, interpretations change even more, etc. Most common rulebooks: Official Baseball Rules (OBR), NCAA, Little League, and National Federation of High Schools (NFHS). Sometimes the differences between the rulebooks are subtle, other times they are HUUUUUUGE. Example: In NFHS, a balk is an immediate dead ball, and the pitch is not counted. So if you call a balk while the pitcher is in his delivery, he delivers the pitch, and the pitch anyway, and the batter hits a homerun, the play is killed and the homerun doesn't count. The ball was dead prior to the hit. In NCAA or OBR, a balk is a delayed dead ball, so the homerun would count.

Oh my goodness...

A foul is a dead ball, so runners must return. Others have pointed out the exception: If the runner gets all the way to the next base and legally touches the next base BEFORE the pitcher starts his motion, he gets to keep that base because it's the last legally touched base before "time of pitch" (i.e. beginning the pitching motion). It is exceptionally rare for a pitcher to let a runner go 90 feet without moving, but I have seen it happen one time when I still worked kiddie ball. I haven't seen it in high school or above, though.

In my area, we do JV/Varsity double headers. The only problem is, baseball is not known to be a "Colorado thing," and the amount of support for the game shows it. Very, very few high schools have lights on their baseball diamonds, so we always schedule the varsity game first. Depending on how long it takes, we almost always cut the JV games short due to the sun going down and no lights.

Your reading comprehension is terrible...

I'm not asking for any affirmation, nor a rule citation. I have it down pat. I know the call was right. I didn't ask a question whatsoever, just telling a story. At the high school level, I'm absolutely appalled that this guy is teaching his kids -- CHILDREN -- to do this. I know we were taught to do that back in the day, but that rule changed a long time ago. I already escalated it to the powers-that-be so he can be corrected before the regular season begins.

NFHS rulebook, pre-season scrimmage. I was working the bases. With a runner on 1st and one out, the batter hit a hard one-hopper to the shortstop. The runner was already going, so he was almost to 2nd by the time the ball got to him. The shortstop fielded the ball and stepped on 2nd base for the first out as the runner was sliding in, so the SS jumped up to avoid him and tried to throw to 1st for the double play. The runner was sliding with his buttocks on the ground (which the rule says he must do in a feet-first slide), but his torso was upright. He slid through the bag, and his torso hit the shortstop's legs, causing him to pinwheel in the air and throw errant. This is a classic force play slide rule, and the high school rule book (which this was a high school game) specifically prohibits sliding through the bag. So there was no question on this one. Other rule books allow a little more, but I would have called it under the MLB rule book, too. So I called the interference and awarded the out at 1st, ending the inning. The coach that this went against came unglued. I expect coaches to try to make a case on close plays or on oddities where they don't understand the rule, but this wasn't even a close call to make. I would probably get fired if I hadn't made it! During the argument, this guy vehemently argued that HE TEACHES HIS PLAYERS TO DO THIS! Granted, when you and I were kids, we were taught to "truck" the guy and knock the ball loose. That was ok under the rules back then. But it isn't anymore, and it hasn't been for a long time, so his statement concerns me greatly. I filed an official report with our state athletic association to address it with him before the season begins, because every time I see one of his guys do that, I'm ejecting.

How do you fit that onto an existing West Vest with the T-hooks?

I tried to take the survey, but there is nothing asking me whether I want the device. I'm with Beerguy55 above. I worked in an independent minor league last year, and in the same game I had to correct the scoreboard three times. I wasn't watching it, but the batter informed me that it was different from the count I was giving the pitcher. Typically you'll only find that at lower levels, but everyone in this place was full of potheads.

Yes, I would. That said, once they have said how they think it should have been ruled, if they have a question, I answer it. If they just want to argue, let's get the game going again.

I totally called this one once. Batter-runner rounded 1st and ran into the 1st baseman; there was no play. I pointed and yelled "That's obstruction!" Meanwhile, the defense was throwing the ball all over the place. B-R continued to 2nd and legally touched (which is where I judged he would have gotten to). He rounded 2nd and continued to 3rd, and was thrown out. I called him out and no one even bothered to argue. My calls are LOUD and I clearly pointed, so I was expecting someone to argue that he should be safe due to the obstruction. But, nope. I'll take it.

It's purely a judgement call. Was he being malicious? Yes? Out and ejected. Some things I look for: Hid he drop the shoulder and plow into the catcher instead of sliding? Was the slide legal?

My philosophy has always been that if a coach ASKS a question about a rule or a judgement I made, I'll answer the question. I think we all owe them that--they are paying us to know the rules and make good judgements, after all. Of course you know how the other end of that equation goes!