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Actually, nothing at this point. Kind of yolo and seeing how it goes. I have the recommendations and links above (thanks everyone!) and if I feel I need one, I'll pull the trigger.

To be fair, this was the Special Olympics so we do give a lot of leeway on things. However one of the mantras of inclusion is that we treat all athletes the exact same. 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." One of the moms that wasn't mad at me all day did talk to me between games and said, "His dad has been working with him on staying in the box all season and even told him that they would call him out if he was out of the box." So everyone also knew that he had a propensity for that. Anyway, nobody ejected. People went home with medals. My knees held up the whole weekend (torn meniscus injury on Memorial Day), everyone went home at the end of the weekend. Bonus - I got to read the "Officials Creed" at the opening ceremonies.

Yeah, I've been doing the games for about 13 years. Missed a couple with covid closedowns but this is by far the most fun I have calling any kind of ball.

Got on the field last weekend for the first time since my injury. Worked the Special Olympics softball championship for my state. It's slow pitch so the deep squats weren't needed but still a lot of pop up, run, plant, turn, etc. we do. I worked 11 games over the weekend (9 behind the plate) and not a peep out of the knee. Everything else hurt though lol. I have a friendly scheduled for next week with the local FP travel coach. We'll see how it holds up then. Thanks again for the war stories and first hand experience here.

Absolutely. What did I see? I saw my partner make a call that was his to make.

I had three games on this field that day and saw this team twice. The 8 am game where this happened and the gold medal game at the end of the day. The coaches and I got along just fine. The moms were the snarkiest although when they won it all in the end - a great game with their home team winning in the bottom of 7 - they were a lot friendlier. Their leader as I walked off the field said thank you at least.

Working a slow pitch softball tournament this past weekend. Two plays got the coaches and moms up in arms at me. The first one was mostly me having to explain the rule with the second home plate and the peculiarities that go with it. They were still mad though when we got to a batter having his lead foot on the ground at least six inches in front of the batter's box when he hit the ball (turf field, permanent lines so no issue with them disappearing). He hit a fly ball to center, but I called it dead immediately and declared the runner out. There was a runner on third who tried to tag and score, but I sent him back. Here comes the coach. He used all of the "c'mon blue" arguments. It's kids, he wasn't out of the box, etc. Finally he said, "We haven't been called on that all year". This is my favorite thing a coach can say during a discussion after a call because my response will always be, "So, you admit that it's the correct ruling and you just don't want it to apply to you? We're done. Two outs, let's have a batter." I know, softball. Slowpitch even. Sorry

Discharged from PT today. Look out players, this blue is coming back

Appreciate the feedback and suggestions. I'll look into the incrediware (sounds like something out of The Incredibles).

I suffered a knee injury in May. My PT is going well and the doctor does not want to do surgery at this time. I was using crutches right after memorial day but moved to a cane within a week or so. I am off the cane now and I've been weaned off of the hinged brace as of last week. I've been told I can return to the field this summer/fall (on the bases or doing slow pitch softball) while I continue to work on strength and mobility. Yes, I am primarily a softball umpire. Don't hate me lol Do any of you other old fellas use/wear a knee support while working? I know there are a number of different style compression sleeves out there, but I suspect most of them just function as a wallet flush. I'd appreciate the benefit of anyone's experience here. Thanks!

Crappy for the batter for sure, but that's on the coach. If the coach wants to come and argue about it, it will be a short one and a long walk to the parking lot.

Closest I can see is 5.09(b)(2) and the comment. It specifically talks about first base, but the language ", he leaves the base path, obviously abandoning his effort to touch the next base" leads me to feel like it could be upheld on other bases as well. I was watching the game. It felt like he was believing he'd be out on the force and pealed off. He came right back, though, as soon as he realized the safe call. The Philly announcers were thinking interference, but there was nothing there either. Donny Baseball probably wouldn't have made a fuss if Orion wasn't throwing grapefruits. At least Lindsay gets another 2 fer ejection video out of it.

Apologies. I am a USA softball guy mostly, so I was referring to the USA rules. 7.6 "The batter is out" 7.6.R "When hindering the catcher from catching or throwing the ball by stepping out of the batter’s box.". Effect - The ball is dead. The batter is out. Each runner must return to the last base touched at the time of the interference. I believe USSSA treats this the same way. I don't call high school because my work schedule doesn't allow me to take enough games to make the registration worth it, so I don't have access to those rules. I do see the NCAA exception in 11.20, so good call out there (pun intended).

Ok, I'm a softball guy where we would call the batter out on INT and send the runner(s) back. Is this called differently in the little ball/big field game?

Softball guy here - the USA Softball umpire manual specifically directs us that if time hasn't been declared, to call time in order to clean the plate or the pitcher's plate. So yes, I call time when cleaning the plate, but I'm not making a huge deal out of it. A crisp hands up and "Time!" then I do my duties there and get right back into position and we roll.