ErichKeane

As someone who has ejected a SD in the past: "Mr SD, Make whatever decision is in your authority NOW, then get off the field, its time to play ball".

"Exceptions to the rules need to be communicated to the crew before the game, so you bat him, or bat 9. If you have a problem with it, take it up with the Tourney Director, but we're not delaying the game for it." Then, if the TD wants the game replayed with the new rules, he can fork out another paycheck for the crew for it.

Yeah, PU was REALLY bailed out by having the catcher drop the ball. That positioning is very very rough for that play.

So typically, I don't correct a partner on a rule unless explicitly asked (or the coach comes to him to ask me), though I've been breaking in some newbies quite a bit lately, so I tend to inform them if they look flustered/unsure, or do something particularly egregious. I have 1 partner who started this year who has a bunch of games under his belt and is developing pretty wonderfully! I'm working a very limited schedule this year (will be sub-10 games this year!) due to my wife expecting next week, so most of my games this year were to work with him to improve. He's also working games in our towns 14U team (NFHS ruleset), which he was assistant coach to last year (and his wife is scorekeeper for!). He's gotten distinctly better lately so I've been more hands-off, though 2 situations come to mind that I wasn't particularly sure how to handle, but this is what I did. Would anyone else have done much differently? 1- We were doing a double header this past weekend, with him at the plate. Game is chugging along wonderfully, score is close, etc. We have VT at the plate, R2, 3-1 count, and the runner takes off. I follow the runner, and make the call (safe), then look up and see my partner has called batter interference (a point of emphasis I've had for a few years, as the local teams were REALLY bad at it for a few years, but now can all basically quote the rule to me!). The pitch hadn't looked great, so I presumed it was ball 4, so I called time and asked him if that was the case, which it was. Then I explained to him that the Batter was a Runner, so he couldn't be guilty of batters interference. I asked if he thought the interference was intentional (no), so we corrected it, and then explained it to the HT coach (who, as I mentioned, is VERY knowledgable about batters interference thanks to me). He DID ask if the runner had to go back, which I said 'no' to, because it wasn't batters interference. THAT is where I screwed up slightly, in that I didn't ask my partner WHEN he called time out vs when the runner made it to the base, and assumed afterwards (though he DOES know to wait to see if the out was made). In our post-game, he did say he waited, so we ended up getting the call in the end. 2- Last night, we were doing an evening game, him at the plate again. R2, 1 out. HT Batter hits a DEEP fly to left field (off the line safely, but definitely out of the code) towards the orange snow-fence that is the left field fence. I watch it a bit, and start picking up my touches/obstructions/etc on the runners, and look back to see what _I_ thought was the ball bouncing through the fence. VT players are questioning whether it was a double, but my partner is calling HR, and it was his ball, so I left it alone. I pick up the BR's touch of 3rd, then start my run back to A. As I'm most of the way over, I hear my partner calling the BR out, but was confused as to what had happened. The HT coach and fans were all chastising the on deck batter with "you can't do that, you know that!". I wasn't sure what happened, but the 1BC told me during the next at bat that the on deck batter "chest bumped" the BR, so he called him out for being 'touched' while being a live batter. During post game I explained it is 'assist' that you have to be calling, and typically that is only the coaches (IIRC NFHS baseball doesn't have a generic 'assisted by teammate, just 3-2-2 and 8-4s), and that since it was a home run, he couldn't really have been assisted, since he wasn't really at risk of being put out. He accepted the explanation, and we all got home in time for beers SIDE NOTE: VT catcher came out at one point with a skully/F3 mask at one point, and I noticed and told him he couldn't wear it. He protested a bit (that he wore it the inning before!), and his father protested MUCH more through the fence (saying, we've never heard that it was illegal before, and umps with 20 years experience have let him use it!), but VT coach came out and told the dad he'd been told before, and he stopped talking. Coach apologized and said he'd told him not to bring that anymore, so the kid knew (I was sure he did, he didn't bring it out for bats, helmets, CP inspections that our league still requires). WE left it at that, though made it clear to the coach that he'd risked ejection of both of them by bringing it out. Anyway, curious to hear how others deal with helping out partners in these situations!

I think this is one of those that is legal in NFHS (not an interference), but IS based on the diagram of 'directly into the base' in NCAA. NFHS rule looks ot be: 2-32 ART. 1 . . . A legal slide can be either feet first or head first. If a runner slides feet first, at least one leg and buttock shall be on the ground. If a runner slides, he must slide within reach of the base with either a hand or a foot. A runner may slide or run in a direction away from the fielder to avoid making contact or altering the play of the fielder (8-4-2b). He was definitely within reach of the base, but based on the video, was clearly in the NCAA "grey" zone in the diagram that makes the slide illegal in NCAA.

Obviously I've done this stuff as well, but a vast majority of the guys I work with only learn because someone experienced tells them to. That level of initiative isn't particularly common it seems, guys start for a few bucks, or to support a local league, and it ends there (many don't even do more than skim the rulebook, let alone read casebooks/umpire manuals).

I definitely have both A & B, but also, "been doing it a few years, and never learned" types as well. Though I do a lot of 14U with partners that uses NFHS rules.

Agreed with the 1st 1/2 100%. As far as rotations: I can't blame them much at all. I do 2 man ~70% of the time (with 1 man the rest), and get partners of all ages that don't rotate at all at the plate. We as a community do a bad job with the importance of rotations, and the teaching of rotations. I basically have shell-shock from all the times I have done my rotation 'correctly' as BU on a 1st-to-3rd situation just to look over and see my partner nowhere near the play at 3B, and have to make the call from far away. OR, done the rotation right as a PU, done my call out, just to have the base-ump standing next to me making the call (I learned the hard way when doing THAT rotation to hold onto my call until I can see the other ump NOT making the call). Effectively, rotations in GENERAL are an 'advanced skill' for umpires that I find a majority of guys don't have. So expecting a group doing 3 man (HS, so probably only for the playoffs) to know and DO the rotations is, IMO, a fools errand.

Yeah, this is exactly my thoughts on the rotation watching the play. I don't do 3 man, so don't really know, but U1 was still inside, so I was surprised to see the rotation wasn't PU to 3rd, U1 follows to cover the plate. U3 seemed to do fine with his level of mobility, though would have been better served picking up some angle(steps toward the mound) for the possible tag by the catcher (rather than the few steps down the line). PU seemed to do what he could, which was about bupkis. Although, all of this is easy to say from the comfort of my living room In the end, I don't agree with Lindsay (doesn't happen often!): I'm OK with the no-call at 3rd. I think a reasonable argument could be made for obstruction (as she did), but my read is as many in the thread have it: the stutter step was slowing down to stay at 3rd, then realizing the plate was unoccupied, then taking his natural path home, which coincidentally was around the catcher. So in the end, this is a judgement call that could be reasonably justified either way, so they got it right in the end.

I've DEFINITELY had games both as an official and a player play in worse rain than that. I didn't see any mud/turf problems, just a slick ball. Typically unless the ball becomes particularly slick (despite attempts to wipe it off), we play on. One thing my org has us do is let coaches 'dry' balls for their pitchers (I hand the DHC a few balls and tell him that we can swap them out as often as they want within normal-ball-swap opportunities), and that tends to work. We often change balls every 2-3 pitches, but it is fine. That said, those are baseball games, and baseballs with leather covers do WAY better than softball's vinyl covers. ANY amount of water gets a vinyl cover slick as an ice cube, whereas leather absorbs/gets sticky for a bit before getting slick. Last point: I don't know how the ball was continuing to get wet to the point of 'slickness' in her glove? It should have been protected from the rain at that point.

Nothing in 5-1 lists "the winning run scored" as a dead ball. That plus the "until the umpires leave the field" tells me that the ball is probably considered 'live' until the umpires leave the field, so as to allow live-ball appeals. If you said, "well, dead ball as soon as the run scores", there would be no reason to tag up on a fly ball (in OBR, where no dead ball appeals) as the winning runner. Just make it to home-plate before they can appeal, and the 'dead ball' with no further play to put it in play for, and the game is over.

I have this one and quite like it! I have 2 complaints. 1- It is a HEAVY boy! IT definitely has some weight to it. In your hand you don't feel it, but don't put it in any shirt pocket/etc, or you're going to lose it. 2- And more importantly, it is SHINY. I basically cannot look at it on sunny days. I ended up stripping it down with some scotchbrite and hitting it with some etching primer+black enamel which worked great while it lasted. As far as Strike/Ball vs Ball/Strike: For some reason the former just 'makes more sense' to me with an indicator *shrug*.

If the batter isn't 'ready', the umpire should be yelling 'no pitch' and bailing out. Then, it is up to the umpire to decide whether the ball was 'struck at' by the batter. If so, it is a strike, else it is a HBP. What it sounds like though, is a dog's breakfast that I'd be happy to not be on the field for.

Oldish thread, but I'm sorta just catching up as the season is restarting. I actually do basically this in my local 'league' play. They are assigned by 1 of 2 people, and I always ask them to forward me the coach's contact info if there is a rules disagreement, so that I can explain the ruling with cites (often as far as quotes from multiple rulebooks depending on the consistency of the rule, case books youtube videos from CCS/others, and links to this forum!). My one assigner tells me that she really enjoys reading what I write up as she learns every time! After about 2 years of this, I was doing a 'district tournament' this year. We had a bit of a goofy play that I don't really recall, so my partner and I got together. Partner wasn't really rules knowledgeable, but I used the chance to talk it out to him and make sure I had the ruling down perfectly. I walk out of our conference and do whatever assignments, and am walking back to the plate where both coaches were waiting for the result. HTC: Why would you do that, thats not the rule! (or some other such complaints) VTC: Don't do it <HTC>, or he'll give you homework! HTC: Wait, thats him? VTC: *Nods* HTC: Yeah, nevermind blue, good call.

I like that this is a POE at the pro level. I've been calling this and getting some pretty grouchy coaches over it, so seeing it called more at the pro level is going to help!