ErichKeane

I DEFINITELY have the same problem, particularly when working solo. I had a weekend of 9U and 10U that the fans were rough enough I almost quit... but the next weekend I got a really good partner who keeps me grounded. So... that?

Woops! Fixed

If F3 is the 'protected' fielder (that is, the one the umpire judges is the one with the best chance for the ball), it is interference. If F3 is NOT the protected fielder, it is obstruction. As @noumpere says: it is a risky strategy.

So I saw one of these go 'the other way' a few weeks ago in a game I was watching before my game. R1, batter hits a single to CF, R1 stops at 2nd. F8 throws hard at 2B. R1 (now on 2nd) turns his head to avoid getting hit, and the ball bounces off the helmet and goes into the dugout (Throw was pretty hard, but glancing, and all-turf infield mixed with no one reacting to get the ball right away meant it rolled a while). Time of throw was once everyone was on base, so that single turned into an RBI triple! DHC lost his mind on the base-ump thinking it wasn't fair, but got ordered back to the dugout with instructions to shut up about it. SO OP: The way the ball bounces here really changes what folks think is 'fair'. As was said above, stepping off wasn't necessary to avoid the ball. The 'Forced off' there is more for cases where the fielder is charging at you with an impending serious collision that you're avoiding. Not just 'ball coming in, and fielder standing there trying to catch it'.

Right, I'm not disagreeing at all with what you're saying, there is no rule to vacate the base. But from a practical point, the fielder is protected to 'do what it takes to catch the ball'. My point was: That in some cases it is not possible (by rules of physics, not rules of the game) to avoid interference and stay in contact with the base. In those cases, you're likely better off interfering, which is my entire point. I was using it as evidence of "there is no right to the base", but I seem to have side-tracked us

Oh? I would assume with the ball right over the base, getting out of the way of the fielder (particularly if they are 'circling' under the ball) seems near-impossible... I'm not saying they do by RULE, just by practicality.

The rule that disabused me of the 'right to the base' is NFHS 8-4-2k, particularly 1 & 2. A runner is NOT protected from the 'hit by the ball' EVEN IF he is on a base he is isn't forced away from(unless it is an IFF). So R2, popup over 2nd base, and F6 is coming to grab it. If the ball hits him (even if he's on the base!) he's still out. If the fielder cannot get to the ball because he's in teh way, he's still out! There is a little bit of an 'unfairness' to it (consider popup over 2nd in that situation, and to avoid interference, the runner has to leave the base. At that point, the fielder can catch teh ball while in contact with 2B and essentially get a 'free' double play. So in some cases, the interference is actually the 'best' way to go about it!

Much as any other F150 crew cab But for some reason, Navy doesn't fit 😛 One thing I WILL say is amazing though is that because there is no engine bay, the 'Frunk' (a trunk in the front... the name is stupid) is big enough for all of my gear and then some. REALLY nice way to carry my gear bag around.

I JUST got this in today, after ordering last week (thanks to the high-pressure Sock-related sale :D) ! I got the 'silver', which is a significantly different color from my old mask (which was more of a grey, this is a shiny silver). It looks like they redesigned where the springs at the top clamp on a little, though I might have to look more closely at it/compare it to the one in my bag. Overall, still a really great mask! I won't be able to use it this weekend thanks to not working games, but I'm looking forward to using it! The reduced weight isn't noticeable to me, but the weight of my V2 never really bothered me anyway, so *shrug*.

I had one last year in 14U NFHS rules, but I was one of only 3 people who knew what was gong on! Pitcher was covering 1B on a play at 1st, but the throw from F3 never happened. They also faked the handoff, convincingly enough that everyone but me didn't realize it. I let it go for a little bit (I was only 90% sure about the 5 feet rule, and not in a position to judge exactly 5 feet, so I wanted this one DEAD on), and let the pitcher get astride (I DID 'give it up' a little by staying in A instead of moving to B so I could see the tag less obviously, but no one seemed to notice me). I called a balk, and everyone looked at me like I had 3 heads. After the award, the DHC came out to me to discuss. His voice was a funny mix of angry-for-me-calling-a-balk mixed with increasing confusion, so it was getting louder and more shocked through the whole discussion. DHC: "Why was that a balk?!" Me: "He was within 5 feet of the rubber, but didn't have the ball." DHC: "He didn't have the ball?!?" Me: "No, he did not." DHC: "Why?" Me: "I believe they were trying the hidden ball trick." DHC: "The wuah... they were doing wuah?! Why were they doing that?" Me: *shrugs* DHC: "So he was within 5 feet?" Me: "Yes, in fact, I let it go a bit further than that, he was astride the rubber." DHC: "I've never heard of that rule, 5 feet?" Me: "Yep, thats the rule." DHC: "I've never heard of that..." *mumbles and walks off* I then heard him discussing it with the assistant coach in the dugout, who ALSO didn't know, then the two of them flipping through the rule book. About 6-7 minutes later I hear a "Holy SH*#... " followed by a "Well I'll be damned..." My partner came up to me after the game and asked what the balk was, as he didn't see it. I explained it was a failed HBT, and he was amazed and said he didn't realize it!

Fast charge is usually 45 mins to 80%, and about 60 minutes to 90%. Feel free to reach out via PM if you have more questions!

Yeah, the one weakness for EVs is that it takes ~45 mins to recharge at a fast charger on the road. I figured you can do ~600-800 miles in a day MAX, as long as you can find a place with a meal. Basically: 200 miles (could be longer, my truck gets 300 miles/charge, but you'd probably want to be safe), breakfast/charge, 200 miles, lunch/charge to 80%, 200 miles, dinner/charge, 200 miles, charge at hotel/etc. BUT that ends up being a long day, with ~3 extra hours that you'd not otherwise need. BUT, I've done ~500 miles each way in mine and it was great, I drove ~260 miles, had a nice relaxing brunch at a fast-charger, then finished the trip on the fast-charge.

Not being an ass, definitely a part of the discussion you have to have with yourself when buying an EV. I definitely did my research on those. The other concern is of course range, but I find that if you do the math for yourself, you can make sure you get the right decision. The cost premium over a comparable F150 was actually only ~10k, and gone from ~25c/mile (closer to 18 with a modern F150) to ~5c/mile, so payback period on that is 100k miles or so. On the other hand, that 10k ALSO bought me, "never having to pump gas again", and "can fill the truck up while I sleep", and "never doing an oil change again"(which was COSTLY on my F250, oil alone to do it myself was ~$80). Battery life on EVs (based on similar tech ) is actually really quite good. The ~2012 Teslas with the same battery tech are still ~70% life 11 years later, and up over 150k miles. Many of the battery technologies are becoming financially reasonable to recycle, and are useful for re-use in things where power-density is less important, like a 'power wall', or whole-home-backup. Lithium batteries don't just 'die', they just reduce in performance until 0, which can take a VERY long time. BUT, if my truck battery gets to ~50%, I can use the battery as a home-generator-replacement, and have it power my house for a day or two. As far as replacement costs, much of the estimates you see people making are based on OEM replacements, which are always excessive. Heck, my neighbor's RAM put a rod through the block, and the dealer quoted him $30k to replace it, and we all know you can replace an engine for much less than that. As evidence, there is a guy on my local Facebook marketplace that is buying up 'dead' prius' and rebuilding the batteries. I noticed what he was doing at one point and bought him a beer. Apparently the older Prius' are basically 'free' (sub 1k!) when their battery gets too low, and the dealer is telling people $10k to replace. You can replace individual dead 'cells' of the battery for ~$250/each, so he gets the cars back on the road for sub-1k each. Then, he can sell them with a reconditioned battery for 5-6k! A lot of words here to say: Yep, there is a lot of thought that goes into making the decision to switch to an EV. I'm under no illusion that I'm "Captain Planet" for buying it, but it makes sense financially, and for me. My wife got an EV ~18 months before me (she drives a LOT taking my kid back and forth to autism treatment every day), and I was shocked/amazed at how they compare to gas engine cars.

I think the tourney organization does it for the weekends, since needing 3-400 games covered requires getting umps from outside the area! I'm on the outskirts of the outskirts of our metro area, but only ~50 miles away from most of the locations. Either way, switching from my F250 to an EV F150 made my travel go from ~$30-$40 for the day, to $4-$5.

Last summer I went and bought an EV truck after the $7/gallon Diesel in Oregon reared its ugly head. It was pretty painful to do the math and find out I was spending ~$40 in fuel to get to the tourneys. Feels a little wrong to see 2/3 of one of my game-checks burned on the drive. I'm just under the 'fuel allowance' payment for our org to those places, which wouldn't have been enough for my pickup anyway.

It looks like those were just rivets, right? Either a re-rivet, or replace with a couple of appropriate sized chicago screws.

As JSam21 hints: This is VERY fact-dependent. It depends on whether it is a tangle/untangle play, whether it is a batted ball or not, and whether the catcher is the one being protected on the play (if it is a batted ball).

"Head of Club" is : this is a club-team, so the Club brought ~6 teams across age groups to this tourney, so I had a HC (of this team), PLUS the top-level-guy of the Club, both on the bench. Head of Club is a nice guy who is really understanding of umps, and I have some history with him where he's been fantastic, so I DO perhaps give him better leeway than others. SO, After the discussion with my partner, the result of the initial play was non-controversial I think, the coaches didn't seem to have a problem with that part. What they DID have a problem with was what happened 'after'. I don't think anyone thought an appeal play was in play (I BELIEVE I saw a foot touch, but I was a bit further away), but that he was 'not on the base', so he was running afraid of being 'tagged'. I considered this to be the same as when a BR runs through a base (sans collision!), and F3 turns to try to tag him during the over-run. The difference being, his 'over-run' wasn't down the line, it was at a 45 degree angle (thanks to the collision). I suspect that angle is what confused the Defensive-bench/encouraged them to BR, and confused the BR enough to not know what was going on. Thinking more, I suspect the coaches were doing more of a grasping-at-straws for how to not have that out, which is why they went through "Interference" (sic), all the way to, "why didn't we call time?". When Head-of-Club came out, I'd explained he should teach his players to return to the base if they didn't think they'd made an attempt at 2B, and trust/hope that the umps see it the same way, but he went right back to we should have called Time-out because of the confusing situation. ALSO note, the collision was 'minor', neither player showed any injury/hint of, and neither went to the ground. F3 was basically unmoved, BR had his trajectory changed significantly.

Thats good guidance, thanks! I DO need to work on the "you have to talk to my partner about that", absolutely (among the rest of what you said). I'll try to keep that in mind for the future, that level of dealing with coaches is challenging, I like to be personable/approachable with them and friendly, so its a tough line to draw. Ruleset is OBR (with some inconsequential to this story modifications). As far as the touch of 1B, I didn't think it mattered without an appeal Once he 'passed' the base, he's fine, right (at least without an appeal)? I believe he DID touch the base, but I was further away/it was my partner's thing to call.

I tend to agree with you on this one? Catching the ball doesn't cause a 'tag attempt' to start, I probably have the tag-attempt starting ~1 frame later when he starts moving the glove toward the runner.

Working with a really experienced partner, I'm PU, he's on bases. Bases empty <2 outs, grounder to the left side of the infield. F3 is a BIG kid, BR is a SMOL kid. As BR is getting to the base, the ball is pulling F3 up/back, so all 3 get there 'at the same time' more or less. BR 'bounces' off F3 thanks to the collision. F3 ends up dropping the ball at his feet, BR bounces off F3 and at about a 45 degree angle away from the plate in fair territory. As BR starts to walk slowly back to the base, defensive bench starts yelling at F3 to tag the runner, and F3 picks up the ball and goes to tag BR. BR sees/hears this, takes off for 2B, and is tagged out. OHC is obviously REALLY mad at my partner for this, is granted time, and comes across from 3BC, on his way by, he asks me, "did you see that play?", which i obviously said 'yes'. Apparently he told my partner I agreed I had seen 'interference'. They discuss for a minute, and my partner comes over for a conference. He asks if I saw RLI, and I said no, but was confused, since why would the OHC be asking about something to get his runner out earlier? My partner stated that he didn't see Obstruction, which I did not either. At this point, we decided that BR was protected back to the base, as he never made a move to 2nd, until he turned to run to 2B. My partner signals 'out', and the coach is upset. He walks up to me to explain, starts on about 'incidental contact' and how that should mean 'dead ball'. I tell him yes, we DID consider it incidental contact, but that does not mean dead ball, it just means it wasn't interference or obstruction. He asks about 'how they can just tag him' after the collision, where I state what we agreed upon, which was that he could have returned to the base safely, until he broke for 2nd. There were some perhaps profane mutterings that I chose to not hear, and told him to get back to 3BC, we needed to continue. The head of his club, who I'd sent away in the last conversation, telling him that he wasn't the coach at the meeting, so I couldn't discuss it with him there, came up between innings to ask for 'clarification' as to what he could teach his kids. I entertained it between innings (though let it go longer than I should have). He insisted that we should have called it dead 'because of the confusion', and I just kept repeating "thats not what we're supposed to do.". Overall, other than a little bit of grumpiness, that game went well, and ended as a 1 run ballgame! There was 1 more disagreement on a pulled-foot with the same HC, but the kid got picked off the next play, so a few 'oh, just a makeup call!' from one side of the stands and "ball don't lie!" from the other side, and that one went away. BONUS/funny-ish story: Earlier game in the tourney, coincidentally, same HC. 2 of his club teams are in the semi-finals, against each other (interestingly, the 12U team was 'playing up' against the 13U team, and ended up winning/going to the finals!). Bases empty once again, grounder in the infield. Throw takes F3 directly in line with my partner, who bangs him out. OHC asks my partner to chat with me, and I tell him he pulled the foot by quite a bit, so we change to a 'safe' call. DHC (same guy from above!) shoots over to me, and asks what I saw. I tell him, I saw a clear pulled foot, so we called him safe. He asks, "Well, the play was there, how the heck could you have seen that from y our position THERE (pointing to the plate). Me; "Because I wasn't THERE, I was 1/2 way up the line, so I can help catch that exact play!". Him: "Oh... well, ok then..." He comes up between innings and says he asked the 1BC (remember, same club!) who told him that we nailed it, and he said, "its crazy you could get that right..."

Sent, thank you!

I've seen a few people around who seem to specialize in some of the other masks, but was wondering if anyone does the F3 ones? My F3 (picked up used, but in good condition) has worn poorly after a season of play. I attribute this to using a metal indicator, which has done a number on the paint in a few places. I've got the new version showing up this week, but would love to get my old one cleaned up enough to be a decent looking backup.

I spent a while last year, and couldn't find said beast. I ended up settling for the All-Star 3-2-2 4 dial, but it is a metal body. I ended up stripping it and hitting it with some paint (which hasn't lasted very well unfortunately) to keep it from being shiny.

My assigner 'assigns' positions, but unless there is a problem with it, with most partner pairs, its up to the crew to decide which is which. For some umps its a problem (that they'll argue they need to stick to whats in the tool), so the assigner will take care on that. BUT for example, I have 5 tomorrow set up as plate for all 5, but we'll obviously at our convenience.