TheLovejoy

@maven Ahh if I had clicked on the closecallsports link, I'd have seen that. Essentially you draw a line from the center of the mount, toward the bases, and if that line is crossed, you'd consider it a retreat scenario.

Does he tho? If he's touched 3rd on the way past it, establishing his own basepath, he can then take 2 steps in whatever direction he wants, correct? So he shouldn't have to touch 3rd on his direction back towards home, no?

Addressing 'Next': You're right, my words were unclear: I just meant, he has a good move to 3rd, good move home. I shouldn't have added the slide step at all. I just meant, he has several ways to deliver his pitch in his arsenal, and doesn't do the same thing, or something 'all the time'. Addressing 'First': So we didn't rule it a balk. We let the kid pitch, and he threw a can of corn down the middle of the plate, that the batter just watched, because his own coach was yelling balk so loud, the batter froze. The pitcher never froze, and if he had I would have (possibly wrongly), ruled it a balk for stopping. We saw obvious continuous motion. Addressing Last: That's what our mindset has always been (this partner and I work together often). He's safe, until you see an out. It's not a balk, until he balks it. I was just asking that if it WAS a balk, was there a citation on that move, the leg moving up and down multiple times, 'something abnormal to his normal pitching motion', or something that I missed. Obviously, if it's not a balk, I don't expect a citation. Thanks Maven. I appreciate you.

It's OBR, but I don't think it matters. R3 and R1, from set position, right handed pitcher. Pitcher takes his sign, comes set, (he has a good slide step, a really good move to 3rd (how a lefty lifts his leg straight up, knee nor foot cross the plane of the rubber, then steps to third. But also using that same motion, slides and goes home)) then he lifts his leg slowly straight up, then slowly brings it straight down and then back up and pitches home. You can 'kinda' visualize it with Stroman and Nestor Cortez, but it wasn't all goofy all over the place. It was just straight up slowly, straight down, then back up and pitched. His foot never hit the ground, nor did he come to a complete stop. It was continuous motion the entire time. Is this a balk with runners on? I'm also trying to find the rule to cite for defense of this either way. I promise I've searched all over

Groundball hit to F4, he flips to F6 who's coming across the bag, and continues coming across the bag, (toward F4). So instead of veering toward the right field line, (which would put him in the way of F6 who's coming across the bag), he goes straight into the bag standing up. BR is safe because the play took too long to develop, not because R1 did anything to slow the play, throw, or anything in the way. My common sense says this would be ok. Your rule of the law says this is not ok, and BR is out regardless. Correct?

Doesn't that just mean as far back on 1st base line extended as possible because you have to watch fair foul?

@MadMax My apologies, I don't want to go back and edit it now since I misworded it, and you corrected it as I typed it. That first part was supposed to say, 'with two strikes'. So my follow up, the next part, I mentioned 'with less than two strikes'. I thought it, but didn't type it. In your clarification to my 2nd part, the catching and tracking it is inconsequential in NFHS, because it is indeed a foul ball the moment it touches something else other than mitt/hand. I try to keep the Fed rules in the back of my mind...but our seasons are like...2 weeks of high school baseball, then 4 months of American Legion (OBR) 🤦‍♂️

Just to get my bearing straight... OBR, can hit any part of the catcher, if he catches it, it's an out. NFHS, it must be the mitt/hand. So in OBR, it's still a foul tip if with less than 2 strikes, it hits the bat, sharp and directly hits the catchers facemask, it's deflected toward the dugout somewhere and he tracks it and catches it. (not an out) in NFHS, that would be just a foul ball. Correct? In both OBR, and NFHS, the same ball deflected off the catchers mask, to the pitcher and caught in flight, is a foul ball?

I'm not sure if you're serious or not, because your reply made me chuckle more than I'd like to admit. I think the MacGyver aspect of it caught me off guard. However, I've been looking at small rectangle/circular magnets online, and was trying to find something to glue them to, and cereal box cardboard to the back of the patch would do the trick.... They wouldn't have to be placed on the shirt at all. Just put two small magnets under it, and place the patch with the magnets glued to it on the other side, and it would hold if the magnets were strong enough... The velcro idea seemed the way to go, so long as you have a couple central pieces of velcro that would be adaptable to other associations patches. Magnets on every new patch could get expensive too....hmmm

This could be a terrible idea, and it might actually be much cheaper, cost effective, easier to just purchase a new shirt and iron/sew the patch, but....hear me out anyways... I'm interested in getting velcro iron-ons for the sleeve of my shirt, where I can put the reverse sticky side on the under-side of the iron on patches. So when I go to different organizations, I just pull the patch off, and stick the other org patch on it. Thought? i.e. I do some traveling, and work in 5/6 different organizations in different states. I do some in Colorado when my boys traveling team goes down there between his games, Wyoming, SD, NE, and MN. The SD people are hardcore about having their patch on the shirt, but I don't want to wear that patch in MN/NE, so, it would be nice to just remove it, and put on a different orgs patch. See what I'm saying?

And that makes sense enough, but for some reason them being listed as 1) and 2) made me think it was a potentially different scenario, know? Where really, they are just saying the same thing.

I guess I over thought it. In short, "if the third out of the inning is a force out, at any base, at any time, no matter what happens before that third out, then any runs scored are nullified", yes?

Need a little help on this one. Bases loaded, 1 out. Batter hits a ball down the right field line, lands fair 40 feet or so past 1st base. Both the BR and R1 thought it was either an infield fly, or they thought it was foul, regardless, the BR trots to first, touches it, and kinda walks off to the right. R1 never leaves first. Meanwhile, runner on 3rd scores, and R2 also jogs to 3rd, then takes off home. Right fielder comes up with the ball, and throws home to retire R2. The catcher notices that R1 never moved, and literally jogs himself to second base to retire R1 on a force out at second. I know that no runs score if the 3rd out is the result of the BR not making it to 1st base. So, my first thought, also no outs can score if the 3rd out of an inning is a force out. However, the first run scored, then a tag was made that wasn't a force out, then the 3rd out was the force at 2nd. Can somebody help me simplify this and wrap my head around it? The call that was made was that the 1st run scored because it was made before the tag play that was the 2nd out, then the 3rd out was a force at 2nd. So I assume a timing play was called type of thing. Thoughts? My ruling would have been no runs score, since the 3rd out was a force, regardless of what happens before that. But these were two senior umpires of mine, that allowed it, so now I'm confused.

The assignor of one of the leagues, and a local UIC both said that some of those 2 out C positions, R1 and R2, or bases loaded, can slide to the B position to take the most likely outs at 2nd, or 1st, for the 3rd out force out. I can see the thought, and theory behind that. Anybody inherently AGAINST that?

There is a website called, whatproswear.com, that lists what MLB players wear, gear they wear, sponsorships they have, things like that. It would be neat to have a subsection here of 'What Pros Wear' that lists specifically gear and items of Professional Umpires, then update as they change as they change gear. I.E. Jerry Layne has started wearing a hardshell skully. Everything you find advertised as 'Umpire Skull Cap' is the All Star, or the Evo-Shield. I do believe he has a Rawlings on as far as I can tell. Then, if he changes, update his page. Just something that I've always been interested in as they pick different gloves, shoes, masks and harnesses specifically.

Got ya! Did not catch that:) And I know it’s not a force, I meant the tag up appeal;)

Bases loaded? Why didn't he just step on 2nd?....

Just to clarify for myself: The one base award is from the time of the pitch, and the 2 base award is from the time the ball enters a dead ball area, correct?

Think if it like, 'You are not allowed to pass a runner.', and not, 'You are not allowed to be passed.'