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USSSA - 14's - On a tag play, if while applying a tag and the ball pops out of the fielders glove, is the runner still out if the fielder recatches the ball before it hits the ground. I saw this happen last week and the umpire for that game said that as long as the fielder regains control of the ball before it hits the ground the runner is still out regardless if he is tagged again or not. I would have said the fielder did not have control of the ball, so runner is safe. What is the rule on that?

Baseball USSSA Rules - If a batted ball ricochets off a base and it hits a baserunner in fair territory is runner out even if he would not have been hit without the ricochet?

12 year old USSSA Baseball Rules. Runner on 3rd base with 1 out. Runner heads home on a passed ball. Catcher grabs that ball and flips towards home without looking. As runner is crossing the plate the ball hits the batter who was about 6 or 7 feet up the 3rd base line and about 3 feet behind it. Is this an automatic out on the runner or a no call since the runner was going to be safe anyway.

Is OBR and FED different when it comes to this rule?

Pitcher in the stretch position is in the process of coming set. Once the ball and hands come together this pitcher has all kinds of movement before he finally comes to a complete pause. Question is, in the process of all the movement before coming to the actual pause, if one of the movements is turning his left shoulder towards first base is this a balk? Even if he hasn't stopped movement to become set yet? I had this happen in a game. I wasn't sure so I didn't call it a balk and nobody complained. It was a right handed pitcher and he didn't do it every time. He moved all over the place every time before the final pause but turning his left shoulder to first base wasn't done every time. After game I asked other umpires and half of them said they would call it a balk and the other half would not. I want to get this correct next time and I know I can get the correct answer on this forum.

USSSA rules ages 9 - 14. When the catcher misses or drops 3rd strike, when is the batter/runner declared out if he doesn't run to 1st base right away? I see this a lot and it's more of an issue when the batters team is in the 3rd base dugout. I've asked many other umpires and they all seem to have a different opinion. In MLB I've read the batter pretty much has the entire circle around home plate as that boundry. I've had some umpires tell me if they take one step towards the 3rd base dugout they are giving their self up. That doesn't seem fair because if their dugout is on 1st base side it would be harder to tell if they were giving their self up. I don't know if it should be as much lead way as MLB but what is the general rule. I like to give them 4 to 5 steps towards the dugout before declaring them out.

Thank you. That makes perfect sense!

When calling a balk on a pitcher that doesn't come set, 80% of the time the pitcher delivers the pitch anyway. When that happens, I know it's a live ball if the batter hits the pitch and the offense gets to choose if it is balk or not based on the outcome of the play. If the batter doesn't swing or swings and misses what is the call? I've heard that it is a ball regardless, I've heard it's only a ball if it's ball four otherwise count remains the same and I've also heard it is nothing, count remains the same. It is USSSA baseball rules. Can someone help clarify this for me?

USSSA and OBR rules is what the league and tournaments I umpire use. Thank you for all the helpful information.

Not trying to be difficult. Just trying to understand. That’s why I love this forum.

Umpiring for 6 years and still learn something new almost every tournament. Interesting that Major League Umpire says that within the box means that if any part of your foot is in the box that means within the box. See video.

Had a question come up regarding batters box. Is it true that as long as both feet are touching a portion of the batters box that batter is considered within the batters box? If this is true couldn’t you technically be stepping on the plate and it be considered within the box as long as heal is touching batters box line?

Tournament started Thursday so there were 4 games per day and 5 on Sunday. Thank you for all the great advice!

Umpired 17 games in state tournament over the weekend. It was class A ball which is basically recreational baseball maybe a little better. Out of 17 games I had several 50/50 calls and probably did miss 2 or 3 calls. 1 call for sure because after the game I asked the 1st baseman on a pickoff move did he get the tag down in time? He said that the kid might have barely got his hand back to the base before the tag but it was very close. From my angle in B slot he definitely looked out. The age group I was doing was 12 and 13's. Sunday was bracket play and it was very hot out so peoples emotions were running high. I have very thick skin and usually can brush aside comments. I've only had to throw out 2 people in 8 years. However, this time the way the coaches and fans acted on a couple of calls really took all the fun out of umpiring and really made me question my confidence and made me wonder if it was worth it to keep umpiring. My question is this. If I missed 2 or 3 calls throughout 17 games is this average umpiring, good umpiring or bad umpiring? My last game (game 17) was the championship game for 13 year olds. Got a lot of compliments on the consistency of my strike zone and how I ran the game. It was a nice compliment when I was feeling down from the other calls I might have missed in the tournament. I really love the game of baseball and strive to be perfect. A missed call really gets to me and I will dwell on it for days. I don't need the money but love doing it for the kids and to be around the game. What motivates you to keep going after a tournament or a few games has you questioning your confidence?

On throws to 1st base what exactly constitutes obstruction on 1st baseman covering the bag? I've seen time and time again the 1st baseman on a routine ground ball take the throw with his foot at the back of the base. I can somewhat understand at 9 and 10 years old but I'm seeing this all the way up to high school age. They are not giving the runner much room if any to cross the base. Also had a 3rd strike passed ball where 1st baseman stood right on the baseline and stretched to take the catchers throw not leaving runner any base to touch. When discussing with other umpires it seems like the answer is always well the runner needs to run through the first baseman? Can obstruction be called and if so is it a judgement call on how much of the base 1st base was blocking or is it true runner should just run through him? That just doesn't sound right to me. A lot of the time I can see the runner slowing down trying to figure out how to touch base without causing a collision. Seems to me that should be obstruction if they feel the need to alter what they are doing bases on where 1st baseman is standing. This is not the train wreck play where ball and runner arrive at the same time and the throw takes the 1st baseman into the runner. This is just not playing first base the right way or in the case of the 9 and 10 year olds it is being clumsy, awkward and still learning the game. Also, on a pick off move at any base, can fielder be pretty much blocking bag giving runner nowhere to get back or would that also be obstruction? Where I umpire I rarely see any calls on these type of plays. I think a lot of times it is obstruction but the umpires don't want to cause controversy. Now they have me confused with what I thought I already knew.