Jboval

As far as the base awards: you could argue that he was wanting to throw down to first so the first baseman could put a tag on the runner should he run through the bag, that is something I have seen happen from time to time. However, being there it was easy to tell that this catcher was thinking that he was making a play on R1, trying to catch him in a large leadoff and just had a brain fart about it being ball 4. Does this make any difference in either situation? In response to CarolinaBlue's post: Shouldn't R1 be placed at 3rd and BR be placed at second should the ball go out of play? It's two bases either way, and I am assuming that R1 had not acquired 2nd base yet.

So, I have a R1 with a batter at the plate. R1 has been taking big leads and they have been trying to get him on a pick off move. Batter takes Ball Four, I say Ball Four, catcher for some reason tries to throw down to First in what I assume is an attempt to pick off R1, even though it's now a walk. Batter has stepped out of the box and the throw from the catcher hits his bat, deflecting to the backstop. I had nothing but a live ball, and just watched what the fun unfold. Nobody really seemed to realize that R1 could of kept running since I had not given a dead ball sign. My only thought afterward was this: The batter had vacated the box and was not moving towards first yet. Is there any argument whatsoever for Int on the batter? What if R1 had kept running, would you have stopped him since his teammate had been partially responsible for causing the deflection of the ball? What if somehow that ball deflected from the bat and went in to dead ball territory?

ah... damn.. I am the idiot... totally forgot about the force. Was thinking about the fact that if two BR are standing on bag, the following runner is out when tagged. Duh... thanks!

Kind of surprised no one has come up with this but I think "I am only here to observe and rule on what you do, not tell you how to do it." or "you do what you think is right, and I will tell you afterward if it was or not"

So, R1 and R3, batter hits blooper that lands right behind F6, who grabs it and for some reason, throws to F1. Meanwhile, R1 is still standing on 1st, because his coach thought F6 was going to catch it, and B/R is standing next to the bag, but off the bag. F1 throws to F3, F3 tags R1, who then walks off the bag and to the dugout. B/R steps onto 1st. All in that order. HaHa. As soon as R1 steps into dugout I announce "Runner out!" and everyone looks at me like I am an idiot(including U1), seeing as how the play has finished about 30 seconds ago. How many people have run into this? And have you just called the guy out to make it easy on everyone, or did you do what I did and wait? Would you announce it if F3 tags R1 and then looks at you, or just give a safe sign? Just curious.

Took the Florida NFHS last night online. It was the open book test, but....couldn't find my darn book! Thought what the heck, took it anyway. 50 questions, no time limit. Took me 20 minutes, got a 92%. Was pretty easy I thought. Now that I think back, I would say about 70% T/F and rest Multiple Choice.

I wouldn't of called and brought it to his attention. If he is dumb enough to list it for that, maybe he employs people dumb enough to ship it out without checking... everyone should of just kept their mouths shut and seen what happened... now he knows...

I bet they won't cancel any orders on those $50 indicators and $50 umpire caps....

But if the ball did land foul, then it was a legally occupied base since the batter was not yet a batter runner... right? He is not forced on anything other than a 'fair' batted ball. My understanding of the interpretation of the interference in this situation is this: If the player makes no effort to get out of the way of the fielder while maintaing contact with the base, then out, if he tries to get out of the way of the fielder, but still keeps contact with the base, then no INT.

Which school did you go to ? Which one is more highly regarded? Like I said.. would really appreciate any feedback about them.

I was curious if anyone has been to either of the pro schools in Florida, and if you have any feedback. I looked in the schools section, but no one has posted anything about them. Just curious, thinking about going this winter.

Now maybe someone on here knows better than I, but when the coach tries to have a second Offensive Conference during the same batter, isn't it just a 'no, you can't do that', rather than a force to remove the pitcher? I would have thought the only thing they could have done was eject manager as a penalty.

We were having lots of trouble with the kids wearing jewelry here in our LL. We would mention it EVERY plate meeting, and yet, once a week, I would warn, and then end up tossing the next kid I found with it. Well halfway through the season our District had a meeting and decided that we would change our jewelry rule to "One warning to the team, then the Manager is ejected for that team". Amazingly, I have not had one problem since....

Why do I recall somewhere reading that when you brush the plate, whether you announce "Time" or not, time is implied, and the ball should be put back in play. I am very concious of this when I clean the plate, making sure that if there is any potential of anything happen, I at least hold up my hand and announce "Time" loud enough for the up-coming batter and/or catcher to hear me in case something happens while my back is turned. That way I will have a player that can atest to the fact that I did indeed call "time".

His reply was from the address 'Admin@umpireschool.com'... try that one guys

Seriously.. I really do think you are the same guy.... Thin skin, taking things personal, and blowing something really small WAY out of proportion.... Read the post again... I was pretty clear about what I said, why I said it, and most importantly of all, how I said it. None of it was an attack, it was meant just as Thunderheads took it, a nice way to say Trust me, I have never had a fan disagree with me in such a nice and professional way as I did with him, and on the flip side, I have never responded to a fan in such a horrible way as he did with me. His base ump was wrong, he knew it, and instead of saying nothing and moving on, he decided to strike out at me like I was some heckling fan that had been up his all night. My problem with you Brian is that it seems every time I post something you are more than happy to jump in with both feet and blast away how I handled the situation. Matter of fact, every time anyone posts anything, that seems to be your M.O. I did not try to throw the call back in the umpires face and belittle him in front of others, I just tried to show him that I disagreed with the call in a professional, courteous and mild manner... something that you could do well to try and emulate, in my opinion. I am done with this... thanks for your very well thought out and constructive criticism.. I have learned an awful lot If anyone needs anything else, I will be right over here... with my walnuts.. :hopmad:

ok.. rephrase... "Just opened an email...." now that I look at it, it was sent at 12:02pm today...

1. Well, I figured even though he ignored me, he would 'hear' me. 2. Don't know, don't care. Yes, I would feel compelled to ask my base ump why he didn't make a call on an attempted play, if not during the game, then after. Would I have done so if someone hadn't 'pointed it out', probably not. 3. Were you the idiot base umpire that didn't make a call on a close tag?? Or do you just like to argue?:hopmad:

Ok, so this past weekend I had an experience on the 'other side of the fence' that has to do with this situation.... My kid is playing in the District "Tournament of Champions" for 9 year olds. First game of the day, early in the game, and no issues or chirping from the crown previously. In other words, there was no tension between the umps and crowd yet. On a grounder, F4 fields the ball, then attempts to make a tag on R1 heading to 2nd. It was close enough that from the stands we couldn't tell if he was safe or out. F4 apparently believed that he made the tag, because he looks at U2 standing in deep C while holding the ball out. U2's repsonse is to stand there and stare at the kid. I am like "Uh.. where's the call??" Granted, the kid should of thrown the ball to F3 for the put out at first, but honestly, there were 2 outs and he thought he had made the final out, no to mention he's a 9yr old. Anyways, next batter comes up, they make the play at first, inning over. In between innings, once I am done shaking my head, in a totally calm and non smart aleck way, I say to PU who is standing by the fence about 10' away, "Hey there blue, could you ask the base ump next time on an attempted play to make a signal so our boys know what to do with the ball?" I wasn't being a jerk, and wasn't trying to show him up. I have a little experience here on his side of the fence, so I say it nicely and in a 'buddy to buddy' type of way so as not to make him think I was being a jerk. I figured he would just ignore me and go on about his game and maybe in the next break he would hopefully say something to his guy. Nope! He turns right around and starts in on me: "Well I guess it wasn't that close of a play now was it?"... well, ask me a question like that, and now you're gonna get an answer pal - "Well it was an attempted play, and the ump needs to make a call" - "Well that is why we don't umpire from the stands, another word out of you and I will clear the field and have you kicked out of here!!" - "Wow blue, I was just asking a question, no need to get all worked up, you sure do have some thin skin to be doing this job if you think you need to threaten to kick me out because of that comment" Then he just proceeds to stare at me, seemingly daring me to say something else. It was surreal how something could get so blown out of proportion over a little issue like that. These were 'professional' District umps, patched and I think even the guy on the bases was nominated to do some Sectional LL playoffs. It just blew my mind that he would blow a call that badly (not that the kid wasn't safe, but to make absolutely no signal of out or safe while standing 15' away from the play), and then to have the PU just go off on me.. it was just really a shock. It makes me appreciate how I handle, and how our local umps handle, these type of situations.

Just got a return email from Hunter Wendelstedt in response to an email that I sent yesterday.

I thought MLB was the only place you could wear jewelry by rule... but watching the Super Regional for College, they all seem to be wearing some jewelry. Was just curious for input from the guys who do some College games?

How would you guys have handled this? I am in C, new pitcher comes in. He has a very slow movement/drop to the set position, with barely any pause, but mine you, he does stop in my estimation long enough for it not to be a balk. Even a nanosecond less, and he is balking. Immediatelly the manager on 3rd starts complaining about him not stopping. I keep watching, he keeps doing the same thing, the manager keeps complaining, but getting a little louder and abrasive each time. About the 5th or 6th pitch, he says loudly, "That's a balk, he's not even coming close to stopping!" I call time, look at him and say "Coach, have you got a question about the pitching? He says "No, I was just talking to my runner on Third" "No coach, you were talking to me, and now I am giving you a chance to ask any questions you may have" "No, I don't have any questions" "Good, then let's play ball!" My question is would you of handled it this way? How much chirping do you put up with in this type of situation? I normally let it go, but he was escalating each time and I figured I needed to put a stop to it before it got out of hand.. do you agree? After the inning was over, he came over and said "Now I got a question, what do consider a pause?" I told him if I feel he has stopped his motion, then he has come set... he shakes his head and walks away, like he was expecting me to say something like "well coach, I really don't know what a pause is, let alone this thing you keep saying.. what is it? A 'balk'? What the hell is that?" :)

Is there a difference in the rule being applied in a situation where the runner is trying to avoid a defensive player making a play on the ball vs. the runner trying to avoid a tag? I can't see penalizing the runner for avoiding the player trying to catch the ball, when the bad throw brought the guy into his running lane, possibly causing an obstruction call in some situations. Now obviously, if he had the ball and was ready to make a tag, then he's out, but the way you described it, it could of been just an avoidance manuever to get around the player, not the tag.

I can't help it. I just can't agree with the situation the other night. A MLB pitcher takes a direct hit to the head/face from a sharply hit line drive, and the umpires just let play continue. WTF? This guy was laying motionless on the ground after being hit. I can understand letting some plays to continue, but I don't care what level you are at... if a player takes a shot like that, they should immediattely kill it and call for medical attention. With those types of shots, every second can be important. He could of immediattely stopped breathing, his brain could of been already starting to swell, etc etc. It blows my mind that they think the proper thing to do is to continue play. I know several of you are going to argue that you shouldn't stop play, but common sense needs to rule here. I say they should have a rule stating that if in the umpire's judgement, if an injury seems to be serious enough to stop play, then the umpire should do so and place runners where he feels they would have been with no injury. Good God people, it's a game, please use your heads (No pun intended!)