Thomas Van den Eynde

He was standing in front of home plate, then moved towards the throw up the 3th base line, but this happend all well before the runner arrived.

F2 was holding the ball before runner deviated from his path.

Situation: Men's game MLB-rules R2 and R3, ball hit the LF, R3 scores, but then... R2 rounds 3th base while the throw from P7 gets to the catcher. No arguments raised by anyone that the throw beat the runner. The argument arose because the coach complains that the catcher was blocking home plate, I called R2 'out'. What happend was this: catcher was standing, ball in hand well up the 3th baseline about 2 meters (I'm European you see), so that would be around 7 feet (?). R2 deviaded from his running line to avoid the tag( unsuccesfully), catcher was standing with both feet on fair ground. So now (finally) my question: would this be 'illegaly blocking the plate' or is the runner out on the tag? The coach said that because the runner had to change his running line because of the catcher, he should be called 'safe' (obstruction). (Always hoping my English is correct 😉)

I was watching a consensed game last night of 9/7/24: MIN@KC. That's where this clip is cut from, so not a lot of video to make a good call, but nonetheless: here is my question. Did Tommy Pham (BR at the start of the play) make a move to second base or not? On the play the BR made it safely to 1st base on an errant throw, but if you look closely: I think that he makes at least one step towards 2nd base after wich the first baseman makes a tag. To be clear: Tommy Pham wasn't called out by U1. What would be the correct call? Safe or out? Ruling: 5.09 (b) (4)  He is tagged, when the ball is alive, while off his base. EXCEPTION: A batter-runner cannot be tagged out after overrunning or oversliding first base if he returns immediately to the base; attempt to 2nd.mp4

Correct, thanks for this information. Now I know I'm not completely getting mad 😀 Follow up question: do you (all who is playing under OBR rules) enforce the rule or not?

Can you give the rule number in the OBR, I can't find it myself. 😶‍🌫️🤔

Would you or would not occasionally admit to the catcher that you missed a call? Please comment on why you would or not.

That's a though question. The top countries (The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Germany) get in important input of minor league players (from all levels). The rest of the teams that play in Europe can compete with their level. Belgium however stays behind. We rely almost complete on 'homegrown' players. (When the European teams play the WBC, their are completely different teams: filled with Major League players, who never participate in European tournements)

Thanks for your advice. I'm just starting umpiring, so I can use any good advice, especially on mechanics. Would you talk to the catcher or not (as it our problem, not the catchers)?

I would like your advise on the following situation: Runners on 1st and 3rd. Catcher gets pitched ball on his thumb (again!) and fallus in paint to the ground. The balls rolls to a stop just in front of homeplate. Nobody picks up the ball. R3 scores. Still nobody of the defence gets to the ball (F1, F3 and F5 stand idle just looping at their catcher who is still lying on the ground). R1 advanced to 3rd base and threatens to score when finally F1 picks up the ball. UP calls time (I was U1). The coach of the defending team starts screaming that we should have called time as soon as we saw that the catcher couldn't get up after being hurt. What would you do? 1. Call time sooner? If yes, when? 2. Let play continue untill someone picks up the ball? It happened in an amateur adult league (in Belgium).

Last weekend I was UP with an unexperienced catcher. He sat very tall and held his hand stretched behoren him. When he asked an inside pitch he was blocken so much of my sight that I couldn't see the homeplate. When I tried to get into a position where I could see homepage, I stond almost straight and I couldn't see the pitcher because to my eye he was behind the elbows of the batter. I told him twice he was blocking my sight to no avail. Any tips/help on how to deal with this problem?

Can someone give the correct ruling numbers of the OBR? I called a balk for a 3th disengament without resulting in an out, but I couldn't give the coaches (who where still unaware of the rule changes) the correct number of the OBR. (I'm a Belgian umpire, we use the OBR of the previous year, so OBR 2023).