huntbomb72

I heard this from a guy I umpire with about a game he did. A couple of innings into the game, the coach on defense at the time starts yelling at the PU. Coach - "Blue, his foot was outside the batters box when he hit that." PU - "Ok coach." The next pitch comes right down broadway. PU - "BALL!" Coach - "Where was that one Blue?" PU - "I don't know, I was looking at his feet."

I read somewhere, and I've been trying it out, that if you back up a little it will help with consistency in calling the low pitch. Just be carefull not to back up so far that you can't see the whole plate and make sure you are still able to track the pitch all the way to the catchers glove.

Excellent tip, I do hear that all the time. "Blue, he wasn't on first, he was stealing." Soooo annoying!

I was taught that the way you say it isn't as important as making sure you say it the same way for the whole game. However, you should never show two closed fists together for a 3-2 count. Ultimately though, this isn't nearly as important as knowing the rules that actually in the book and how to properly enforce the penalties for infractions.

Always remember that asking for help is just asking your partner for extra information i.e. a pulled foot at 1B. This conversation should normally take place away from everyone else that way if your partner tells you he/she didn't see anything, no one is the wiser and your original call stands.

I usually adjust my mask every few pitches. I use my left hand to do so and as such can get an inconspicuous glance at my indicator. Meanwhile, I am not looking down at my indicator as I am bringing it up to my face and barely take my eyes from the field. Call it a crutch if you like, but when you work one-man and umpire almost every day as I do, I would rather glance often than forget the count or # of outs. I do agree with comments about not staring at it. A quick glance should be all you ever need.

The proper way for a coach to ask for help is to ask the umpire who made the call, BU in this case, if he can get help on something specific like a pulled foot or dropped ball. To ask for help on just the judgement of safe/out is ridiculous and the BU umpire should have responded with something like "I saw the play coach. My call." If the coach says he pulled his foot or dropped the ball and asks for help and the BU thinks he may have been blocked out. He should ask for info from his partner. After getting info from his partner, away from coaches and players, the BU still makes the call.

I agree, quality of play is more important to me than age group. I worked an 11U club ball tournament a couple of months ago and there were some really good teams in the division. One game I had five double plays. Pitchers threw strikes and the defenses played well behind them.

The key here is 18"

As long as they are not stepping toward the plate it's fine. Same 'triangle' used for making sure lefties don't step toward the plate applies.

My point is, if the BR immediately returns to first base after over-run/miss of first base, the defense cannot appeal that he didn't touch First Base. However, if he is award 2B, 3B, or HP because of an overthrow etc or because he rounds and takes another base. The miss at 1B can be appealed.

Just as an add-on to this discussion, blindumpire99 is correct the pitcher becomes a fielder. So remember if the pitcher step off and throws to first, if the throw is wild and goes out of bounds, you award bases as if a fielder threw the ball out (2 bases).

I think a couple of you guys are awfully quick to say 'toss him'. You are absoulutely correct, if in your judgement as an umpire, you thing the act was intentional. A hard tag isn't necessarily a malicious tag. I replayed the video a few times, and without being there, it is hard to say. A different angle may have told a different story. It looks to me that the pitcher intended to tag the runner in the chest. If you look closely, the runners arms come up and could have caused the pitcher's tag to go high. The way the pitcher reacted, there appears to have been a runner on base because he immediatley turned to check. There was a lot going on in that play and sometimes the best call is no call. Sometimes, that's just baseball. I would have been more likely to have ejected the runner who appeared to start after the pitcher, especially if he said something that could have incited a bigger incident.

The runner is safe once he/she passes first base even without touching the base as long as the runner is over-running the base. Missing the base is only relevant if the runner goes to second base or beyond, is safe, and the defensive teams appeals properly. Then, assuming the umpire sees the runner miss first base, you have an out.