LLUmp35

Actually it is true. An umpire is required to (or shall as the book says) call the infield fly. If he does not and either manager ends up questioning it, it's still an infield fly and must be treated as such. Of course on the "borderline" calls, it would make sense for the umpire to say that it wasn't judged to be an infield fly catchable with ordinary effort.

I'm a Yankee fan and although I was not happy about the result, Muchlinski made a great call at second base. When I originally saw the play, I thought there was no way he was out because of the camera angle. The replay showed he was out by the slimmest of margins and additional props to Kenny Singleton for making the comment that it was a good call on the Yankees (WWOR-9) broadcast. Muchlinski got credit for that great call and subsequently got sent back to AAA as the umpire he was covering returned to the crew on Wednesday night. Too bad actually, I'm heading to the Stadium for today's game and I always like seeing the newer guys behind the plate. (Can't be much worse than Joe West.)

I've been accused of having a quick hook sometimes but this kind of stuff happens. Let him stare, just like I let a batter stare after a called strike he doesn't like. I have an unofficial clock running in my head as to how long is too long. If they have gone past the point of upset about the call to showing me up, I tell them it's time to return to the dugout. That allows the player/coach to make their own decision whether or not they want to remain in the game. I don't expect any player or coach to be devoid of emotion. However, once the emotional reaction is complete, they have the conscious opportunity to decide whether or not they want to continue to participate in the game. I don't throw them out, I simply inform them that they have decided to take the rest of the game off.

This is correct in the Little League and pro rules. The IFF does call itself and it can cause quite a ruckus. We had it happen in a minor division championship game in our local league this year. When questioned, the umpires both agreed it was a textbook IFF that was not called. We ended up having to call the batter out as well as another out that eventually occurred on the bases. In the case mentioned by the OP though, this isn't the case. They judged that the IFF rule did not apply and also judged that the ball was not intentionally dropped. I would say that the ruling would be to let the play run its course.

I went to the Bristol school a couple of years ago and it was a great experience. My class was also only about 30 umpires so we got a little more individual attention and focus. I've never been to Williamsport but I'm sure I'll go sometime soon. For the price of any of these LL schools/clinics, it's really a steal of a deal. I went to the 4 day Jim Evans clinic in New Jersey last year and a good bit of the content was the same. Evans was a bit more in-depth but for youth umpires, the LL schools are great.

Congratulations on getting that assignment. I did my first state tournament this weekend and it has kind of given me the itch to put in for a regional. For now, I'm headed to Bristol to watch.

Every time there is a dead ball situation, I clearly put the ball back in play. Just this past weekend I had a play in the state tournament that showed why I do it. After a foul ball, the pitcher took the mound but the batter and catcher were not in their spots. He attempted and did pick off the runner and I immediately killed the play. I didn't get a complaint from either side because I had verbally put the ball in play every time during the game.

I was lucky enough to have several assignments this year. My league hosted the Senior Girls sectionals and the Senior Boys sectionals and states. I did a plate in the girls sectionals, 3 games in the boys sectionals (3B, 1B and plate), and 3 games in the states including a plate in the semis and 3B in the final game. I actually got a couple of extra games because of the horrendous weather causing the tournament to be pushed back to a weekday and our umpires with day jobs couldn't get off of work.