3 Interesting situations

[umpire_scott]

#1 - R3 is attempting to steal home.  As is many times the case, F1 gets distracted by the coaches/teammates telling him to step off that he balks.  PU calls "balk".  In the meantime F2 comes towards and in front of the plate to catch the ball from F1.  R3 lowers shoulder and plows into F2.  PU concludes "malicious contact" and ejects R3.  PU is unsure whether run should count so he calls me over to discuss.  I tell him that since the pitcher didn't throw the pitch the ball became dead once he balked and then stopped.  So in my opinion R3 is not liable to be put out.  I said R3 scores and then he is ejected.  Rule set is MLB with modifications (malicious contact being one of the modifications).  DC comes out and argues that the contact occurred before R3 touched home plate so how can he score if he has been ejected.  We explain that since it was a dead ball he was not liable to be put out.  I'm pretty certain we got it right, but not 100%.

#2 - I'm PU for this game.  This tournament does not have the PU keep get lineups from each team.  The teams are asked to fill out a tournament card with the lineups and the BU keeps it and keeps score on it.  Not sure why it's done this way, but it is.  After F4 makes a couple of fielding errors DC wants to replace him. He comes to me and says "I'm moving my RF to second and bringing in a new RF.  The lineup stays the same it's just defensive substitutions".  I relay this information to my partner who has the card.  Since it is "just defensive substitutions" no adjustments need to be made on the card.  One batter later the other teams scorekeeper/assistant coach requests time to answer a lineup question.  He informs me that the new RF is their DH.  So I call the DC over and say "you said that your lineup didn't change with that substitution, but you can't put your DH in the field like that and not have it impact your lineup.  The DH is connected to the pitchers spot."  I tell him so now your second baseman that you took out is not in your lineup anymore.  He gets pissed asking why I let him do it if I'm now telling him he can't do it.  I said "you never told me you were bringing your DH in.  I assumed you were using an EH or batting your lineup".      At this point we continue play.  Then between innings he asks where his pitcher goes in his lineup now that the DH is killed.  I wasn't sure, but I said the pitcher has to take the spot your former second baseman held, as the DH, who is now in RF must remain in his original spot in the order.  Did I get the lineup thing right?

#3 - Championship game of a AAA 15U tournament.  Two really good competitive teams.  Bottom of the seventh score is tied at 4, with winning run at second base.  F1 pitches and batter squares to bunt.  Pitch comes in and hits him right in the stomach.  Batter goes down in a heap.  I call "time" and quickly check to see if he is okay.  At this point I have HBP and am getting ready to award batter first base.  Inexplicable, without any communication from me, BU comes walking towards the plate signaling "strike".  Third base coach has come down to check on his hitter and sees BU's motions and starts to argue that his player was just trying to get out of the way.  Seeing this SH*#storm developing I pull BU aside and ask him what he is doing.  He claims that the batter never pulled the bat back so it's a strike.  I inform him that is not the case.  I then ask him what he saw.  He says, I kid you not "Well his bat sort of moved, but let's just let it go because this coach is going to get pissed".  I said "well that doesn't matter we need to get the call right.  So I ask him if he thought the bat moved towards the ball in an attempt to hit it or did it simply move as he was trying to get out of the way."  He isn't sure as he thought that not pulling the bat back constituted a strike.  So I conclude that the batter did not make an effort to hit the ball and award him first base.  OC comes unglued.  He yells "you can't overrule his strike call".  I said "I'm the PU I call balls and strikes.  We got together and based on what he saw the batter did not strike at the pitch".  I didn't want to throw my partner under the bus by stating he had misinterpreted a rule.  Next batter singles to right and the winning run scores.  As I'm leaving the field I'm really hearing it from the fans.  One mom even comes up to me and says "that's the worse call I've ever seen".  I tell her that she has no idea what she is talking about and she needs to go read the rule book.  I know I should have ignored her, but I'm not always very good at ignoring stupidity.  My only question is does my partner coming with the "strike" signal without me even requesting it act as an appeal of sorts as in a checked swing where I'm obligated to go by his opinion?

[noumpere]

1) No question asked.

2) You got it right, but as soon as it became apparent it was a DH issue, you should have adjusted the card so the pitcher was batting and informed the teams.  The coach should not have to come out and ask about that an inning later.

3) Since it turned from a judgment issue to a rules issue, you can change the BU's call.

[umpire_scott]

18 minutes ago, noumpere said:

1) No question asked.

2) You got it right, but as soon as it became apparent it was a DH issue, you should have adjusted the card so the pitcher was batting and informed the teams.  The coach should not have to come out and ask about that an inning later.

3) Since it turned from a judgment issue to a rules issue, you can change the BU's call.

1) My question was if an ejected player commits his infraction before touching home plate does his run count?  I ruled it did because once the ball became dead on the balk he was not liable to be put out.

2) Agreed.  The reason I did not is because I honestly did not even think about it at the time.  I've never had a coach, that I can recall, put a DH into the game to play defense.  When the coach asked me "well where does my pitcher bat now", I thought about it and made the logical conclusion that he would have to go into the replaced players spot.  Now that I know the rule I will get it right immediately.

3)  So to elaborate a little I did not inform the coach that it was a "rules" issue to protect my BU from some embarrassment for not knowing the rules.  But in reality I don't feel my partner had any right to even make that call.  I did not go to him for help, so his original call was not his to make in the first place.  My partner sort of tried to cover his ass by telling the coach he wasn't calling a strike, but rather asking me if it was a strike.  So let's say my partner did know the rule, but felt that the defensive motion created enough bat movement to warrant calling a strike.  Should I allow him to make that call when I completely disagreed and felt it was a clear HBP, and it was my call to make and not his? How would you have handled that, other then telling the BU to never do that again.  I'm just wondering whether better protocol would be to stick with the BU's call and go along with it or change it if you feel it was not the right call, since it's my call to make not his?

[maven]

1 minute ago, umpire_scott said:

My question was if an ejected player commits his infraction before touching home plate does his run count?

Yes, unless he was also out (for instance, for MC/INT).

3 minutes ago, umpire_scott said:

So let's say my partner did know the rule, but felt that the defensive motion created enough bat movement to warrant calling a strike.  Should I allow him to make that call when I completely disagreed and felt it was a clear HBP, and it was my call to make and not his?

He didn't handle it well: once the pitch hits the batter, he can't advance, so there's no point jumping on the "pre-appeal" of the half-bunt. The defense should request that you ask him, and he can ring up the batter at that point.

But given what he did, you handle it like any other mechanics screw up: get together and sort it out. If he had a swing, why wouldn't you go with that and get the strike? You're a team, not parties to a pissing contest.

[noumpere]

19 minutes ago, maven said:

But given what he did, you handle it like any other mechanics screw up: get together and sort it out. If he had a swing, why wouldn't you go with that and get the strike? You're a team, not parties to a pissing contest.

And, even if you didn't take his opinion -- what are you going to do if the DC now asks for an appeal?  that puts you right back in the trick box.  Explain to the OC that the mechanics sucked (you don't need to say whose), that you understand why he is upset, but that you (as a team) got the call right.

[ricka56]

8 hours ago, noumpere said:

And, even if you didn't take his opinion -- what are you going to do if the DC now asks for an appeal?  that puts you right back in the trick box.  

You are putting yourself in that trick box if you equate a bunt attempt/no attempt with a half-wing (which requires an appeal). They are not equivalent. If I see a batter withdraw a bunt attempt, there is no way that I will allow the DHC to shop for a call and abdicate that call to my BU partner unless I thought that I missed something. But since we have that play 4 feet in front of us, I can't imagine not seeing what happened.   

[noumpere]

54 minutes ago, ricka56 said:

You are putting yourself in that trick box if you equate a bunt attempt/no attempt with a half-wing (which requires an appeal).

They are exactly the same thing.  Happened in some MLB game I had on the other night -- and BU ruled a strike -- and replay (on the broadcast, not an "official review") showed BU to be correct.

[Stk004]

@umpire_scott , was one of the rule modifications for balks to be dead ball situations or to play it live? If it truly was OBR I don't see how the ball is dead once he fails to deliver a pitch. 

[umpire_scott]

On 6/23/2016 at 3:20 PM, Stk004 said:

@umpire_scott , was one of the rule modifications for balks to be dead ball situations or to play it live? If it truly was OBR I don't see how the ball is dead once he fails to deliver a pitch. 

Because in OBR a balk is a delayed dead ball.  Once the play is stopped then the ball becomes dead and the balk is awarded.  Or in the case that the batter-runner and all other runners advanced a base then the balk is not enforced.

[Stk004]

1 minute ago, umpire_scott said:

Because in OBR a balk is a delayed dead ball.  Once the play is stopped then the ball becomes dead and the balk is awarded.  Or in the case that the batter-runner and all other runners advanced a base then the balk is not enforced.

Yeah, I must have missed something in the OP.