Using Wrong Baseball, very wrong baseball...

[willv28]

In a game last year I was BU. The PU who was my brother in law throws in a baseball the coach had given him. Play continues. Then the home coach comes out and says "something's not right here. that hit sounded kinda odd." They take the baseball and look at it. Turns out no one checked the baseball and they were using a coach pitch ball....

[Umpire in Chief]

I had a Pony game where one of those rubber balls came into a game. I don't even know how it entered the game but it didn't ping off the bat it was definitely a different sound off of the bat. The player popped one up in the infield which was easily caught for an out. I asked for the ball after the sound and then tossed the ball. The coach wanted the out negated and the player to have a new at bat with a clean count. I told him no and he didn't argue, life went on.

[blindumpire99]

I was doing the dish in a Babe Ruth state a few years ago, R3 and R1, when the batter drilled one that dropped right against the bottom of the fence in right center field. The hosting "grounds crew" had a done a magnificent job of getting the entire complex looking great for the tourney except that someone had forgotten to "weed eat" in a stretch of grass against the fence in this particular spot. It was an area of about 6 - 8 feet long or so with grass reaching about a foot high.

So I catch the R3 as he crosses the plate and move up the line to catch R1 coming into 3rd base. I glance back towards the general direction of the throw and, lo and behold, all I see is a dark blob of something screaming towards 3rd base. I first thought it was a small bird until I realized it was not THE white'ish colored baseball that SHOULD have been coming in, but rather an old, brackish colored, water logged glob of a baseball that the outfielder had picked up and thrown back into the infield to play.

The runner beat the throw easily and I immediately called 'time' and asked for the "ball". Well here comes the DC out asking ( in so many terms) and then my partner is out in the outfield telling one of the outfielders to go get the REAL ball and throw it back in. I see them rummaging around in the grass and finally it comes back in.

So now the DC is asking for INT because his boys "had to throw in" a heavy waterlogged ball. So the OC now thinks he oughta try his chances and asks for his own brand of INT (his word) because he could have scored his runner(s) since the real ball was not actually being played, ect ect..

I gotta admit, I was brainfarted and conferred with my partner about it. We both decided if the outfielder was dumb enough to pick up an obviously old worn out ball and toss it back into play, rather than the REAL ball which had to have been lying within a couple of feet of it anyway, that we had no choice but to let the play stand as it played out. The coaches were sportsmen enough about it, even while pleading their "case", even though we did all end up chuckling about with no hard feelings, and game on again.

I did a JV game a number of years ago where both teams were not rivals but seem to have a good relationship towards each other as evidenced by a number of players conversing before the game as we arrived at the field.

The game date was April 1st --I'll never forget..

The home pitcher in the top of the first took the mound with his own ball, as happens most of the time anyway. I really don't remember why or what happened that I was distracted from his warm up throws but I did happen to notice that the catchers mitt sounded funny and wasn't exactly popping when the last pitches came in.

The first batter took his place, I put it in play, and I saw the pitcher grin. He uncorked one in, the batter swung and with a very dull "THUNK' fouled it off into the screen.

I thought "hoooo-lee sheet!' that punk threw a rubber playground ball in here!"

I immediately knew something was bad wrong but when I saw the ball bouncing off the ground it confirmed exactly what I had thought.

I picked the ball up, the catcher sorta laughed a little and said "sorry Blue,".

I asked him just whose idea that it was to throw this ball. He laughed, the fans were chuckling--

and I dumped both him and the pitcher.

Here comes rat DF coach out like his butt was on fire wanting to know:WTF but when I showed him exactly , he chewed both of his players OUT:tantrum:! and apologized..Meanwhile the OC asked for, and got, a 0-0 count. He never pressed the issue but mentioned that the pitcher and batter were longtime friends who hung out togther a lot.

[moblue]

The game date was April 1st --I'll never forget..

Don't you think an ej in this situation was a little harsh? I mean, I'm all for upholding the integrity of the game, but if the pitcher and lead-off batter were good friends, and considering the date, don't you think it would have been just as well to let it slide. Also, it was a JV game, so I would think a quick joke such as this would have some leeway. You found it before there was any real harm done and reset the batter's count.

I know if I were a pitcher and did that to one of my friends, I wouldn't have cared to get ej'd for it. It was a good joke.

Note: I'm not saying you're wrong, as you had every right to toss the pitcher and catcher. All I'm saying is don't you think it would have been equally acceptable to let it slide?

[jjb]

Yeah, that may have been a little harsh, 99. In Celebrity SB games, we usually had the pitcher toss a white-colored (shoe polish) grapefruit for his first pitch. The result was usually dramatic.

The plate umpire should give the ball to the pitcher. If something bizarre happens, just have the batter either take the play or a new count with a real ball.

[Ump Rube]

I think the ejection was harsh but deserved. Not only was the joke played on the batter, but the ump as well. I would definitely let F1 & F2 know that in the future they need to check with me before trying to pull something like this. :Horse:

[willv28]

I would've called a ball for the pitcher unnecessarily delaying the game and gave a warning. You could eject if you wanted but I probabl-i wouldn't of been able to help but chuckle inside too.

[Umpire in Chief]

I remember hearing something once about a MLB game where the pitcher threw a potato? Does anybody else know about this or am I on the crack pipe again.

[moblue]

No, I remember reading something about that too. Seems like the player got ejected for it, but the team used it as a way to attract attendance to the ballpark by having "potato day" or something.

[Umpire in Chief]

At least your with me Mo because I cant find it using Google.

[noumpere]

I remember hearing something once about a MLB game where the pitcher threw a potato? Does anybody else know about this or am I on the crack pipe again.

With R3, F2 threw a potato into left field and then tagged the runner coming home with the ball.

No, I wasn't there.

[Umpire in Chief]

With R3, F2 threw a potato into left field and then tagged the runner coming home with the ball.

No, I wasn't there.

Thanks for putting me on the right track. Found the story here if anyone is interested.

Our Hero: Mr. Potato has the right stuff

By Jayson Stark

October 10, 1987

[blue32]

Beware of coaches asking for a home run ball for their player who just hit it, saying "If you give me that ball, I'll replace it with another." Being a good sport, I usually do it, but always, always, inspect the "replacement" before giving them the home run ball. I don't know how many times they try to give me a cal ripken ball during a babe ruth game, or in a cal ripken game, try to give me a coach pitch ball.

[bdsibert12]

Umpire in Chief,

I'm pretty sure there was a story in Chicken Noodle for the Sport's Fans Soul about a minor league catcher who rounded a potato to make it look like a baseball, then ended up getting ejected and I think kicked off of his team for doing so.

[gixxershane]

Umpire in Chief,

I'm pretty sure there was a story in Chicken Noodle for the Sport's Fans Soul about a minor league catcher who rounded a potato to make it look like a baseball, then ended up getting ejected and I think kicked off of his team for doing so.

Welcome to the boards!!! :D

[mstaylor]

See Warren's last post and you will see a link to the story.

[Typhoon]

Thats almost as bad as the day Norm Cash came to bat for the Tigers with 2 out in the bottom of the ninth with Nolan Ryan working on a no-hitter. No one seemed to notice that Cash had a table leg from the clubhouse instead of a bat in his hand. He finally asked the PU (Luciano) are you gonna let me hit with this? The umpire doubled over with laughter and ordered him to get a regulation bat. Cash immediately popped out to end the game and Ryan got the second no-htter of his career.

Tony