"Declining the Penalty" in baseball

[Jimurray]

45 minutes ago, Velho said:

It wasn’t discussed at length. I’m trying to recall if it was specifically discussed or if the rule was stated and we moved on, i.e.  was my above statement was the impression I got or a declarative statement (sorry, it was a long week).

One note, the academy was for umpires of all skill levels, some folks had been doing it 10+ years and others 8 months. My view: it’s not the intent, nor is it practical, to bottom out on every possibility. I asked many (and more than my share) of those deep dive questions when I could. I had to pick my spots and this simply wasn’t one of them.

In any game below Regionals (i.e. any game I expect I’ll ever do) this is a personal decision on how to handle it (and, again, given the benefit of y’all’s experience I’ll be prepared).

If/when I develop a relationship (hard to do in a few days) with some of the instructor level umpires, I’ll probe into these nuances that aren’t explicit in the rulebook (or even run counter).

IMO,  ESPN has turned the Regionals and WS games into a professional event. The sponsors are paying for it and they expect a pro level product (arguably a postseason MLB equivalent product given how few LL games are televised). A PU directing a BR (a moment which would be replayed and on social endlessly) on what to do with a walk off BB to win the LL WS final has potential to not go over well. LL and ESPN have put those umpires (we are all volunteers*, let’s not forget) in a tough spot.

* Some leagues do contract with umpire associations, though it’s far from the norm, and none of those are doing late post-season games.

The good news is it most probably won't happen and Carl Childress, RIP, would hope that it doesn't happen in your game. Any expert advice will probably never have to be used in OBR or NCAA (NCAA having a slight problem with emulating OBR when NCAA did change their rule and somehow adding wording that included "appeal".   HS makes it clear. Everyone touch or be subject to appeal before we "scurry off". That actually has happened more than once in HS whereas I've never seen a violation of their own rule in MLB or NCAA.