Umpire bingo card

[Richvee]

Filled a square on the umpire bingo card last night. 
1 out. R2,R3. I’m in “C”

D3K. F2 fires to 1B, out there. F3 races home, F2 can’t handle it, ball squeaks by him. I’m on my way to 3B area as I have an over zealous R2 rounding third who’s thinking about scoring. He sees F2 gather the ball, he puts on the brakes about 15-20 down the line and starts heading back to 3rd. I’m in a good spot for the throw to third, F2 cocks the arm, and…..here comes R3, who already scored, evidently heading to his dugout, cutting right in front of F2 as he’s ready to fire to third. “WOAH… Time! (Point at the scored runner)  That’s interference, (pointing to r2) you! You’re out!  
 

The cool part was, the call was so instinctual and easy to process, and not a peep from the offensive bench. 
The funny part was the look on my PU’s face standing flat footed 1BLX with a WTF just happened look on his face. 🤣

[orangebird]

Not directly related to your post but I've seen it a bunch where I figure I might as well ask: why does everyone prefer using F1/F2/F3/etc instead of P/C/1B/etc to refer to the positions? I can still figure out what everyone means but it def makes me take a second to remember which number is which position. 

[Richvee]

1 minute ago, orangebird said:

Not directly related to your post but I've seen it a bunch where I figure I might as well ask: why does everyone prefer using F1/F2/F3/etc instead of P/C/1B/etc to refer to the positions? I can still figure out what everyone means but it def makes me take a second to remember which number is which position. 

Habit. I love scoring baseball games I attend. 

[NavyBlue]

41 minutes ago, orangebird said:

Not directly related to your post but I've seen it a bunch where I figure I might as well ask: why does everyone prefer using F1/F2/F3/etc instead of P/C/1B/etc to refer to the positions? I can still figure out what everyone means but it def makes me take a second to remember which number is which position. 

When you're writing a situation or case play you might refer to the BASES as 1B, 2B, 3B so if it would be confusing if you used the same abbreviation for the fielders.

[grayhawk]

2 hours ago, orangebird said:

Not directly related to your post but I've seen it a bunch where I figure I might as well ask: why does everyone prefer using F1/F2/F3/etc instead of P/C/1B/etc to refer to the positions? I can still figure out what everyone means but it def makes me take a second to remember which number is which position. 

You'll get used to it. Once you get it down without thinking, you'll never want to use anything else.

[Velho]

40 minutes ago, grayhawk said:

Once you get it down without thinking, you'll never want to use anything else.

100%. I have to revert to layman speak when I discuss plays with my non-umpire (but baseball smart) friends.

[Velho]

12 hours ago, NavyBlue said:

When you're writing a situation or case play you might refer to the BASES as 1B, 2B, 3B so if it would be confusing if you used the same abbreviation for the fielders.

Batter hits a ball in between 1B and 2B that runner from 1B avoids as ball deflects off 1B and right to 2B who dashes to 1B just in time to get the out. 1B runner never slows through 2B so 2B, who's still near 1B, fires the ball to 3B as the 1B runner hits the brakes and heads back to 2B but 1B kept going when he missed the grounder so 3B throws to 1B at 2B to tag the 1B runner retreating from 3B before he can get to 2B. That's the third out on a 1B-2B-3B-1B double play at 1B and 2B.

What's confusing about that ?🤣

 

Sorry @Richvee, I got tunnel vision and cut through the middle of your story.

[834k3r]

13 hours ago, Richvee said:

Filled a square on the umpire bingo card last night. 
1 out. R2,R3. I’m in “C”

D3K. F2 fires to 1B, out there. F3 races home, F2 can’t handle it, ball squeaks by him. I’m on my way to 3B area as I have an over zealous R2 rounding third who’s thinking about scoring. He sees F2 gather the ball, he puts on the brakes about 15-20 down the line and starts heading back to 3rd. I’m in a good spot for the throw to third, F2 cocks the arm, and…..here comes R3, who already scored, evidently heading to his dugout, cutting right in front of F2 as he’s ready to fire to third. “WOAH… Time! (Point at the scored runner)  That’s interference, (pointing to r2) you! You’re out!  
 

The cool part was, the call was so instinctual and easy to process, and not a peep from the offensive bench. 
The funny part was the look on my PU’s face standing flat footed 1BLX with a WTF just happened look on his face. 🤣

[BLWizzRanger]

13 hours ago, orangebird said:

Not directly related to your post but I've seen it a bunch where I figure I might as well ask: why does everyone prefer using F1/F2/F3/etc instead of P/C/1B/etc to refer to the positions? I can still figure out what everyone means but it def makes me take a second to remember which number is which position. 

Don't let them fool ya.... the NHFS rule book defines them and uses them in their casebooks. I don't see them defined in the NCAA rule book, but, they are ubiquitous in all discussions on baseball. Learn them, embrace them, love them, you can't go wrong.

[jimurrayalterego]

1 hour ago, BLWizzRanger said:

Don't let them fool ya.... the NHFS rule book defines them and uses them in their casebooks. I don't see them defined in the NCAA rule book, but, they are ubiquitous in all discussions on baseball. Learn them, embrace them, love them, you can't go wrong.

We will allow SS for F6, LF for F7, CF for F8, RF for F9. 

[Velho]

8 minutes ago, jimurrayalterego said:

We will allow SS for F6, LF for F7, CF for F8, RF for F9. 

[beerguy55]

On 4/3/2025 at 7:40 PM, orangebird said:

Not directly related to your post but I've seen it a bunch where I figure I might as well ask: why does everyone prefer using F1/F2/F3/etc instead of P/C/1B/etc to refer to the positions? I can still figure out what everyone means but it def makes me take a second to remember which number is which position. 

Though most umpires hate the idea of scorekeeping, the numbers align with scorekeeping standards. It's consistent, and is in fact easier.   You don't write SS-1B to record a ground out, you write 6-3.  Hopefully the lineup cards you get each game are using 1-9, not positional abbreviations. For first, second and third you also need to differentiate between the fielders and the bases, and if you're going to use F3/F4/F5 for those, you may as well do them all that way.

[Velho]

29 minutes ago, beerguy55 said:

Hopefully the lineup cards you get each game are using 1-9, not positional abbreviations