Bullpens...

[urout17]

Working the bases for a NFHS varsity game last night.  Attached, I circled where the bullpens of both teams are located.  Not shown too well, but just behind where the catcher would be squatting to warm up a relief pitcher, is a chain link fence that stands about 6-7' tall and about 8' wide, equally constructed for both teams.  At this particular school, even when relief pitchers are warming up, teams place a protective player with helmet and glove for the pitchers safety, even though the pitcher is facing the field.

Last night, two players (not pitcher/catcher) from the home team (3B side) were standing in the area behind the fence rolling ground balls to each other and just playing catch during the live game. As soon as I noticed this I called time and told the HC to have his players get back in the dugout. Of course he wants to know why and I told him "Coach XXXX, this is a HS game and players are not allowed to be out of the dugout during a live ball. "Where are the supposed to warm up? Our pitchers warm up there! That doesn't make sense. I can put a safety player there"  He grumbled a little more but had his players return to the dugout.  The rule does state that a coach/player, etc., can't leave the dugout for an unauthorized purpose during a live ball. No other issues after that.

I've worked many games at this school and have never seen this before.  I can't imagine in all this time this hasn't happened before. The same HC has been there for years.

I'm just asking what does everyone think?

Thanks for your help.

[SeeingEyeDog]

I have a field very similar to this in my market and I have many of the same issues with the coaches as you described because I (like you, I suspect) are one of only a handful of umpires properly enforcing this.

If you don't enforce this and someone gets hurt, there's cameras everywhere now...who do you think is near the top of the list for phone calls about why or how someone on the field got hurt? The umpires. I try to pre-emptively avoid phone calls involving my potential liability whenever and wherever possible.

You need to gain an understanding of the mechanics of how your umpire association (if you have an association), engages with the schools and or the state athletic association (presuming this is a public school). Two things need to happen here...One, someone in a position of authority ABOVE the coach needs to explain to him that this is against the NFHS rules. The second thing is, your association needs to have messaging to all of its umpires to clearly and firmly state that if they see this, they should be handling it as you did. Once this is enforced universally according to the rulebook, this will stop being a "problem." There's too many umpires who either don't know the rules or are refusing to enforce them so, it's creating inconsistency for the coach. And for you, we don't care what was done previously and we don't care what the guy out here tomorrow will or won't do about this...what you care about is in THIS moment, during THIS game that YOU are working, we are going to follow this rule.

~Dawg

[The Man in Blue]

Is there an issue with declaring these as bullpens, and thus dead ball territory, in the ground rules?

NFHS does not have a definition of what a bullpen should be.

[JSam21]

This is their bullpen... they can do whatever they want to warm up in their bullpen. Also, the guardian doesn't need a helmet, just a glove.

[Jimurray]

1 hour ago, JSam21 said:

This is their bullpen... they can do whatever they want to warm up in their bullpen. Also, the guardian doesn't need a helmet, just a glove.

And the bullpen doesn’t “need” a guardian. FED did have a POE one year recommending a helmet for the protector but never made it a rule. We would have to ask if they cover that area as dead ball territory at the  Plate Conference. FED does define the bullpen as an area protected by a fence. 

[MadMax]

13 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

Is there an issue with declaring these as bullpens, and thus dead ball territory, in the ground rules?

You can declare them as bullpens all you like, but you can’t designate them as OOP/DBT without some sort of delineation or physical boundary. A line, a curb, a change of grass-to-dirt, dwarf-cones at the vertices, something… barring that, if you are just “winging it”, and ambiguously making up a “zone” that constitutes a DBT pen, then you’re going against an established method on how to handle this. 

Bullpens, at a variety of levels, can be and more-than-infrequently are in Live Ball Territory. 

So what’s the problem? What’s the cause for concern? Is it that physical space, and the features within? No, because every other bullpen / warmup “zone” in LBT, across the breadth of baseball, is, itself, not declared DBT. So again, what’s the cause for concern? 🤔 

Ah, it’s the humans (kids) inside it, when they are inside it, because of that stupid, nanny-state, overzealous hyper-focus on “safety” and liability that pervades NFHS Rule interpretations. 

On 3/12/2026 at 7:12 AM, urout17 said:

Last night, two players (not pitcher/catcher) from the home team (3B side) were standing in the area behind the fence rolling ground balls to each other and just playing catch during the live game. As soon as I noticed this I called time and told the HC to have his players get back in the dugout. Of course he wants to know why and I told him "Coach XXXX, this is a HS game and players are not allowed to be out of the dugout during a live ball.”

Hm… 🤔 Ever have a foul ball hit down the line, down into the corner? Who goes and retrieves it? You (as BU)? The base coach? Do you stop the game completely, awaiting an outfielder to track down and retrieve the ball? … of course not. A player off one of the benches goes to fetch it! 
Does he beseech you (the umpires) with, “Please, mister umpire, may I leave the dugout to retrieve yon wayward baseball?” 🥺 Of course not! That’d be ridiculous! He just throws a lid on, and walks / jogs / dashes out to fetch it. 

On 3/12/2026 at 7:12 AM, urout17 said:

Last night, two players (not pitcher/catcher) from the home team (3B side) were standing in the area behind the fence rolling ground balls to each other and just playing catch during the live game.

How do you know this? How do you know that one of them is not a pitcher, and his activities aren’t part of his “getting loose” routine? How do you know that one of the two isn’t a catcher, working in his eye-hand stuff before putting on the gear later on? They were performing baseball activity, in their designated / understood bullpen (area). As per your description, there’s even a brief fence (section) functioning as a backstop there, and neither pen is directly in line with an overthrow at 1B / 3B, so again… what’s the problem? 

“Because they’re in violation of the rule!” 

This reads of using the rules to create a problem. 

[urout17]

14 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

Is there an issue with declaring these as bullpens, and thus dead ball territory, in the ground rules?

NFHS does not have a definition of what a bullpen should be.

The ground rule at this school is designated live ball all the way to the fence surrounding the field, same on both sides.

[urout17]

3 hours ago, JSam21 said:

Also, the guardian doesn't need a helmet, just a glove.

We have them use both at all schools in our county.

[jimurrayalterego]

14 minutes ago, urout17 said:

The ground rule at this school is designated live ball all the way to the fence surrounding the field, same on both sides.

You might then not allow the ground rule due to the fence and require delineation of the dead ball bullpen. Wouldn't the fence present a danger to a fielder if it was in live ball territory. Also this is incorrect: "not allowed to be out of the dugout during a live ball." They are not allowed to be outside the dugout or bullpen area. So wouldn't that allow any type of warmup in that area?

[urout17]

24 minutes ago, MadMax said:

“Because they’re in violation of the rule!” 

This reads of using the rules to create a problem. 

Hmm....so if one of these players rolls a ball to the other, gets by him, hits the fence post, rolls into the field of play just as a batted ball is hit in that direction, you don't think that could be a safety concern or now there's two balls in play?  I know the first thing you'll say is that could happen with a pitcher warming up as well.  Sure it could, but the pitcher is using that area as designed, the others are not.  There are plenty of other places to loosen up at this facility.  Would you permit a player to be swinging a bat outside the dugout loosening up because he's gonna be in the game, of course not.  I'm using the rules to prevent a bigger problem.

[BigBlue4u]

1 hour ago, MadMax said:

This reads of using the rules to create a problem. 

Excellent point.  

[JonnyCat]

On 3/12/2026 at 5:12 AM, urout17 said:

I'm just asking what does everyone think?

Me personally, I would ignore it until it was brought to my attention. And even then, my replies could range from, they're fine for me coach," to a litany of other responses.

If I was the PU working with you, and you handled it as you described in your OP, I would not have an issue with it either. Run your game as you see fit. I would probably ask you about the situation post game just for the sake of discussion and curiosity (if I even knew what happened), but's that's about it.

Everyone has different game management methodology's. I felt I became a better umpire when I decided to enforce what I felt I needed to enforce, and ignore the things I didn't. For me, this situation is the latter.

I used to try and dazzle everybody with all my rulebook knowledge, but that didn't always work out as planned.😄

[Richvee]

Where is this rule that says only pitchers and catchers may warm up in a designated bullpen area? 

[dumbdumb]

so, if some of the lines drawn on the field are an inch off, do we have to call the grounds crews who may have gone home for the day, to come back and redraw the lines. you know a player could have gotten hurt by accident trying to stay within that one inch incorrect line, just like an inside pitch, one two or three inches can make a big difference in getting HBP. gee i also thought it was imaginary line, imaginary argument.

[The Man in Blue]

On 3/13/2026 at 9:38 AM, Jimurray said:

And the bullpen doesn’t “need” a guardian. FED did have a POE one year recommending a helmet for the protector but never made it a rule. We would have to ask if they cover that area as dead ball territory at the  Plate Conference. FED does define the bullpen as an area protected by a fence. 

Are we talking an actual bullpen or the live-ball bullpen?  Disagree on the helmet for the "guardian" if we are talking about a live-ball bullpen.  (Yes, defining that area is at the plate meeting . . . more on that in my next reply.)

 

 

Not saying you are wrong on the definition of a bullpen, just saying I didn't find it.  Can you point me to that?

 

 

[The Man in Blue]

On 3/13/2026 at 11:06 AM, MadMax said:

You can declare them as bullpens all you like, but you can’t designate them as OOP/DBT without some sort of delineation or physical boundary. A line, a curb, a change of grass-to-dirt, dwarf-cones at the vertices, something… barring that, if you are just “winging it”, and ambiguously making up a “zone” that constitutes a DBT pen, then you’re going against an established method on how to handle this. 

Bullpens, at a variety of levels, can be and more-than-infrequently are in Live Ball Territory. 

 

I didn't go into detail, as I felt it was unnecessary.  The conversation broadened out, though.

In the OP, my understanding is there is a fence on each side of the field that is perpendicular to the field boundary, and this sticks out into the field.  It creates the illusion of a fenced bullpen, but there are no additional fence boundaries.  In this case, pole to pole all the way down is, IMO, a logical designation.  This is dead ball territory, regardless of who is or is not there.  If it is dead ball territory, then the coach can have guys down there doing just about anything they want.

In a purely open field, I do not recommend this.  However, if we want to acquiesce to the coach's continual insistence that this is a bullpen and anybody can do anything, then we need to delineate that area and designate it dead ball territory.  Otherwise, it is live ball territory and they should not be there.

On 3/13/2026 at 11:06 AM, MadMax said:

Hm… 🤔 Ever have a foul ball hit down the line, down into the corner? Who goes and retrieves it? You (as BU)? The base coach? Do you stop the game completely, awaiting an outfielder to track down and retrieve the ball? … of course not. A player off one of the benches goes to fetch it! 
Does he beseech you (the umpires) with, “Please, mister umpire, may I leave the dugout to retrieve yon wayward baseball?” 🥺 Of course not! That’d be ridiculous! He just throws a lid on, and walks / jogs / dashes out to fetch it. 

An "authorized purpose" is the key phrase here.  Yes, it is a presumed authorized purpose, not expressed.  How many times have you had to tell that kid to hurry up and get back when he stops at the fence to talk?  Once you are out of the cage, you are not free.  Authorized purpose.

I found a case play that authorizes warming up the pitcher as a reason to be outside prescribed areas during a live ball.  It does not authorize everybody to warm up there, though.  (2018)  My personal reading is that it means going to the bullpen, not necessarily "creating a bullpen" in live ball territory, but we recognize this is a common practice.

 

 

[The Man in Blue]

16 hours ago, Richvee said:

Where is this rule that says only pitchers and catchers may warm up in a designated bullpen area? 

 

The site that I work most of my summer at has enclosed bullpens that extend from the dugouts.  I routinely chase the firing squad of "batters warming up" off the field while the defense is warming up.  I will then point out the bullpen and tell a coach, "They can all go stand in there, that is your team area."  A few will, but not usually.

Now, I see this discussion very differently if we are talking an enclosed or dead ball territory than if we are talking an open area that remains in play.

I'll also add a caveat to this and my prior comments, I am only talking youth/NFHS levels.  

[jimurrayalterego]

54 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

Are we talking an actual bullpen or the live-ball bullpen?  Disagree on the helmet for the "guardian" if we are talking about a live-ball bullpen.  (Yes, defining that area is at the plate meeting . . . more on that in my next reply.)

 

 

Not saying you are wrong on the definition of a bullpen, just saying I didn't find it.  Can you point me to that?

 

 

Actually FED doesn't call it a bullpen in the cite but we know what they mean. And the cite includes the requirement that the protecter must have a glove. Shaggers require helmets by rule. Protectors only have FED recommending it somewhere in past POEs:

“3-3-ART. 4 . . . Whenever team members are loosening up in an area which is not protected by a fence or other structure, another member of the team with a glove must be positioned between them and the batter to protect them from a batted or thrown ball within the confines of the playing field. No one is to interfere with a live ball.”

Edited to add quote from 3.3.4.Situation: "COMMENT: It is not mandatory that the protector wear a helmet."

[The Man in Blue]

18 minutes ago, jimurrayalterego said:

Actually FED doesn't call it a bullpen in the cite but we know what they mean. And the cite includes the requirement that the protecter must have a glove. Shaggers require helmets by rule. Protectors only have FED recommending it somewhere in past POEs:

“3-3-ART. 4 . . . Whenever team members are loosening up in an area which is not protected by a fence or other structure, another member of the team with a glove must be positioned between them and the batter to protect them from a batted or thrown ball within the confines of the playing field. No one is to interfere with a live ball.”

Edited to add quote from 3.3.4.Situation: "COMMENT: It is not mandatory that the protector wear a helmet."

 

So FED does NOT define it.  "We know what they mean" seems to be the core of 95% of disputes.

I get your position on those things, @jimurrayalterego, just not sure I agree.  I understand this area needs to be utilized to warm up a pitcher, but that does not open it up to be a social area for the subs.

Considering every other thing in the book indicates people of "authorized purpose" should have helmets on when in live ball territory, I will say this is an amazingly irresponsible comment on NFHS's part.  Should he be fine with a glove and paying attention?  Yes.  However, I've seen the "guardian" get nailed more than once (both thrown and batted balls) because they weren't paying attention.

For what it is worth, on my field, I'm requiring it.  That cite says "it is not mandatory", not that we can't require it if we deem it a hazardous situation.  If we are going to split hairs and say "the protector isn't listed in the rule", then I am going to split hairs and err on the side of safety.

And yes, maybe I am being overly cautious since we had a player die just over a week ago.

[MadMax]

17 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

For what it is worth, on my field, I'm requiring it.  That cite says "it is not mandatory", not that we can't require it if we deem it a hazardous situation.  If we are going to split hairs and say "the protector isn't listed in the rule", then I am going to split hairs and err on the side of safety.

It’s likely not mandatory because it further burdens / beleaguers the schools to provide yet more helmets, and it sets the precedent of – if a guardian is standing 90+ feet away, with a glove (at least), and he’s in such peril as to be required to wear a helmet (as well), then why aren’t the 8 defensive players also required to wear one? Why aren’t those in the bullpen, warming up, required to wear one (too)? 

17 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

And yes, maybe I am being overly cautious since we had a player die just over a week ago.

Be careful conjoining this bereft of context. Tragic and sobering that it is, it was at practice. 

Quote

High School Baseball Player, 15, Dies After Suffering Head Injury At Practice

- from YahooNews / USWeekly 

Christopher Detwiler, Sat, March 14, 2026 at 3:35 PM CDT

Add Yahoo as a prefe

We (as umpires) are always warned that we’re “on our own”, with no liability coverage if we adjudicate scrimmages and practices (for schools), that our “official representing NFHS” is only for sanctioned games. So in that same vein, why would NFHS (rules) be brought into question and application at practice (a non-sanctioned event)? 

[The Man in Blue]

@MadMax -- I 100% agree with you that NFHS's logic is "he has a glove" for his defense.  To me, this feels inconsistent for NFHS, as I also 100% know these are kids who don't pay attention or always do their job properly. 

As I said, I have seen that guardian get hit several times by both batted and thrown balls (and once almost by a bat).  In order to protect the battery from field hazards, he has to have his back turned to them.  A ball is being thrown in his direction no matter which one he stands behind (and all too often I see him stand behind the catcher).  If he is not doing his job, he has his back to the field of play.  Either way, he is exposed.

I didn't mean to infer that a helmet would have done anything to prevent the tragedy at the practice (I still have not been able to learn details beyond it was a line drive that hit him).  We presume he was on defense, but he could have been in an on-deck position or otherwise on the field in another capacity.

The point I was trying to make is that tragedies can happen at any point, so why would we not use the tools at our disposal to mitigate hazards?  Isn't safety supposed to be the prime directive in NFHS?

[JSam21]

On 3/13/2026 at 11:29 AM, urout17 said:

We have them use both at all schools in our county.

Okay... but they aren't required to by NFHS rule. 

[Velho]

On 3/15/2026 at 7:41 AM, MadMax said:

It’s likely not mandatory because it further burdens / beleaguers the schools to provide yet more helmets, and it sets the precedent of – if a guardian is standing 90+ feet away, with a glove (at least), and he’s in such peril as to be required to wear a helmet (as well), then why aren’t the 8 defensive players also required to wear one? Why aren’t those in the bullpen, warming up, required to wear one (too)? 

Added point of complication for the protector vs fielders: protector has their back to a warming up pitcher.