Banned Easton Bats

[Side Retired]

In a Babe Ruth game, an opposing coach requested the umpire check a bat. The bat was an older Easton model. The player claimed it had been his uncle's bat from college. The opposing coach claimed the bat did not have a USA brand on it. The bat had old dry pine tar where the logo would be, so the umpire couldn't see a logo. The said the bat appeared legal to him and allowed it for that at bat. Later, the umpire asked the batting team to remove the bat for safety reasons which they did. The opposing team wanted to know why the player wasn't ejected if the umpire later said the bat was illegal. The umpire said he never ruled the bat illegal. He simply asked that it be removed. The opposing team accused the umpire of making up rules and I tend to agree. Where does the rulebook say an umpire can half-enforce a rule? Either the bat is illegal or its not. Shouldn't someone have been penalized?

[BLWizzRanger]

The player wasn't ejected, probably, because the umpire allowed him to use the bat.  You can't punish someone when you allowed the act to happen. 

For the bat itself, 'Older' meaning, 1980's older or 2015 older? 'Older' tells me nothing. I don't know Babe Ruth rules however, NHFS states that the bat be a drop 3 and has a BBCOR stamp on it - among other specifications.  A 2015 older bat would probably has a BBCOR stamp on it, whereas, the 1980's bat wouldn't.  I would be surprised Babe Ruth would require a USA brand on it and not a BBCOR one.  Are you mistaken?

The umpire can ask a coach or player a multitude of things not to do that aren't specifically in the rule book.  If he changed his mind due to safety concerns, why are we faulting him?

This reeks of sour grapes. Possibly the coach catching the player of picking his wife's petunias and he wanted the 14yo ejected. But, the big question is what did the batter do at that at-bat?  Hit a grand slam to win the game in the first inning?

[JonnyCat]

26 minutes ago, Side Retired said:

The opposing team accused the umpire of making up rules and I tend to agree. Where does the rulebook say an umpire can half-enforce a rule? Either the bat is illegal or its not. Shouldn't someone have been penalized?

Unfortunately, I don't call Babe Ruth, so I am unfamiliar with their ruleset. However, I can offer this.

Perhaps the umpire didn't know the rules, and was making things up. What age group was this? If it's the younger divisions, often you don't get the most experienced umpires, or they are just starting out.

The illegal bat provisions and penalties are in the BR rulebook. They are different depending on the organization. Maybe look into a BR rulebook and find the prescribed procedures and penalties for an illegal bat.

You can also contact the leagues director and bring the situation to their attention. Maybe they can educate the umpire on the rule.

Did the umpire make a mistake? Probably.

 

[Velho]

2 hours ago, BLWizzRanger said:

The umpire can ask a coach or player a multitude of things not to do that aren't specifically in the rule book.  If he changed his mind due to safety concerns, why are we faulting him?

2 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

Did the umpire make a mistake? Probably.

(/🧼🪣

We all need to remember that umpires are human. And given it's an avocation that comes with a lot of social pressure before even stepping on to the field, I can easily imagine the umpire didn't want to be "that guy" in the initial encounter and then rethought himself.

"What battles to fight?" is a given in any interaction.

I don't let buckets on the field. Am I in the majority of the broad umpire community in my area (which spans from kids 1 year older than the game up to LLWS) - no. But I do it.

Do I get my laser level out to see if the bucket is 1 inch beyond the fence line? No.

Are there times where fields where he fence line ends 20 feet beyond the base and coaches go out there to sit on a bucket partially in the field of play and I let it go? Yes, especially if everything else is going well.

As UIC, on field or off field, if F2 doesn't have a dangle, will I stop the game until they get one? Yes. It's a LL safety issue, full stop.  No argument is going to work with me on why we'll play without one.

Do I get a stopwatch out to measure off 1 minute between innings? No. Never even considered it but I do keep the team moving along.

My point is, everyone picks what to enforce to the letter and what not to. This umpire went lax and then rethought himself. Next time, he'll remove the bat straightaway.

Not giving a crap what someone else thinks can help an umpire be great. It can also be their downfall.

Everyone is human. Humans grow and learn. I can promise you every umpire in the world is still learning - including MLB.

To borrow from @Richvee "If you're not getting better, you're getting worse."

 🧼🪣/)

 

 

[Side Retired]

6 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

Unfortunately, I don't call Babe Ruth, so I am unfamiliar with their ruleset. However, I can offer this.

Perhaps the umpire didn't know the rules, and was making things up. What age group was this? If it's the younger divisions, often you don't get the most experienced umpires, or they are just starting out.

 

 

To clarify, it was 14U. These were middle school age players, some going into high school. Babe Ruth is OBR, as I have been told.

[Side Retired]

6 hours ago, BLWizzRanger said:

But, the big question is what did the batter do at that at-bat?  Hit a grand slam to win the game in the first inning?

The batter hit one past the shortstop and drove in a couple of runs.

[Richvee]

2 hours ago, Side Retired said:

To clarify, it was 14U. These were middle school age players, some going into high school. Babe Ruth is OBR, as I have been told.

Babe Ruth is OBR based. They have their own rulebook 

[JonnyCat]

12 hours ago, Side Retired said:

The opposing team wanted to know why the player wasn't ejected if the umpire later said the bat was illegal. The umpire said he never ruled the bat illegal.

Okay, so 14u Babe Ruth. The umpire allowed the player to use the bat and then later removed it.

Is the penalty in BR to eject the player for illegal equipment? Or is it something else?

Sounds like the umpire wasn't sure of the rule, and then after pondering it, maybe thought that by removing the bat was the best course of action.

What if the rule was simply to remove the bat? Surely you wouldn't want a kid to get ejected if it wasn't warranted? Correct?

My sincere advice. Get yourself a BR rulebook and study up on the rules. And when something like this happens, help educate everyone at the appropriate time and through the appropriate channels.

I'm not saying you're stewing over it, but many people who do, come on this site to complain rather than learn. Again, not saying you're doing that. But we have to be cognizant that there is a huge shortage of sports officials.

The umpire may still be learning and it takes quite of bit of time and dedication to master this craft. I always tell people to be part of the solution.

 

[orangebird]

Yeah as someone in year 2, I can't say my focus in either year of rules reviewing has been bat rules, feels like something you'd expect the coaches/players/parents/etc to self-enforce. No idea how this ump has gone through their journey of studying the rules and their personal points to focus on, but "when is it an infield fly?" and "what the hell is a courtesy runner and why does HS let you DH for anyone in the lineup?" have been much more at the front of my mind as things that could come up 

[834k3r]

17 hours ago, Side Retired said:

To clarify, it was 14U. These were middle school age players, some going into high school. Babe Ruth is OBR, as I have been told.

The BR rules for bats isn't exactly OBR--but are available online with a rudimentary web search. But nowhere do they state EJ is required.