MrUmp1

[quote name="ntputter17" post="1020862" timestamp="1309119898"] First, congradulations to all the young men making the team, it is an honor. Now, how does a local all-star team not include the 2 time 4A "defensive player of the year", Nederland catcher, Anthony Babino? [b]Team must have been picked by an umpire with "very slow reflexes", if you get my drift[/b]. [/quote] Now thats funny !!!!!! I can tell you he would have been on any team I would have picked .

Sounds like a great league. Who is coaching our locals?

Cameron Yoe is my pick. C Heights and Crockett if they play for region final will be a good one.

I am looking forward to this next year. I think the kids that can hit with these bats are going to be in better postion for scholarships and those that could be drafted out of high school. Maybe this will also bring a little more stategy to the game where bunting and moving runners will be much more important. I also think it will make coaches manage the game different. Maybe pitchers will start working the inside a litle more also.

I don't know how many times I have heard the hands are part of the bat, well go buy a bat and see if it comes with a pair of hands!!! HSB has it right, if swinging it is a dead ball strike or if for some reason he has his hands in the strike zone maybe attempting to bunt. This sometimes is a tough one because it could hit the bat before or at the same time it is hitting the hands.

Rock Paper Scissors has always worked for me.

2 out of 3 from one small town hmmmmmm do I need to say again about the good ole boy network of the UIL. Now you understand the concerns of officials if the UIL were to take over officiating. As my girls say  I'm just sayin!!!!!

In the windup position, both feet must be at or behind the front edge of the pitchers rubber. Both do not have to be in contact, but you can not start a windup with one foot in front of the pitchers rubber. If runners are on base it is a balk. Doesnt matter if they are lefty or righty it is the same. It is not an illegal pitch with no one on. I think this rule is mainly to prevent a right handed pitcher from being able to turn his body twords a runner on third to either see him better or make a pick off try. This makes the pitcher have his shoulders more closer to being square with the pitchers rubber.

[quote name="tl34" post="996155" timestamp="1302589981"] If there is a runner on 1st, who tries to steal 2nd. The S.S. runs and stands between 2nd and 1st approximately 3ft from 2nd to receive the throw from the catcher. The S.S. blocks the runner from stealing 2nd before the ball arrives. Is the S.S. allowed to obstruct the runner and does the runner need to avoid the S.S? [/quote] If the ball is being thrown then he is making a play on the runner which is ok. I would have to think the reason he was on the first base side of second meeans the throw was offline a few feet and was positioning himself to catch the ball. Three feet if that is what is was is not very far. the runner just need to make a legal slide straight into the bag and he is ok. He can not run over the fielder. Now if the fielder does not have the ball or it is being thrown to him, then he could be called for obstruction. Many times these are the kind of plays that you just have to be there to see it and be in position to see. If for some reason coaches are teaching their players to get in the way, then they are putting them in danger of being injured. Many times you see this more in non high school games.

[quote name="oldwiseone" post="996138" timestamp="1302582078"] It was a time limit game and he was home team, behind, had 2 outs with about a minute to go.  Was trying to start another inning.  If his foot was on the plate while a pitch was thrown, is it considered a strike? [/quote] not if any part of his foot was still in the box. As an umpire I am going to make him move back just to avoid any problems.

His foot must be completely out of the batters box to be considered out of the box. If any part of your foot is on the line you are ok. Now if your foot is in contact with the plate when you hit the ball then you are out. Why a coach would tell a kid to do that is beyond me. I would say the umpire was half right.

If the umpire is in the infield and he gets hit with the ball and it has not gone past an infielder other than the pitcher, the the batter is awarded one base and runners forced would move up one base. In your case runners 1st and 3rd, you would have ended up with bases loaded as the runner from 3rd would not have been granted a base only the runner at 1st which was forced. I know you may say the ball that was hit was going to be a clean single and the runner would have scored but the rule is written as to not let the umpire judge if that was the case or not. So you were close.

I read this article and was quite amused by it. I know we have had numerous games at the 1A level that have been stopped before 4 1/2 innings. I have no idea if it is suppose to be reported to state or not that the contest was shortened. One reason for the rule was so that a team behind by let say 20 runs after 3 innings, had a way out to stop the game without a forfeit being called which did have to be reported. If a team forfeited to many games then they were placed on probation or the baseball program could have been eliminated. No one wants to see a travesty made of the game or kids humiliated.

What Billy did is really the same situation. I believe in the questions above the batter just stepped out and did not swing. Although this rule is not strictly adhered too, the pitcher is to deliver the pitch within 20 seconds of him having the ball returned to him. That also means the batter should be in the box also in that time. Quite a few years ago a rule was created that a batter is to keep one foot in the batters box between pitches with the exception if he had to move out because of a wild pitch or the batter swinging wildly at a pitch. Some of the old timers called this the Ronnie Anderson rule since it prevented the batter from leaving the plate area and walking halfway to third base in between pitches. I have seen in the last couple of years that college ball has a rule in place regarding this and there has been talk of MLB trying to speed up the game some trying to keep batters around the batters box.

[quote name="CrashDavis" post="994152" timestamp="1302181176"] [quote author=MrUmp1 link=topic=35113.msg994035#msg994035 date=1302130751] [quote author=irish04 link=topic=35113.msg993780#msg993780 date=1302099596] Batter's foot is out of the batter's box at the time a pitch is thrown. No matter where the pitch is thrown, this should be a strike, correct? Situation where batter's stance had his back foot behind the back line of the batter's box...umpire didn't notice it at the time, but this is just for future reference. Thanks in advance [/quote] Yes it is a strike  Most of the time this is called because a batter thought he had time and stepped out of the box when a pitch was thrown. Now remember this also, a batters foot must be entirely out of the box. Any part of the foot on the chaulk is legal. [/quote] The rule is, if the batter steps out of the box while a pitch is being thrown or refuses to enter the batters box in a timely manner, a strike is called and it does not matter where the pitch is thrown. Could be over the backstop, it is a strike. So you ask why? Because if a batter is allowed to do that he could become distracting to the pitcher. Again, so even if the pitcher throws the ball through the opposite batters box and to the backstop its still a strike just becasue the hitter steps out?  He still has to deliver the ball in the strike zone. [/quote]

[quote name="irish04" post="993780" timestamp="1302099596"] Batter's foot is out of the batter's box at the time a pitch is thrown. No matter where the pitch is thrown, this should be a strike, correct? Situation where batter's stance had his back foot behind the back line of the batter's box...umpire didn't notice it at the time, but this is just for future reference. Thanks in advance [/quote] Yes it is a strike  Most of the time this is called because a batter thought he had time and stepped out of the box when a pitch was thrown. Now remember this also, a batters foot must be entirely out of the box. Any part of the foot on the chaulk is legal.

I will check, comes out the same because runner could not have attained 2nd before a throw. You have made me think because I know if it is from the outfield we really have to watch where runners are when he uncorks one if it is a wild throw. Infielder could make a difference. Thats one reason why I love doing this because it makes me look up rules and I learn along with everybody else.

[quote name="WOSgrad" post="990761" timestamp="1301519546"] Here is why I asked Mr.Ump for an opinion.  I got this from the UIL baseball plan: (d) TIES IN DISTRICT AND NON-DISTRICT GAMES. Unless otherwise specified by district minutes prior to the beginning of season, a regulation district or non-district game called with a tie score after five innings have been played (and a winner cannot be determined) shall be counted as one-half game won and one-half game lost for each team. The game shall not be replayed provided five innings have been completed. [b]If five innings have not been completed, the game shall be replayed from the start.[/b] [/quote] From everything I have been told in the past, UIL rules for regular season games should be followed. As umpires, it is only our call to stop a game for weather. It is not up to us to tell the schools how they should proceed as UIL rules are suppose to be used. It could be up to the district committee to make a call about what to do. I do know that regular season games and playoff games are handled different. Playoff games resume where they left off, while a regular season game can be final after 4 1/2 innings due to weather.

It is two bases from the time of the throw not when it entered dead ball territory. When the third base threw the ball the guy from 1st i am sure was not already on 2nd so that is why he would get 2nd and 3rd . Hope that clears it up for you.

[quote name="pirate68" post="990498" timestamp="1301499475"] [quote author=PNGFan link=topic=82447.msg990418#msg990418 date=1301492495] [quote author=JoesBros link=topic=82447.msg990391#msg990391 date=1301489237] Sets up a big matchup in Vidor on Friday night now! [/quote] I hope the guys that ref the basketball game in Vidor this year aren't umps also. If so It could be a long night for the tribe.... [/quote]Someone correct me if Iam wrong but cant either coach scratch an ump if they dont want them behind the plate? [/quote] I cant believe someone is talking about umps before a game is even played LOL. Just to clarify, coaches can scratch a few umpires. It is not unlimited. If an umpire was scratched , most likely it is for the game not just a position. Admin is right, it happens far fewer times than you think. Our chapter does the best it can with the guys we have but on any given night there are only so many that are available.

[quote name="westend1" post="989656" timestamp="1301407959"] OK.  Runners on 1st and 3rd.  Coach calls timeout and infield gets together.  They successfully do the hidden ball trick, giving the ball to the 3rd baseman.  Pitcher takes the mound(but maybe not on rubber,that is disputed among the witnesses).  Runner at 3rd is tagged out when he leads off.   If pitcher was on rubber, i assume it is a balk.   Real question is, when does play resume after a timeout?  Can the runner be tagged out before the home ump signals the pitcher that play has resumed? [/quote] I think GT got it all, but here is the simple version. If the pitcher is on the dirt, then it is a balk to do a hidden ball trick. In High School ball only, a balk is an immediate dead ball. College and pro it is a live ball. If you notice, most of the umpires will wait until the pitcher is on the rubber then he will point and say play to signafy that the ball is in play and runners can advance or a pickoff is live. We do our best to get this across to our members to put the ball back in play. I do it so often sometimes I am pointing to the pitcher and the ball was still live.

[quote name="rbi12" post="989653" timestamp="1301407579"] Mr. Ump1, When weather becomes an issue, does the umpire clear the field when he hears thunder? Thanks. [/quote] Yes , the new rule is if thunder is heard clear the field. Players may not stay in dugouts and must go indoors or on the bus. 30 minute wait till no thunder or lightning. Sorry I am let answering and thanks to those who did answer but been in Exxon all day.

The school does support all of their sports. Are some more than succesful, yes. The baseball field has lights, good dugouts, and looks better. When I played there in the 70's, we had a wooden bench up against the fence, terrible grass, hard dirt and no fence. And I forgot the uniforms my first couple of years that were from the 60's. Did I ever think that the school didn't support me? Not in the least. Win lose or draw we were proud to be Buccanneers and I am still proud of being an athelete and graduate of EC 1977.

Thanks, all that I would really like to see is until we all here of a final ruling or a press release from either side that things are finalized, just to not try and jump the gun. To me unless you are a superintendent, athletic director or sports official, whatever happens will not effect you. I just hope this works out so the athletes of this state show up to play a game and there are officials there. You do not want this to be like little league where you get parents out of the stands to do this. I should not have to pay the UIL for the privledge of officiating their games.

It was the UIL that wanted this to go to Federal Court. They had never won in State Court. All I can say is you can not believe an article because they do not even understand what they are reporting. If they are getting their info from the UIL they have been getting the spin story UIL wants out not the truth. Unless you are one of us that have access to what the real facts are, you do not understand. If you think officiating is going to get better because of UIL, then just wait. Many states have a state athletic association that handles everything. They work for the state not for the schools so they can be impartial in matters between the schools and officials. UIL exist because of the schools so you tell me who they are going to back? It is a big money grab by the UIL.