[Rich]

I don't come out of the woodwork often, choosing to spend what little time I have writing my articles for eUmpire.com, helping to run a little listserv called UmpiresTalk, and participating in one of my former associations' listservs. But please, lend me your ears for a moment.

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Cool crew?

Emperor?

It is truly amazing to me how people use such blatantly transparent euphemisms in an effort to try to knock a group of people and their ideas and efforts.

I am a co-owner of this list I believe Rex calls "the cool crew". I am a friend of the person the Moose calls "the emperor."

And, yet, I publicly, privately, and to anyone who cares to listen vehemently disagreed and continue to disagree with the "consensus" opinion on the balk thread held now on a handful of boards and listservs.

Over on a private list I co-own with the emperor, we have, since Thursday, argued and fought back and forth over this posted play. 141 meesages have been posted on this particular play since late Wednesday. There has been no consensus, and I think we've reached the A2D stage. Blood, as always, was spilled, but mostly contained within our community. As always, anyone was free to posted dissenting opinions anywhere he wanted to.

Those who have complained either here or elsewhere have a personal axe to grind OR at one time failed to meet the required level of decorum on our private mailing list. And say what you want about that -- when people decide to run a private mailing list or run a message board on a website, the rules of engagement and the guidelines for membership are exactly what the owners decide they will be. Period.

So all of you confused (or amused) readers out there: Ignore this petty whining going on by people who have other motives for trying to gain your support.

One thing is clear to anyone who takes the time to bother to think: Those of us who post under the flag of UmpireTalk or eUmpire.com (My opinion here is mine alone and does not necessarily represent those at UmpiresTalk or eUmpire.com) DO take this game and the study of rules, mechanics, interpretations, and the intent and custom of it all very seriously. Nothing that we post is ever posted without our doing research on the rule or interpretation in question.

ObBaseball: I still think that anytime a pitcher steps off, while in the windup position, with his non-pivot foot, a balk shall be called. OBR 8.01 (a3) and NAPBL 6.4(h) leave little wiggle room for disagreement. I've argued this until blue in the face. And yet, I respect Warren, Carl, Jim Porter, and all the others who have tried to convince me otherwise.

Rich Fronheiser,
Natick, MA