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Carl,
I did my 3 trips to the state tournament ten years ago, partly because I did (and still do, whenever possible) just what you suggested - preventive officiating. Many times an umpire can do this without putting anyone at a disadvantage, and everyone looks good. Of course, the higher the level of ball one does, the less preventive officiating can be done, because players are technically better, and coaches like to exploit the shortfalls of the other team. At higher levels who am I to make their jobs harder? I still do preventive officiating at the college level. Some of it is mandated (throwing out illegal bats in the pregame inspection), and some is not ("go tell your pitcher if he throws at this guy he's done..."). I am a proponent of heading off problems before they become problems - not ignoring something and hoping it goes away. The trick is knowing what to do and when to do it - and we both know that is where experience is the best teacher!
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