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Originally Posted by BigUmp56
Thats right. Why go by the book or apply the rules the way the UIC for the largest national youth baseball organization suggests when you can make your own stuff up. Give me a break, Kyle. It's no wonder why other umpires call all LL umpires Smitties.
Tim.
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Easy now big guy.
The book states "When a pitcher is in contact with the pitcher's plate and in possession of the ball and the catcher is in the catcher's box ready to receive delivery of the ball, base runners shall not leave their bases until the ball has been delivered and has reached the batter".
A strict translation means if any runner is not in contact with a base when the pitcher and catcher are set, the umpires will drop their flags. We know that's not correct, but that's the way it reads. If we went by the letter of the wording F1 and F2 would race to their spots in order catch runners off base.
We all know the intention of this rule. And yes, there are widely varying translations to the above wording. Some go by the actual intent of the rule, and others by gospel of the green book. Third party edicts from Andy should be taken as seriously as the "a few stickers on a helmet are okay" statments from last year. (read: not very)
The
intent is to keep the runner from gaining an advantage to the next base. But if an umpire is going to drop his flag because the battery is set before he gets back to the bag, or he momentarily lifts his foot off and on the base during the windup, who's the Smitty? I'm going with the spirit in which the rule was written, and not poorly crafted words that made it into the book.