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Originally Posted by wadeintothem
In fairness, mine did..
For example, when asked about the obvious example regarding this call.. R1@1b advancing and F4 throwing - beaning the runner.. he essentially said
Well did the runner interfeer with the play or did the fielder hit the runner with the ball? If the fielder hit this runner with the ball, and in your judgement, the runner did not interfere with the play, then its not INT. Its simply the fielder hitting the runner with the ball.
I will make my call this year based on direction provided to me by national staff (essentially no change in enforcement) and I will tell any pissed of coach that he can file a protest, but that is my ruling. In my written statement about what went down I will state something like: the rule change now made the rule ambiguous and upon a black and white reading of the rule, I in fact agree with the coach that it was INT and further clarification is required by ASA.
This is their mess, they can clean it up.
There will be enough protests and problems, especially from Umpires, this year that I am virtually certain ASA will revisit it next year, if not sooner.
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Meanwhile, we lose umpires because of the "firestorms" caused by this type of change.
Again, many of us will rule the same as in the past and begin every explanation with, "In my judgment..."
But you will still have people working championship play who will take this rule to heart and/or not have the courage to stand up to a ranting coach, only to have it called correctly by the next umpire. I cannot blame the coaches when they get upset over this issue and, trust me, they will.