I just did my first game. Things went okay, although one team ended up not happy with calls on the bases (this must be a very familiar situation to all umpires).
I let the pitcher go to his mouth with his hand, and decided not to say anything about it because he was on the edge of the dirt circle, basically almost off of it. This raises the question of a philosophy of umpiring; should you call things strictly by the book, or call things more in the spirit of the game? I am more in favour of going right by the rulebook, but I let it go today.
Also, how do you guys feel about only calling that if someone on the other team complains about it? I don't agree with this, as it results in the other team calling the game for you.
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