[greymule]

I want to end a state tournament with this call:

Bases loaded, 2 out, 3-2 count. Bottom 7, tie game.

Batter fouls a ball off the backstop. As F2 retrieves it, F3 goes to the circle to say something to F1. From the backstop, F2 throws the ball directly to F1 in the circle, but F3 sticks out her glove and catches it.

Ball 4! Hooray! Gave over! Great call, ump!

At a meeting last spring, our state UIC himself gave us (county UICs) an example of "bad judgment" (his term) that involved calling a game-ending ball 4 or illegal pitch in a state tournament. I wish I could remember exactly what it was, but I think it involved a resin bag or a replacement glove or some other technical violation that nobody in the park had ever heard of. In essence, what he was saying was, "Ignore technical violations in crucial situations. Don't end a tournament on bull****." My own thought was, "Better not to write the rule in the first place."

Personally, I'd like to see the umpire given wider discretion. On things like F2 not throwing to the pitcher, my king-for-a-day rule would be simply that the catcher shall not delay the game by failing to return the ball directly to the pitcher. The book could recommend that the umpire give a warning and call a ball for future violations, something like calling a ball for stepping out of the box.

Whatsa "mound"?

You got me there. I simply cannot shake the habit of using that term, just as, try as he might, Ralph Kramden couldn't avoid saying "puh-LOP-uh-neez" for "POE-lo POE-neez" (if you remember that episode).