Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich Ives
Bottom line for some seems to be it's OK to play in the street because it's the car's fault if you get hit.
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An umpire enforces the penalties when rules are broken. As others have suggested, an umpire who tells a player to get out of the way, pick up a bat, don't apply a tag so hard is being an OOO. You create an advantage for one team when you influence the outcome of a play. I am reminded of a partner who bit off a bit more than he could chew during a college game a few years ago. The first baseman was a goon. He spit on the feet of runners leading off first. If a guy would slide back on a pick off attempt, he would slap the mitt down hard enough to cause tempers to flare. He loved it. A partner thought he could handle this player through 'preventive umpring'. vefore the game he told him to behave and not slap the mitt on opposing players. After the first time he did it, my partner casually warned him that he wouldn't allow him to keep doing it. An inning or two later the guy slapped the mitt hard on the diving runner's helmet. My partner told him that if he did that again he was going to be ejected. The next pick off saw the fielder slap his mitt hard into the runner's midsection instead. My partner fumed and the fielder smirked knowingly. From then on, he slapped hard tags to different parts of the runner.
Enforce the rules, no need to coach.