[greymule]

I think if you're trying to be a pro, you should know every comma in the rule book. You should practically be able to quote it verbatim. If some coach asks, "Where is that in the rule book," you should be able to cite the number as well as any interpretations from other books. I also think you should know the case book cold.

However, for amateurs like me, who might work baseball and softball, or both Fed and ASA, or Fed and American Legion, it is hard to keep things straight, particularly with regard to things like width of lines on batter's boxes. It's also hard when each association makes slight modifications every year.

Take the subtle differences among all the associations as to awarding bases or as to whether an appealed missed base is a force play. If all you do is OBR, you learn every nuance and that's it.

But is the hockey mask legal in ABC but illegal in XYZ? No, you can use it in XYZ, but only if it has a certain embossed stamp and a throat protector. The throat protector is optional in ABC. How about using a gray or white undershirt, etc. As everybody knows, almost no one can keep all those rare cases straight across associations. At least I can't.

But of course knowing every rule is just a start. There are umps who get 100% on the tests and simply don't see the plays they way they actually occur. Years ago, there was an ump around here who went to the pro schools, had great mechanics, studied the rules like crazy, dressed professionally, and hustled all over the place. Everybody appreciated that, but he had the problem of repeatedly blowing calls.

[Edited by greymule on Mar 18th, 2003 at 12:28 PM]