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Let's not knock baseball needlessly....
I've made a serious effort to try to understand softball a bit better this season. I made myself available to work HS softball (a 1-year experiment in which I worked 3 varsity SB games), so I've been lurking here for quite some time. Some comments on this thread from a baseball umpire who calls adult recreation baseball (MSBL):
(1) We have non-collision rules. We call it the go-to-work-on-Monday rule. We don't tolerate guys like the original poster acting like this -- this is not the 1970 AllStar game and our players aren't named Fosse or Rose.
(2) Anyone who said something like the original poster did risks ejection, just for saying what he said. I will not allow a situation escalate into a potential beanball war so a SS can act macho. He will at least get some comment from me, warning of ejection if the play happens again.
(3) Adults are not as athletic as the youngsters at times. Throw around the friggin runner. Any semi-talented fielder would've come through the base and made the play anyway.
Baseball is a different sport, but I don't think it is as different as some of you think. It takes hard work to umpire both sports well and constant study to know the rule sets and mechanics inside and out. At high levels, both are a joy to work. At low levels, both can be quite painful at times.
At the recreation level, let's just have a little fun and not get anyone hurt or bloodied.
Rich
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