[Linknblue]

Working ASA this weekend. PU made a call on a batter hitting the ball while outside the box. He did all the mechanics correctly and called her out. Coach came out for a discussion and PU pointed to spot on ground where batter was but coach took exception....not arguing where she was when contact was made but that the boxes were marked incorrectly and she was actually still within the boundries of a proper batter's box.

PU disagreed and marched off box measurment using feet to measure box and indicated, in his opinion, they were correct. Coach disagreed and indicated boxes were lined improperly.

PU got animated at this point and told coach to go back to dugout, he'd heard enough and that his ruling was going to stay with the out. He also issued a warning to the coach for "arguing".

Long story short, the PU when he measured took 3 steps, heel to toe, when he measured and he should have taken 4 steps. The boxes were actually marked with the front line being 3 feet out instead of 4 feet so coach was correct.

Is this a "protestable" issue? I'm thinking it is because the rules say what the box measurements should be and they violated the rules. Coach didn't protest because I don't think he knew he could on this issue.

In reality this should have been checked before game and if they were wrong PU should have probably said something at pregrame meeting and then rubbed out the "wrong lines" and said he'd use his judgment.

Am I wrong in this?