House Rules

[PeteBooth]

I thought I would get off the Divisional Championships NL/ALCS and World Series for a minute and discuss something that's closer to home

I along with probably most of you umpire a variety of leagues. In my experience, there are no 2 amateur leagues alike, meaning they each have their own nuances or what I refer to as "House Rules".

Also, some even have some strange ones like only 1 base award on any over throw. RE: DBT is only 4 to 5 feet on either side of first or third so virtually any errant throw winds up in DBT.

I umpire a mens league in which they have a 3 hit batter rule meaning if F1 hits the 4th batter, he MUST be removed.

I can go on and on. My point is I 've heard some umpires say "I don't umpire games unless they play by REAL rules"
What are REAL rules?

The leagues we service are the CUSTOMERS so who really cares about what rules they play by. It's THEIR game not ours, so simply enforce whatever they want.

In addition, some umpires say "You are asking for a can of worms accepting House rule type games" My answer "How am I"

I don't know about you but I've umpired games where the rules were determined at the plate conference. It goes something like this "Hey Skip what are we doing today"

Skip " Blue we are using OBR EXCEPT we want the FED DH rule and the FED Force Play Slide rule" If the league(s) do not like the outcome of THEIR own rules then it's up to them to change it.

Some of these leagues especially the mens league pay a good umpire FEE. The men's league in my area pays $75.00 for 9 and $65.00 for 7 and they use WOOD bats so the game doesn't drag on.

Therefore what's your experience with "House Rules" and do you have a problem taking games in which they have some strange rules.

Pete Booth

[brian43]

i do sanctioned little league, which follows LL rule book strictly.

i do independent traveling leagues as well (from 13 yr. olds to 16-17 yr. olds.) and they tell me what they want at the plate confrence. most of them play OBR and sometimes they want to hit 10 guys or they want to do special stuff with runners for catchers and what not. a coach will usually say they want to do something special (like with runner for catcher, pinch runners) and if both agree its fine with me. im not picky on what they want. i call the game to how they want to play.

i will do whatever the coaches want, as long as its still a baseball game. usually the only changes to regular rules are usually with runners for catchers or pinch runners. sometimes its the guy that made the last out, and sometimes its a guy that isnt in the game.

the college league i did this fall was NAIA but we just did OBR with free substitution and hit a 10 man lineup.

[Edited by brian43 on Oct 19th, 2003 at 05:48 PM]

[chris s]

Originally posted by PeteBooth
I thought I would get off the Divisional Championships NL/ALCS and World Series for a minute and discuss something that's closer to home

I along with probably most of you umpire a variety of leagues. In my experience, there are no 2 amateur leagues alike, meaning they each have their own nuances or what I refer to as "House Rules".

Also, some even have some strange ones like only 1 base award on any over throw. RE: DBT is only 4 to 5 feet on either side of first or third so virtually any errant throw winds up in DBT.

I umpire a mens league in which they have a 3 hit batter rule meaning if F1 hits the 4th batter, he MUST be removed.

I can go on and on. My point is I 've heard some umpires say "I don't umpire games unless they play by REAL rules"
What are REAL rules?

The leagues we service are the CUSTOMERS so who really cares about what rules they play by. It's THEIR game not ours, so simply enforce whatever they want.

In addition, some umpires say "You are asking for a can of worms accepting House rule type games" My answer "How am I"

I don't know about you but I've umpired games where the rules were determined at the plate conference. It goes something like this "Hey Skip what are we doing today"

Skip " Blue we are using OBR EXCEPT we want the FED DH rule and the FED Force Play Slide rule" If the league(s) do not like the outcome of THEIR own rules then it's up to them to change it.

Some of these leagues especially the mens league pay a good umpire FEE. The men's league in my area pays $75.00 for 9 and $65.00 for 7 and they use WOOD bats so the game doesn't drag on.

Therefore what's your experience with "House Rules" and do you have a problem taking games in which they have some strange rules.

Pete Booth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Pete, here we go again....

My PONY reg season, OBR, then PONY, then local rules, ie; 4 innings per day, bla-bla.

Onto the O-30 crowd... OBR, except the following...fielders must avoid, 3 knockdown rule,courtesy runners,batting a continious order(only ejections cause an out in the order when the ejectee can't hit), unlimited subs in the field......

AS long as I see all this preamble in writing, have at it boys(yes, I mean boys) go for it!!!

Resigned this past season from the O-30 crap... I'd rather spend my Sundays working youth football from 10 am to 3:30 pm and getting a hundred bucks, having fun with the kids I'll see a few years from now than getting a 150.00 and traveling 50 or so miles and getting crapped on!

Depending on how your "house rules" are set up, I'd have to say ours are OBR with exceptions, not the "5 feet within....", no way, setting someone up with that BS.....

[Dave Hensley]

I think you make pretty good points, Pete, and I don't have much of a quarrel. I still think it's goofy about the league you work that changes base awards for balls thrown out of play, but yeah if that's what they wanted to do I guess I'd acquiesce.

I would draw the line at "house rules" that adversely impact reasonable safety rules.

The high school fall league I'm working this fall is kind of amusing in that the coaches (who are mostly just dads helping out the "real" coach, who can't actually coach the team due to UIL rules) all say they're playing "high school rules," but most of them don't know the first thing about the many differences between FED and the pro rules they're more familiar with.

Fall ball is typically pretty low key, though, so we tend to muddle through without serious incident.

[greymule]

In the league that awards one base on an overthrow, where do you place Abel if he hits a ground ball to F6, and then F6, attempting to throw Abel out at 1B, throws the ball over F3 into DBT?

[SC Ump]

My only problem with specific league rules like this is that they are usually not clear or might conflict with the "real" rules.

Example: Written rule on the official photocopied paper states L.L. rules except... One of the exceptions is, "Free substitutions." Pitcher is removed in the second and wants to come back in the fifth. Does the "free substitution" mean for the pitching position pitchers, too? (Both coaches insist this was discussed at the preseason coaches' meeting, but they have a different answer on the outcome.)

If the special rules are clear, I don't have any problems calling them... especially those mercy rules: 15 after five or 10 after two if the pitcher has walked more than seven. (Heck, I'll even help them make up new mercy rules if I can get the coaches to agree.)

[GarthB]

Pete:

I will not umpire for any "league" or association which deviates from a set of official rules (OBR/FED/PONY/NCAA/Babe Ruth, etc.)if they do not have their deviation in writing.

I used to hear coaches say things like "we only give one base on throws into DBT", too, only to find out that upon investigation that there was no such "rule". They were just attempting to institutionalize a myth.

99% of the time you run into crap like this, it is the same. They really don't have a "rule" that runs afoul of reality. Instead they have a "practice" that runs afoul of reality. Instead of bowing down to nonsense, this is an opportunity to educate.

When I get calls asking me to work in or assign for a league with which I am not familiar, or one that has a reputation for strange rules, I ask them for a copy of any and all rules that vary from official rules. In those few instances where they have something in writing, they are invariably rules that affect safety or participation.

I never accept a coach's word on anything that violates real baseball rules, and I have never had to defend utilizing the real rules with league officials.

[Jerry]

There are many instances where we don't get the "house rules" ahead of time. Nor do we get the "interpretations" of those rules . . . as conflicting and confusing as they may be at times. Having officiated many games over the years, using a variety of non-book rules, I now use the following rule of thumb.

Absent of a known "house rule", printed and agreed upon ahead of time, I'll enforce the rule as written in the applicable rule book (OBR, FED or NCAA). If there's an objection to that, on the field at the time of the occurence AND if both coaches agree, I'll abide by their agreed-upon house rule. If the coaches disagree, or if I have the written "house rule" in hand, I'll rule according to the book rule/written house rule as appropriate.

In 20+ years of officiating, I haven't had a single serious argument regarding interpretation of a so-called house rule. I've had to tell 'em occasionaly, "You guys have to straighten that out with the league; but this is what we're doing today. Let's get back to work."

Jerry

[johnSandlin]

This past July had the opportunity of being assigned to the 2003 14 and under baseball World Series in Canton, Michigan.

We played by American League rules, however the FED pitching rules, and FED reentry rules were added as well for the tournament.

None of the umpires knew this until we attended the mandatory umpire's meeting the night prior to the opening day of games for the World Series.

The point I am making is, if you advise your umpires that you play by a certain set rules, then that is what you do all year, and you do not adjust them for any reason.

[Dave Hensley]

Originally posted by johnSandlin
This past July had the opportunity of being assigned to the 2003 14 and under baseball World Series in Canton, Michigan.

We played by American League rules, however the FED pitching rules, and FED reentry rules were added as well for the tournament.

None of the umpires knew this until we attended the mandatory umpire's meeting the night prior to the opening day of games for the World Series.

Although you didn't say specifically, I'm assuming you worked the 14U AAA level USSSA Baseball World Series, which was held in Canton. If that's correct, I've very curious about your statement that the tournament used OBR with FED pitching rules.

USSSA tournament rules are published online at the USSSA website, and section 8.04 of the rules outlines the pitchign regulations that are to be enforced in addition to OBR pitching rules. There is no mention of FED (high school) rules, and the rules they impose certainly are not FED pitching rules. It strikes me as highly unusual that USSSA would change the rules from their published rules for their World Series, for no readily apparent reason.

Are you positive that the tournament actually implemented FED pitching rules in an otherwise OBR-based tournament, or is it possible that you're simply mistaking those 8.04 pitching regulations from the USSSA rules as being "FED" rules (which they're not)?

[johnSandlin]

The reason there is nothing online about it is because the umpire in chief made the decison before the meeting. I do not disagree with you response what so ever.

No mistake about it. Because all of us as umpires looked at each other strangely when heard the pitching announcement. We were taken back as well, but that is what we went with.

The tournament that you were speaking of was the one that I worked in Canton this past July.

[Edited by johnSandlin on Oct 20th, 2003 at 12:24 PM]

[Dave Hensley]

Originally posted by johnSandlin
The reason there is nothing online about it is because the umpire in chief made the decison before the meeting. I do not disagree with you response what so ever.

No mistake about it. Because all of us as umpires looked at each other strangely when heard the pitching announcement. We were taken back as well, but that is what we went with.

So, balks were an immediate dead ball, coaches got 4 trips to the mound in the game and then had to replace the pitcher on every subsequent trip, moving shoulders to check runner is a balk, etc.?

Wow. I can't think of a more glaring example of an abuse of authority than a tournament UIC arbitrarily changing the nationally published rules of a tournament right before the tournament begins. I've umpired some USSSA qualifier tournaments and seen how coaches watch the tournament directors like a hawk to make sure they correctly enforce the *published* USSSA tournament rules. It's just astonishing that this guy got away with it at an actual USSSA World Series tournament.

[johnSandlin]

I can tell you how the UIC got away with the rule changing agenda, was after the meeting was over with, he was never seen around the tournament again for the rest of the week.

[Frankwag]

You mentioned the great pay for those men's leagues.....the same kind of pay is given around by me, but almost no umpire in our federation wants the games because of the abuse they take from the players, many of whom think they are A-Rod and Pedro Martinez. Do you get more respect by you? Are there strict rules in your men's league regarding player conduct?

[johnSandlin]

In the men's league that I work in, all of the umpires recieve the same amount of abuse you were referring too, and we just turn a deaf hear to them, because all the players or coaches want to do is turn it to a major league style arguement that you see on television.