I am sure he was joking. Certainly about number 5, maybe not his whole post.

Joke???

Dusting the rubber saved me just a few days back. A ground ball was hit to F6, who threw it out of play. I called time, and awarded the BR second base. I then threw got a new ball out of my ball bag, and threw it back to the pitcher. But the ball slipped out of my hand and went out into centerfield, and F6 went to retrieve it. The BR did not notice any of this for he was taking signs from one of the coaches. F1, then winked at F6 (F6 never threw the ball back to the pitcher), and F1 stepped on rubber. I was all over that balk call. I really sold it well.

Now if I haden't dusted the rubber earlier in the inning, then I might have thought that F1 was just astride the rubber without the ball. What if I called that a balk? I would be pretty red faced, that's for sure.

Or, blind.

(I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. See Rich? I believe it was PT Barnum who siad, "No one has ever gone broke underestimating the intelligence of the public.")

Good joke, LDUB. Almost Lance-like.

It is my humble opinion that if an umpire has plate equipment he needs to have his tuchus behind the plate.

There is only one situation when an umpire should work behind the pitcher: He is in the stands preparing to watch his child play (and he did not have his equipment in his car) and no umpires show-up. And against his best judgement he is begged to umpire the game for the benefit of the playrers. And sadly I have had to do this a couple of times for games involving our two sons. The first time I did it I balked in the winning run for my son's team's opponents.

MTD, Sr.

I have my equipment in my car from early February through late November, so not having my equipment with me is not an issue. I believe that working near the pitcher is the best place for one umpire to work, whether it is 60 foot or 90 foot bases. But hardly anyone agrees, so I have often worked one man from behind the plate.

Really. I mean, considering the ball was never legally made live -- you can't have a hidden ball balk after a dead ball.

I've said this dozens of times -- if the pitcher is acting like he is on the mound, he is. No amount of dirt on the pitcher's plate makes a bit of difference. If he makes a motion associated with a pitch and it turns out he's not on the rubber, it's a balk. I don't need to see the pitcher's plate to know he's on it -- or not.

[Edited by Rich Fronheiser on May 8th, 2005 at 01:04 AM]

I am aware of this. But the ball was live. I took it out of my bag and threw it. This is covered somewhere in the J/R manual.

That makes no sense. If we are assuming that F1 is on the rubber, then what is the point of having the BU in B or C with runners on base. If the BU dosen't have to check where F1's foot is, he might as well set up on the outfield grass. This would give him a better shot at getting the out/safe calls right on the bases.

I cant believe that was NOT a joke :D

[QUOTE]Originally posted by officialtony
[B]I have a great respect for Carl's opinion, but I would like to read the entire text where Carl recommends working behind the mound when solo. He may have a very valid reason for this, but until I see it, working from behind the mound presents unreasonable options the umpire has to fall prey to - as was mentioned in the previous posts. I have never and will never ( unless shown beyond any reasonable doubt that it is better than behind the plate ) work from behind the mound. I'll run, move, adjust, lean, and even assume what I have to when working alone from behind the plate and take the greater percentage of correct calls rather than work from the mound area and risk missing what I percieve is too many calls.
Just my humble opinion.

By the way, I do not subscribe to the theory that " no real umpire " works from behind the mound. THIS umpire will not.

[Edited by Carl Childress on May 8th, 2005 at 11:59 PM]

You've been misinformed. A dead ball can <i>never</i> become alive until the pitcher holds it on the pitcher's plate. (There is some debate about how the ball becomes alive for an appeal after a game has ended and everyone except one defensive player has left the diamond. Otherwise....)

CC wrote: <B>Mr. Benham made two excellent points: Behind the plate you have a better show on the steal of second and the pick-off at first. So, calling behind the mound you give up those two advantages, replacing them with the certain knowledge that you won't miss any pitches from near the pitcher.
</b>

Actually what I said was one has a better view of the pick-off at first and the steal of THIRD, from behind the plate.

"Throwing the ball to the pitcher" doesn't make it live. The ball never became live in your example, so it couldn't be a balk.

That makes no sense. If we are assuming that F1 is on the rubber, then what is the point of having the BU in B or C with runners on base. If the BU dosen't have to check where F1's foot is, he might as well set up on the outfield grass. This would give him a better shot at getting the out/safe calls right on the bases. [/B][/QUOTE]

Setting up on the inside lets BU move to the working area so he can then move to get an angle, and some distance, toward any play on the bases.

Setting up on the inside lets BU move to the working area so he can then move to get an angle, and some distance, toward any play on the bases. [/B][/QUOTE]

I know Bob, I was just joking around.

# 3. How many outfield hits are caught? Answer: None on the fly.