Bob,
I agree with you.
But, I presumed it was OBR and thus my question concerning his decision.
If it WAS FED, than I apologize - my bad.
If it was OBR, then I am still interested why Rad feels the need to change the rules in this instance.

Sorry, I forgot that Legion normally plays by OBR. I live in one of those areas where Legion has been b@stardized and plays by FED. Then when one of our teams gets to a regional, they don't know the rules.

So in a FED game you are calling this a delay of game?

There are two possible "penalties" for stepping out of the box in FED.

1) Call the pitch a strike (what this thread is referring to)

2) Call an additional strike for delaying the game (not part of this thread)

Up until a few years ago, both were "automatic." Then, FED added the "and delays the game" wording to 7-3-1. They didn't, however, change 6-2-4d NOTE or the case plays.

So, my take on the play at hand is to call the strike no matter where the pitch was, then apply 7-3-1 "as normal" (that is, add the extra strike if the batter isn't back in the box within 20 seconds, or add the extra strike if the batter leave the box, none of the exceptions apply, and the batter delays the game -- umpire judgment).

Whoa
 

Didn't mean to come off as such a harda?? or start a firestorm.
Some things don't translate well in typing.
Legion ball in my area is played with FED rules YMMV
My thinking was that a batter abandons the box without calling time I'm enforcing Fed rule as noted above

Because my evaluator has ripped on not doing so in the past not to inflate my ego or to make up some rule


[Edited by radwaste50 on Jun 16th, 2005 at 10:04 AM]

Well . . . . . . .

That certainly explains a lot.

You have two very good reasons for making the call you made.
In order of importance:

1.) Because your evaluator wants it called that way;

2.) and because you are playing under FED rules
which dictates you call a strike.

I am glad I asked for your reasoning.
I clearly understand your call.

Thanks for clarifying.

Back to the original post. Tjones1 was correct (for OBR) and the "licensed umpire" coach was wrong (his reasoning was even wrong for FED).

My apologies as well. I was unaware there were areas of the country where AL was playing FED rules. Hadn't run across that before - I won't assume in the future.

It seems the variation in the rule sets used and local changes/use bring us endless posibilities

This expands my understanding why some fans may be confused...
not the 95% that don't know the rules, but a few of the others

Bingo!! I was wondering if anyone was going to call the second strike!! Way to be Bob!

Gentlemen, this is why I like this forum! An umpire makes a statement, other umpires ask him about it, he explains, they understand, everybody is nice and civil, there are no hurt feelings, and no name calling, there is no flaming. I know that sometimes we all don't have the same insight, I look forward to hearing others point of view. When that point is delivered in a kind and civil manner instead of the trollish manner of other forums, I now have the opportunity to learn and improve the way I work a ball game.

Thank you
Bob

So you're new to the forum, eh?

Overall you are right about this. Sometimes there can be more flames than the Human Torch can handle. Mostly not tho. This is a good place to learn.

My comment to Rad was assuming OBR as well. Here Legion wants the games called by AL rules. Most umpires do, but there are a few big dogs who want to do it the way it has always been done. A League, straight Legion rules. B and C Leagues, Federation.

There is an American Legion Rule Book. You can get it off the net. It is basically American League rules with a few mods. Most notable are Bats (FED), Blood (FED), Catcher's Equipment (FED), Collision (NCAA), and FPSR (FED/NCAA), and Ten Runs (afer 7). If someone wants to call themselves an American Legion team, play FED rules and play other American Legion teams who play FED rules I suspect they will be rudely awakened if they advance to an after season tournament. Maybe they don't plan to, I don't know.