I'm umping a little Fall Ball locally and came across two issues that I'm not sure about, even after poring over the rule book

1. R3 attempting 'zombie' steal, struck by ball thrown from F2 to F5. My call - dead ball, runner is awarded the base he was attempting to reach - third base.

Argument from base coach - runner should be awarded home. I said no. Right or wrong?

2. Catcher crowding the plate, batter swings late, contacting the ball and then the catcher's glove in rapid succession - almost simultaneously. PU calls strike.

Argument from me (I'm actually sitting this game out in favor of a letting a 15-yo sharpen his chops): A struck ball is live until ruled foul, and contact with the catcher or his gear in the course of a normal swing is catcher interference, whether before or after hitting the ball (umpire judgement). There's a very brief and inappropriate argument between myself and several unidentified voices across the field after which I just drop it and let control stay where it belongs - with the youth umpire. Strike call stands.

Aside from me arguing from the stands, which I know is EVIL, how about the call?

Thanks. -t.
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edited to fix the throw - F2 to F5 ...

[Edited by tgranillo on Sep 26th, 2005 at 02:27 PM]

This dosen't make sense. You must mean R2 is trying to steal third, but what is a zombie steal? And why would F2 be throwing to F3? And how could that throw hit R2?

The ball is not dead when it hits a runner.

"Catcher crowding the plate, batter swings late, contacting the ball and then the catcher's glove in rapid succession - almost simultaneously. PU calls strike."

I agree with everything luke said and also dying to know how this is possible? How does the batter hit the ball first and glove second? Wouldn't the ball be in front ogf the glove??
Unless you mean the batter swung then brought the bat back and hit the catchers glove? In that case you are 0-2 in your decisions for this game.

Okay, I'm a genius and completely mukked up my numbering. Runner on third struck in the back by a throw to defensive player covering 3B as R attempts to return to third. If the ball's live then the ruling is nothing at all, play is still live, and as F5 picked up the ball and R3 was done trying to steal, play on? Should I have awarded home plate to the runner attempting to return to 3B and struck in the back?

As far as Scenario 2 ... I don't know, all I know is we all heard a ping and the the glove and ball are three feet off to the right side of the catcher, and catchers shaking his left hand in pain. Maybe the ping was a bone and not the ball ... That's INT, and the batter goes to 1st, right?

I've been umping not quite a year, and I love it, but my grasp of the rules is in need of great improvement - which is why I'm here! Feel free to light me up for bad calls, I need to learn ...... -t.

zombie
 

Sorry - 'zombie' must be local jargon, and it was R3 trying to steal home. It's just a steal, the zombie is what we call the runner who freezed 1/3 of the way down the line awaiting a lazy throw from the catcher to the pitcher, at which point he breaks for home and in Little League often scores on a no-throw or a muffed throw. It's Little League ...

Why would you? No interference, no obstruction, catcher made a bad throw. Play on and keep your eyes open for a plate at home.

Thanks - and I can't think of why I would. The offensive 3B coach certainly gave it a go though. -t.

They will....you just have to know that your call is right, then turn your back and walk towards the plate. Make your call, be confident about it, and he'll stop yapping eventually.

And if he gets that bad, you can always run him :D

LL & Coaches
 

Yeah, it's great fun. I haven't done a game since early April cause of work. Buddy called me the other night to cover a 13-14 LL game for him. Started to hear some chirpping in the 3rd. Arguing in the 4th, gone in the 5th.

I'd almost forgot how good it feels to resolve a problem this way.

The reason you couldn't find an answer to #1 in the rule book is because there's no rule prohibiting it. Play on, no penalty.

The second one sounds physically impossible. think about it. the ball would have to be behind the catcher's mitt for the batter to hit the ball first, then the mitt.

If it was the other way around- catcher's interference, batter gets first, all runners attempting to steal gets their next base and all runners not stealing go back.

Some things are hard to figure out from just reading the rule book. Maybe this is one of them. The closest the rule book comes to spelling out what to do here is when Rule 7.08(b) refers to intentional interference with a thrown ball, versus just inteference with a fielder playing a batted ball. But it is pretty basic.

It might initially seem gauche to mention another internet site, but you might want to visit http://eteamz.active.com/baseball/ru...fm?m=1,2,3,4,5. It has some good resources (including a discussion board) particularly for newer umpires. Everyone here thinks very highly of it.

[Edited by Mike Ricketts on Sep 26th, 2005 at 10:19 PM]

1. Live ball, pick it up.
2. so the ball has to go by the catcher's mitt, where it is contacted by the bat, and then the bat hits the catcher's mitt. Never seen this happen but if I thought I did I would tell myself it was impossible and send the batter to 1B.

Re: 2. This is delayed catcher interference in OBR (MLB), and obstruction in NFHS (high school). Doesn't matter to me when that bat hit the glove on the forward part of the swing - enforce accordingly. Remember, offensive coach has a choice as to enforcing penalty IF batter-runner AND ALL OTHER RUNNERS did not advance at least 1 base after the int/obst.