This happened in a 10 year old game being played under national federation of high school rules. No outs, no one on, batter hits ball over centerfield fence for homerun. Team comes out of third base dugout and lines up in foul territory from 3rd to home and high fives the home run hitter as he runs from third to home. The umpire calls the batter out for his team doing this and said the run did not count. Everything I read in the rules and case studies seems to indicate this is not a violation of the rules since this is a dead ball situation once the ball is over the fence and no interference is taking place on an attempted play. What rule would make the batter out?

Wow!
 

robert,
I don't know Fed rules. Perhaps it has to do with the players not being permitted out of the dugout.

This unwritten and customary reaction to "going downtown"
in the leagues I work, LL to Adult, is as permissible as rising and cheering.

Shucks! Almost everyone loves a "dinger", even some pitchers. Let's all celebrate!

mick

Not sure about FED
 

Been years since I called FED. By any other book what basis did the umpire have for making this call? Certainly not interference, the runner was not assisted in any way....

One umpire, in Colorado, nullified a grand slam because the players came out on the field to congratulate the batter-runner. I guess he almost started a riot. The league president said the umpire made the wrong call because the ball was dead. More importantly, he stressed that umpires should use common sense when unsure about a rule.
In short, you should never nullify a home run when players come out on the field to congratulate the batter runner.

By the way, does anyone know the FED rule that would allow an umpire to call an out for a player running out on the field during a live ball. Who would you call out, a runner or the batter runner?

[Edited by Gre144 on May 29th, 2001 at 05:05 PM]

Under Federation rules, there is no violation and the runner should not have been called out. The interference rule (3-2-2) prohibits giving assistance during playing action. Running the bases following a home run over the fence is not to be construed as "playing action" since the ball is dead and the batter-runner is awarded four bases. (See Casebook 3.2.2a)

If the umpire really wants to have a hard time for the rest of the game, the umpire may issue warnings to or eject any players, substitutes, attendants, or coaches who are on the field improperly(3-3-1j), but with the ball being dead in this case it would really be inappropriate. This kind of enthusiasm by teammates is ok, as long as it is not deemed to be unsportsmanlike in the face of the opponents (no taunting, cat calls, finger pointing, etc.).

This practice is not permitted while the ball is live, and has been a point of emphasis "to protect the safety of players as well as to eliminate the possibility of a player interfering with play." As such, 3-3-1j should be enforced - warning minimum - if this were to occur, for example, as a runner from second is scoring on a base hit.

Thom/FL

Maybe the ump was confused and thought the game was being played under NCAA rules. (I've had some college players who acgted like 10-year olds, so it's easy to see how the umpire could be confused. ;) )

There is no rule in FED to call the runner out. In NCAA they are allowed to come out but can't be in the dirt area of the plate. This is simply to keep from having the trash talking.

One sure way to get the offensive coach pissed is to warn his team for excessive HR celebration at the college or high school level. After a HR what I see most often is offensive players coming into the area around home plate. Occasionally there are bruised catcher feelings or a pitcher lingering around after giving up a bomb which poses a potential problem.

By rule the plate umpire is to keep the dugout out of the home plate area after a HR. I tend to avoid this confrontation unless I feel there are problems in the works.

Do you have a non-NCAA reference for this?

My rule book is in the car and I am not capable enough at typing to provide the rule definition(s) here. At the minimum, it is just common sense as far as I am concerned.

It is called handling situations. During the 80 plus college and high school games a season that I call if there was a potential problem brewing, I will give a warning to the bench to stay back out of the circle and in MY games the problem goes away. Maybe it is my demeanor or how I say it.

If for some reason my warning was not heeded I could dump someone, but like I said it will never happen.

If the game situation warrants, I agree -- keep them out. That's only been once for me.

I was merely asking about your statment that "by rule" we keep them out.

Curse of 1,000,000 Camels' Fleas
 

PULEEEZE let me believe there is a special place in hell for this umpire.

There is of course NO RULE, Fed or OBR, or LL, or anything that is gonna NEGATE that run.

Looking forward to your note that the umpire in question is BANNED for life.

I don't know nuclear physics
 

Then why answer the question?

You don't know nuclear physics? Ask Dan_Ref.
 

Mr. Branche,
Good question.
I don't have a good answer. :(
mick