Rules to Ignore
 

My association is the only way to get school ball and all 90' games in the area so I have to just suck it up and deal with the administration which is subpar to say the least.

Former association president speaks at our mechanics and rules clinics the other night on what rules we should enforce and which rules to ignore.

Most people disagree with what he says, saying a rule is a rule, not up to us to choose which ones we don't like and call them how we think it should be done.

He continues and spits out such gems as, as long as F6/F4 is within 3' of the bag with the ball, call the runner out, and if the ball beats the runner by a lot, the runner is always out.

I'm sure there were more, I stopped listening.

It should be interesting next week, we were told we'd never wear numbers as we had more than 100 members, we've got 99 now, it will be interesting to see how that works. We also have huge arguments over switching to black/cream for summer ball.

Just venting, this ticks me off.

When in Rome....................

On My Ignore List
 

I encourage players to ignore "take one for the team" and "break up the double play."

Someone recently posted when to overlook some very good rules with some solid reasoning behind his position.
Perhaps someone else may recall where this took place and point us back in the right direction.

I did find a thread on the "Gorilla Arm" that is similar in nature to our discussion here.
Still haven't found the quality post I recently read and discussed in lines 2 and 3 above.

Our interpreter said...
 

...the best way to get a rule changed that you don't agree with is to call it by the letter of the law. It won't take long before people are complaining about the rule and it will get changed.

The "neighborhood play" and many others like you cited fall under "umpire philosophy." Everyone's philosophy on enforcing rules are different. These are always good discussions at meetings to justify why you do/don't call something.

Sounds like some bad advice is being given, but ask yourself why you are umpiring and follow your conscience.

Numbers on shirts cost money so unless they are required it don't make sense and if required try to get a single digit number.

Our association tells us to umpire according to the rules. We as umpires don't make the rules, we enforce them. I hate some rules but try to always call the game by the rules. I have heard many, many, of my fellow umpires say to each other that we need to call strikes, and outs. I fully agree but I will not call outs just to end the games and go home. I look at it this way. I love baseball. Always have. I played it, Ive coached it, Ive watched it, and I now umpire it. I have a son who played ball and loved it as much as I did. I remember watching him bust his butt many times trying to beat out a bunt, or steal a base, or stretch a double into a triple many times. Nothing bothered me more than an umpire calling him out just because it was a close play and he wanted to find an out. If a player tries to steal 2nd, and makes a great hook slide around the tag, there is no way we should call him out even if the ball got to the bag 2 seconds ahead of the runner. If I call that kid out... I am taking away a steal from that kid. If I call a kid out at 1st on a close play, even if I know he was safe... but it was a bang bang play and I could steal an out... I am taking a hit away from that kid. Nothing bothers me more than umpires that get to the field at the start of a game thinking of ways to get the game over as quickly as possible. Call the game right. The kids work hard and deserve it.