Kudos to a Sportsman

[LakeErieUmp]

OK, so this isn't really an umpiring post - it's more a "proud daddy" time.

My fourteen year old playing in his last summer travel game of the season blasted a drive off the 297 fence in left with bases loaded. He can best be described as a not fleet footed runner. Bases cleared (THEY were fast) and he's tooling into third as the perfect relay comes in. F5 is three feet in front of the bag as he gets the throw. I see a train wreck about to happen, in his his mind F5 has third completely blocked so a slide is out of the question, then suddenly my young man dekes toward the home plate side of third to not run over the MUCH smaller F5.
He's out, but there's no collision and no one's hurt. And 10 times out of 10 he's out anyway (unless F5 is in an ambulance on the way to the ER).
To me THIS is baseball. Not the nonsense we see too much of with coaches and their "run him over!" nonsense.

p.s. - his coaches high-fived his drive and told him he did the right thing.

Sorry for the off-topic (kinda) post. But as an umpire it was very nice to see.

[fitump56]

Congrats to your yungun. And to Dad, something good must have rubbed off even if accidentally

To the 50 views who had nothing to say to this posy, how sad yet how typical.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by SAump

"•Too many plays are occuring where baserunners and defensive players are making contact with each other during a play. SAMSBL Rule 4.05 covers the many circumstances of Collisions on the field. The Purpose of the Rule is to avoid Injuries. Umpire's Judgment is the key factor in the play. Each League Member is responsible to avoid collisions so as not to intentionally hurt the opponent. Baserunners are expected to slide (cleats down) or "give it up" early. Most of the plays occur at 2nd and 3rd Base; however, running down the 1st Base line, runners are expected to avoid colliding with the defensive players. Rule 4.05 covers the event of plays at the plate. Runners are expected to slide while Catchers are expected to allow a path to the plate for the runner. All League Members are to re-read SAMSBL Rule 4.05 (or our entire set of Rules) found on our web page under the Link INFORMATION/League Forms, 2007 League Rules."

I didn't write it nor did I capitalize any of the letters that should not be capitalized.

Runners should never be expected to slide. Horrible policy.