Advice needed on "Hands part of the bat" myth

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

Heh, heh! I guess I would never be able to umpire in Missouri, because if a coach pulls out a rule book on me, he's done!

This is probably one of the stupidest things I have ever heard of - making a coach pull a rule book out on an umpire!

That's not exactly how it works. If a coach feels we made a mistake in the application of the rules, he requests we talk it between the umpires. If we decide in a way he still thinks is incorrect, he states he's protesting the call. The coach then has 10 minutes to use materials (see #3 below) to find our mistake. If the mistake is found, we fix it. If not, the decision stands.

Originally Posted by MSHSAA Baseball Manual

G. PROTEST PROCEDURE (MSHSAA Board Policy): The Board of Directors
adopted the following Policy, in March, 1997, to address protests.
The Board acknowledges that mistakes are made by umpires in judgment
and even sometimes in misapplication of game rules. However, the
decisions rendered by umpires at the contest site are to be final and any
further process other than the one outlined below would not truly serve a
useful purpose in the overall scope of high school athletics.
1. Within the procedures established within each individual sport rule
code, the head coach must request a review of an umpire's application
of a rule through appropriate channels.
2. If, after the review is complete, the coach still believes there has been
a misapplication of a rule by an umpire(s), the coach shall then file a
formal verbal protest with the game umpires who will then notify the
opposing coach immediately of the protest. A coach shall not protest
a decision of judgment.
3. Following this notification of protest, the head coach shall be allowed
approximately ten minutes to use his/her National Federation Rules
Book, National Federation Case Book, MSHSAA Rules Meeting Announcements
and/or MSHSAA Sport Manual to locate and show the
game umpire(s) the appropriate rule reference which clarifies a misapplication
of the game rule. If the head coach does not have personal
copies of the above mentioned materials at the game site or the
specific rule reference(s) or case book play(s) cannot be located
within the maximum allowable ten minutes, the protest shall automatically
be disallowed and the game shall continue from the point of interruption.
If a rule reference(s) or case book play(s) is found that
indicates a misapplication of a rule has occurred, the umpire’s decision
shall be corrected at that time before any further action occurs,
and the game shall be resumed from the point of interruption after the
correction as provided in the contest rules. When appropriate, the
game umpires may assist the head coach in locating appropriate rule
and case book references.
4. All protests shall be resolved at the site before any further game action
occurs.
5. Protests that are not filed in a timely manner by that sport rules code
shall be automatically disallowed.
6. The MSHSAA Board of Directors and/or Staff shall not review game
protests.
NOTE: Protests concerning matters of an official's judgment shall
NOT be considered.