My bi-annual ritual
 

Received the FED baseball umpires manual and am just about to toss it right in the trash. When they remove the plate umpire covering third on a bases empty triple, it may get to stick around.

Although, I could use it for the times when I need a good laugh.

Page 28 - Your vocal call should correspond in emphasis with that of the physical call. "You're safe!" or "Safe! You're in there!" with proper emphasis usually does it. If your voice tends to go shrill on the call, you might try, "Safe! No! No! No! You're in there!" or something similar.

You know, maybe I should just burn this in case some aspiring umpire finds it in my trash can.

add this to the list of reasons i'm glad i don't recognize FEDlandia, it's flag, or leadership.

Rich,

Man, I see what you mean. I mean everyone knows that if he's safe, the proper verbal is "Yes! Yes! Yes!" - "No! No! No!" is for when he's out!

JM

Yes, I am kidding.

While I don't agree with this mechanic either, it did save me once. Bases empty, batter hits a deep one to the outfield. I started creeping up the third base line because I could see my partner wasn't keeping up with the runner (60' bases), and ended up calling the runner out at 3rd. Had I not been there, the BU would've been making that call somewhere from half-way between 2nd and 3rd.

But then again, maybe this doesn't fall under mechanics, as much as it does to know what (or what not) your partner is capable of.

If a BU can't handle covering 3rd with 60' bases, he should probably just hang it up.

...at least the FED is getting with the times and having the BU take both calls on the 2nd play in the infield (ie- R2 gets checked, throw to first, then trow to third to get R2)

I've never seen the Fed Manual, due to the fact that the State of Alabama produces its own mechanics manual. And from some of the "reviews" I've seen here over the years, I'm pretty happy about that fact.

Rich:

The OhioHSAA is a NFHS state for baseball. I can tell you that when there is no one on base and I am the base umpire that unless I have to go out to cover a possible trapped catch, I am taking the batter/runner all of the way to third. And MTD, Jr., does it that way too when he is on the bases. Of course when we umpire together he is always behind the plate, afterall he is almost 19 years of age and he should always be behind the plate when umpiring with his old man even when we have a doubleheader, :D.

MTD, Sr.

That is just too funny!!! Tell us some more mechanics stories, grandpa! That book sounds like it's a hoot! I've never picked up a copy, as we use pro school and CCA mechanics out in these parts.

Half-way between 2nd and 3rd is not all that bad of positioning. I can't stand when a PU "creeps up the line" on a naked triple. That's my call there, hoss...back on off. Go back and mow your lawn back behind the plate. If the base umpire doesn't get there, that's on him. Unless he is gimpy, and tells you in the pregame about his injury, then he needs to be able to handle a triple by himself, especially on a kiddie-sized diamond. Hell, I could damn near walk around the bases on a small diamond and still beat a BR to 3rd base!

Mark, I wanted to alert you, first, to the fact that despite its pretensions the OHSAA has not yet been admitted to the union as a state. :D

Also, our association uses the red book, not the FED manual.

On a small diamond? That's about the time you shoot the old horse with your service revolver.

We do it the exact opposite Mark...
 

My son is now 22 and started umpiring when he was 19. He likes the bases and is so swift and smooth in his pivot and moving across the infield to cover a triple that I cannot compete. I like calling strikes and keeping the flow of the game moving thus we do the opposite of the DeNucci's.

I bet you truly enjoy working with your namesake. My son's name is Davis which means son of David thus he is junior without having to add the Junior.

It does my heart proud to work with him or hear commentary from others on what a good job he does as an umpire although a part of me wishes he were still playing. He was good enough but didn't have the drive to work at the game as he needed to at the next level. He developed other interests....

How about this doozie in the plate umpire section on page 14:

"Stance is important...Placement of the feet is crucial to the stance. The most common method is a catcher-like crouch behind the catcher."

And if the ball had gotten by F5 and the runner headed home, who would have made the call there?