What if they say, "Simon says swing"?

you could pull out the sportsmanship issue for FED...if the bench jockeying has simply gone too far...put an end to it...ultimately the coaches should be the examples, but we know that's not always the case.

This, my friends, is a case of very bad officiating. :(

Agreed, obviously someone doesn't understand the game of baseball.

This play happens all the time even the MLB's. Trick plays are part of the game.

What would the umpires do with the "miami play" or the "skunk in the outfield" ?

Thanks
David

I disagree with the call totally. This is not the intent of the "verbal" OBS. That portion of the rule could be used for examples like: infielder tells the runner on a stolen base attempt "Hey that was a foul ball" runner trots back to 1st and they tag him out. If I hear it, that’s verbal OBS. You cannot award a batter a base without at a minimum a pitched ball. If anything the Plate umpire should have called time, warned the fielder and coach, then ejected on the next offense.

Warned them for what?

In FED, infielders can not yell "back" for example middle infielders working R2...they can slap their gloves, V-cut, etc...but they can't yell "back" in FED

For the "obvious" Verbal distraction. I say "obvious" only assuming that the verbal distraction was enough to cause an issue/distraction. In the case of the original situation it had to be enough of an issue for the plate umpire to make a call of OBS (although the wrong call)

Who (or what) was obstructed?

From the First post....

With the score tied 2-2, Menchville had runners at first and second with one out. As Hunter Lewis dug in at the plate, Woodside’s Christian Burton charged from first base yelling “bunt” — even though Lewis had not squared to bunt.

Mays never delivered a pitch, but the home plate umpire called obstruction on Burton and awarded Lewis first base.

Which was a completely , absolutely, without question, misaaplication of the rules.

Not only was there no basis for the call/ruling, there would also have been no basis for the warning you are suggesting. You cannot possibly be seriously recommending to correct one ridiculous call by replacing it with another ridiculous call.

You can't honestly say that there was no basis for a call/ruling as you nor I was there to watch it unfold. Under most circumstances the player probably thought the batter might have been squaring to bunt, and as most players do they yell out "bunt!" as the pitch is delivered. Yeah This is perfectly fine, but sometimes 15-18 year old HS kids can be obnoxious and yell for the sake of yelling to be distracting. The plate umpire obviously felt that the players action required "some" call to be made. My only point was to say that the call was not and should never be OBS. If (and only if) in the umpires "judgment" the yelling of "bunt" by the fielder hindered or prevented the batter from hitting the pitch, or was done so in such a manner that the action was disruptive to the game, The umpire should have called "time" and nipped it in the butt (in this case in the form of a warning then ejection if the player continues to be distracting to the opposing teams batters).

Nothing the player did constituted obstruction or any other rule violation. I don't have to be present at a game to know the rules. The PU kicked it, the association two-stepped to back him up, and the Compton commish was an incompetent boob. It's called baseball. This mamby-pamby touchy-feely approach to life is getting nauseating.:mad:

Hey batter, batter...SWING!!!

You either are not an umpire, or are simply clueless regarding the rules. Nothing you suggest is remotely appropriate.

I have to disagree there Señor U. You forgot about "nipped it in the butt."