Which rules do you enforce

[David B]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

Burried in the OP concerning sectional 1-0 controversy was a recollection of game given to us by Major Dave as follows:




The question?

Do you enforce EVERYTHING

C
Pete Booth

I don't think a good umpires ever enforces everything. That's what makes the difference IMO between an average umpire and the one who gets selected to do the "money" games.

You must know when to make the call and when to simply let them play baseball.

But, you must also have the backbone necessary to enforce the right call when it's needed.

At least that's my take.

Thanks
David

[jicecone]

Originally Posted by David B

I don't think a good umpires ever enforces everything. That's what makes the difference IMO between an average umpire and the one who gets selected to do the "money" games.

You must know when to make the call and when to simply let them play baseball.

But, you must also have the backbone necessary to enforce the right call when it's needed.

At least that's my take.

Thanks
David

Couldn't agree more. You can tell the difference between the official that reads the rules and the one that studies them.

When I officiated Ice Hockey we used to talk about those rules that are black and white and those rules that were in the "Grey Area." If you missed the the black and white rule, then it was just that much more difficult to sell the call when the rule was in the "Grey Area." I believe Baseball has a lot more grey area rules however, that means you need to study them more for the intent and application in order to come up with the right decision at the right time. Add hustle, attitude and game management skills to your game, and experience and your ability to enforce the most trivial of rules at the correct time will generally be more acceptable. And yes, there are exceptions to this too but, that is only because we are human.

So in general, I enforce everything when its applicable, as determined by my experience.

[Blue37]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

The question?

Do you enforce EVERYTHING

Pete Booth

Great question.

I am a firm believer in situational ethics, and I am a firm believer in situational officiating. I take the following into account: The age of the participants, the skill level of the participants, the score of the game, the history between the teams, the presence of an observer, and most importantly, the expectations of the league and the assignor.

I do not want this post to get too long, so I will stick with one example, balks. The older the player, the better the skills, the closer the game, the tighter I will call the balks. If the teams want balks called tighter or if my assignor wants balks called tighter, I will oblige. The presence of an observer impacts how I call. I am fairly strict to start with, and am even less likely to let something slide if an observer is present.

It has been said that our customer is the game itself, and, in part, that is true, but the game does not assign me, and does not write my checks. I try to ascertain what my assignor and the leagues want called and how they want it called, and adjust to those expectations.

[KJUmp]

Originally Posted by Blue37

Great question.

I am a firm believer in situational ethics, and I am a firm believer in situational officiating. I take the following into account: The age of the participants, the skill level of the participants, the score of the game, the history between the teams, the presence of an observer, and most importantly, the expectations of the league and the assignor.

I do not want this post to get too long, so I will stick with one example, balks. The older the player, the better the skills, the closer the game, the tighter I will call the balks. If the teams want balks called tighter or if my assignor wants balks called tighter, I will oblige. The presence of an observer impacts how I call. I am fairly strict to start with, and am even less likely to let something slide if an observer is present.

It has been said that our customer is the game itself, and, in part, that is true, but the game does not assign me, and does not write my checks. I try to ascertain what my assignor and the leagues want called and how they want it called, and adjust to those expectations.

Blue: IMO you hit the nail square on the head in the first two sentences of your post. The league/assignor is our customer...give them the type of umpired game they want.

[cbfoulds]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

Francona was referring to the fact that Met third base coach Manny Acta grabbed Sheffield after Sheffield rounded thrid base thinking that the ball was an HR to begin with.

Does Manny have 2 jobs? A new/old job? A son/ dad working for the Mets?
The Washington Nationals still list him as their Manager.

Given the way the Nats' season is going, I suppose there could have been a personnel change I missed in the papers.

[justanotherblue]

hmmmmm, rumor has it, same umpire that dumped the announcer a couple years back....enough said

As far as the OP, I try to rule with the book not by the book, for instance, one of the rules I generally ignore unless a coach complains is 6.1.3. Pitcher using the set position with no runners on base. By the book rule, an illegal pitch shall be declared and a ball added to the count, for the pitcher not coming to a complete stop. I have a hard time awarding the offense when no advantage is gained by the pitcher by not stoping completly with no base runners.

[KJUmp]

Originally Posted by cbfoulds

Does Manny have 2 jobs? A new/old job? A son/ dad working for the Mets?
The Washington Nationals still list him as their Manager.

Given the way the Nats' season is going, I suppose there could have been a personnel change I missed in the papers.

Razor Shines is the Mets 3B coach.