"FED Legal" Baseballs

[RPatrino]

DG, where do you work your games? In my part of the world, particuarly for non-varsity games, we take what we can get. I personally don't quibble about balls, bats, or lines. Some schools use City facilities and with budgets all messed up out here, field maintenance is sometimes non-existant.

I'm sure you would agree, the goal is to get them on the field and get the game played, right?

[piaa_ump]

Originally Posted by RPatrino

DG, where do you work your games? In my part of the world, particuarly for non-varsity games, we take what we can get. I personally don't quibble about balls, bats, or lines. Some schools use City facilities and with budgets all messed up out here, field maintenance is sometimes non-existant.

I'm sure you would agree, the goal is to get them on the field and get the game played, right?

In my time, I have umpired quite a few rural HS teams that barely had uniforms..... I had a game a few years back when both teams had NO new baseballs to use for the game......nobody had thought to bring any......I went to my car, and brought out 2 new PONY league balls.....said to the coaches, we could play with these or you can reschedule.....(after they paid me of course....)

they agreed, we played the game......

[DG]

My state (not my association) expects us to require legal baseballs. They do not expect us to measure the height of the rubber above the plate. So, HS coaches always have the correct baseballs, and we don't worry about the mound height.

It sounds to me like you get what you ask for. If a state expects legal baseballs, they will instruct the coaches and umpires on that fact and they will get legal baseballs. If they don't expect it then coaches will supply whatever they have and umpires will not worry about what is supplied.

It seems evident here that some states don't care about enforcing the legal baseball rule, and therefore umpires don't care.

[UmpJM]

DG,

Does it seem evident to you that the NFHS doesn't insist on (strict) enforcement of the "authenticating mark" requirement - since that's what their published Official Interpretation is and has been since the language entered the rule book.

(That was the "point" of my earlier question about you having a BRD. See Equipment: Baseballs: Approved.)

Also, since you never really answered, I wonder if you would say what, exactly, you would do if

- strictly hypothetically, of course, willing suspension of disbelief, & all that, since this simply wouldn't happen in NC -

there were no properly marked balls at the game site where you showed up to call a game, but an ample supply of baseballs that appeared perfectly suitable, other than lack of the mark?

Thanks.

JM

[DG]

UMPJM

Why did you ask the original question since you have BRD in hand with a 1999 interpretation?

It is not uncommon for FED to issue an interpretation that never shows up in Case Book, such as this one, from 1999 (gorilla arm another example). It was not long ago that the state made this is a point for discussion at state meeting, apparently unaware of 1999 FED interpretation, that essentially, they really did not mean it when the rule was put in the book.

To answer your very hypothetical question, in the very unlikely event that I was presented with baseballs that did not meet the rule, I would advise the coach that legal baseballs need to be used, and if none were available on site, we would discuss at the plate meeting and both coaches would recognize that official baseballs were not being used, and both were agreeable to their use before we would play the game. Afterwards I would report this to my assignor.

[UmpJM]

Originally Posted by DG

UMPJM

Why did you ask the original question since you have BRD in hand with a 1999 interpretation?

It is not uncommon for FED to issue an interpretation that never shows up in Case Book, such as this one, from 1999 (gorilla arm another example). It was not long ago that the state made this is a point for discussion at state meeting, apparently unaware of 1999 FED interpretation, that essentially, they really did not mean it when the rule was put in the book.

To answer your very hypothetical question, in the very unlikely event that I was presented with baseballs that did not meet the rule, I would advise the coach that legal baseballs need to be used, and if none were available on site, we would discuss at the plate meeting and both coaches would recognize that official baseballs were not being used, and both were agreeable to their use before we would play the game. Afterwards I would report this to my assignor.

Don,

My post here was the result of a discussion on the question I was having with another gentleman on another forum. He held the position - intractably - that the lack of the "authenticating mark" was grounds for a forfeit (by the home team) under FED rules.

I had never heard that before & wanted to know how it would be handled in different parts of the country. So, I posted here to see what others would say. Maybe this was something I just "missed".

To me, there are a number of issues involved concerning the bounds of the umpire's authority & responsibility in a game, umpire liability should someone be injured, as well as "with the book" vs. "by the book" umpiring.

I was NOT trying to bust anyone's balls or be a know-it-all, so my apologies if I came across that way.

Furrther, I concur with your comments about FED interps, and find your suggested resolution to my hypothetical eminently sensible and appropriate. So, thanks for bothering.

JM