That makes sense. You don't have to worry much about mobility on a small field with a six-man crew.

That wasn't my experience. The balloon does not allow for the same heel toe set up in the slot. You'll also get some disagreement from the pro school on that.

On the other hand, one could argue that while it isn't the same, in might be as good.

I know a softball guy who exclusively uses a balloon. He had a catastrophic injury to one of his arms years ago and there's hardly any meat on that forearm. It's basically skin covering bone. His doctors have told him he cannot get hit there, or it's bad news, so he's gone to the balloon.

Unfortunately, he's been told he won't work any state or national tournaments because he uses the balloon. Seems to me that's a reasonable accomodation for the results of a catastrophic injury.

You never know why someone might be using a balloon-style protector.

Maybe, but how we look is often the reason we advance or do not get opportunities. That is not going to change just because the guy you described has a good reason to use one.

Peace

Aug. 22/Mon., 2011 at 02:15pmEDT.
 

I turned on the Canada vs. Chinese-Tiapei game at 02:15pm, and the PU is wearing a balloon. The PU appears to be a female. Got to run.

MTD, Sr.

The balloon surprised me. So did the "devil horns" when flashing the count (a 2-2 count meant "double devil horns"!) and the pointing to first base when ball four was issued (and I only watched a few minutes of this game). It just seems like any umpire that's been around the block a time or two, bothered to attend a clinic, read an umpire manual or ever been evaluated would realize that we're not supposed to do that stuff.

I know that this is a minor point but it really doesn't bother me when a PU points toward 1B after a Ball 4. After all the Batter is awarded 1B when the pitch is Ball 4 and we do point to 1B when the Batter is HBP or a throw or pitch goes into Dead Ball Territory we point to the appropriate base. I think this is nit picking.

MTD, Sr.

There are a million-and-one little things like this that we are told not to do. I guess that your own tolerance level for doing things other than the way we're supposed to determines if it's "nit picky" or "bad mechanics".

Nit picky as it may be...can you find any umpire manual that recommends pointing to first base on a walk or showing the count on non-consecutive fingers? Yet there are plenty out there that say not to.

Great advice for all of the Major League umpires on this forum.

JRut:

I understand what you are saying, but when numerous codes are now making allowances (read: leagally bound under the ADA) for disabled players, why wouldn't the same apply to umpires who are disabled? When this guy gets told he is not advancing because of his balloon protector, that is a potential violation of federal law. So the guy's choices are: risk losing his arm in order to move up, or keep his arm and not advance. Doesn't seem like a fair choice given whether or not one uses a balloon protector has no bearing on one's ability to umpire.

I was trained not to look away when runners on base because most of the time I am working two-man mechanics. If the PU looks away, the BU has to cover all bases and runners. In MLB, there is an umpire for every base so you are not leaving the rest of the field for the BU to cover.

It is not like he has to have to balloon protector to protect his arm either. And this is not an ADA situation as every person with a disability would not be reasonably allowed to umpire or officiate as they could cause harm to other players or themselves. Does he use a protector on the bases too? After all he could get hit there as well. And he is an independent contractor so a lot of decisions he makes about moving up are based on decisions he would have to make. And I am sure working as an umpire is not right, it is a privileged and if a player could not play for such reasons there is only so much accommodation that can be made to allow that player to continue to play as well.

Peace

One of the biggest "discussions" I've ever been involved in was when, with a full count, a plate ump pointed to first base on ball four to indicate the batter should go to first, and the base umpire (me) said "Yes he went".
Go ahead and point, but use the left hand, please after you've distinctly yelled "BALL FOUR". Just sayin'....

I hear ya. That's a pre-game item every time, given the ubiquity of pointers now. I tell them unless I hear "Publius!!" I'm not weighing in on a swing. Just pointing at me don't do it.

There are several reasons not to point to first on ball four. Can anybody give me one reason why they think it is a good idea? What piece of information are you communicating (communication being the ultimate goal of all the signals we use) to the teams by pointing that simply saying "ball" or "ball four" doesn't relay? I'm assuming that the batter already knows where first base is located and how to get there.

I had the same thing happen to me once that JJ posted above. I'm in "A" position and there are three balls on the batter. Pitch comes in, there is some movement of the bat. Plate umpire points at first (which is to say, he points at me) and, to make it worse, he says, "Too low", (another thing I hate is announcing pitch locations) which 100+ feet away and combined with a point makes me think he said, "Did he go?". And I answer, "Yes he did!"...except it was ball four. Not exactly the kind of confusion that inspires confidence in the teams that you know what the heck you're doing out there...