fair or foul

[xtremeump]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

You stand to the side (not where PU stands for a pitch), point fair, and wait. If the players don't catch on, a coach or parent will eventually.

And this is not TWP at all - yours is not the first time this has happened in the history of baseball. Most of us have probably seen this 50 times, especially when working with the younger or less experienced groups ... but I've seen it once in high school ball. It happens. DO NOT YELL FAIR.

(You called your STATE INTERPRETER over this. Wow. I have no words.)

I am sorry, next time I will contact you. I work very closely with my State Interpreter, my ASA UIC and even some wanna be district coordinators . Wow, I did not know just go on the forum where all of the experts are, behind a fake name with an I am correct and you are wrong BS.

[bob jenkins]

In most areas, there's a differemce between "I went to a guy I work with who happens to be a state interpreter" and "I went to a state interpreter".

[xtremeump]

I would like to protest, for mis interpretation of Forum rules. Sorry I will never mess that one up again.

[chapmaja]

I actually had this play happen last summer in a 1st grade coach pitch game. Bases loaded, 2 outs, bottom of the 6th inning with the home team down 1 run. Coach pitches the ball poorly and it hits the bat, not the player as everyone though, and drops right down on the plate. I point fair and nobody moves. I'm just standing there when the catching assistant (a coach or parent allowed behind the catch to grab passed balls and return them to the opposing coach (pitcher)) tells the catcher to pick up the ball.

Finally after about 3 times being told what to do, and me with my arm getting tired pointing fair for about 15 seconds, the catcher stands up reaches down and picks the ball up off home plate. I signal out, and the home coach isn't happy. I had to take about 10 minutes to explain that the ball hit the bat, not the batter, and it fell onto the plate untouched which made it a fair ball. He then argued I should have said "fair ball". Finally he argued that it couldn't be a force out at the plate since the catchers feet were not touching the plate. The response to that was that when he picked the ball off the plate he gained possession of the ball with the ball touching the plate, therefore he was legally in possession of the ball while the ball was touching the plate, thus since the force was on, it is a force out.

Several parents filed letters of complaint with the rec league, so I had to go to a "stupid waste of time meeting" with my bosses boss over the call. He himself is a former umpire and was the one who called the meeting a "stupid waste of time". Oh well, I got paid for the meeting and got the call correct. Not to mention I got to rest my arm after pointing fair for at least 15 seconds hoping someone would see it.