USA change 4 - appeals

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve

South Carolina, actually; but you were close.

Creates a lot of fun for those in border states .........

Yup, I live in SC, and umpires here do make calls on runners who miss bases, leave early on a fly ball, etc., in high school play. There are a few colleagues of mine who have voiced to me during our pregame that they won’t make the call unless the violation is blatantly obvious. I do think that’s a chicken-sh!t attitude. I always ask them what other not-so-obvious calls are they unwilling to make?

Sorry, but if a runner fails to step on a 17x17 bag or a similarly-sized plate, he/she deserves to be ruled out, and it should be without the need for the appeal. If there are umpires that won’t call it, then drum them out since they will also likely not call illegal pitches, slappers out of the box, failed check swings, etc. etc.