Babe Ruth rules
 

I hate to do this, but I need a little help. My hometown is hosting the 14U Babe Ruth state tournament this weekend...to my knowledge, they have never hosted a fastpitch tournament of any kind. They have asked me to umpire the tournament because I'm in town for a couple of weeks and there are no other experienced softball umpires in the area. I've never done any softball below the high school level and, therefore, have only called NFHS and NCAA rules. The tournament starts Thursday, I found out about it tonight, and I don't have a Babe Ruth rule book. Can anyone give me a quick rundown of the major rules differences from Fed and NCAA, or at least point me toward a resource where this info can be found quickly? Thanks in advance.

start here - http://www.baberuthleague.org/softball.html - good luck

When doing Babe Ruth softball, forget all about NCAA, ASA, and Fed.

Treat OBS exactly as in OBR.

Treat BOO exactly as in OBR.

Treat base awards exactly as in OBR, including "first play by an infielder."

Treat INT exactly as in OBR.

COR .47 ball is legal; nothing about compression.

Any bat max 34" long, 2¼" diameter, 38 oz. weight marked "Official Softball" by the manufacturer is legal. The Miken Ultra is legal. Titanium bats are legal if they meet the above specs.

Not sure, but I infer that pitcher must keep both feet on the rubber before the forward step.

Treat appeals exactly as in OBR (!). There are no dead ball appeals. "Time is not out while an appeal is being made." After the ball becomes dead, the ball has to be put back in play before an appeal can be made. Intervening plays prevent a subsequent appeal, so have your guys brush up on relaxed versus continuing action.

One exception to OBR rules: "If a runner attempting to reach home plate intentionally and maliciously runs into a defensive player in the area of home plate, she will be called out on the play and ejected from the game. The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner for the obvious purpose of crashing the defensive player, rather than trying to reach home plate. Obviously, this is an umpire's judgement call."

There is something resembling a look-back rule, but it is vague. Can the runner round 1B on a base on balls, stop, and return? It doesn't say, and the answer cannot be inferred from the language of the rule. Hmmm, that could come up.

Yes, there are some differences between Babe Ruth and ASA, Fed, and NCAA. But if your guys study the OBR rulebook, the J/R, the PBUC, the Annotated Rule Book, and the BRD for, say, two years, they'll have a good start.

Oh, yeah. The MLBUM, too.

WHY would they host a tournament like this without having done any fastpitch and without the resources (umpires!) to do it properly? seems strange .... good luck

To fill the local hotels and resturants, of course. Oh, and collect gate fees and concession profits. You think they care about the integrity of the game and the quality of the umpiring?

Unless the host team loses.

Thanks, greymule. I was able to get a hold of a Babe Ruth softball rules book, and the first thing that popped into my mind was, "This ain't softball, this is girls' baseball. With a yellow ball, throwing underhand."

I've got a feeling this weekend may not be a whole lot of fun.