Worked at the PFX tour this weekend - Part I: The Ugly
 

There were quite a few "ugly" things that happened this weekend, but before I can say anything about anybody else I have to point the finger at myself first. I kicked a call......badly, very badly.

- 10U game, 3rd inning, R2, R1, 1 out, and I am PU. R2 does the normal thing where they get a huge lead and "taunt" F2. F2 decides to run towards R2 with the ball and in the process covers the plate in dirt. R2 retreats back towards second. F2 throws the ball to F1 who is in the circle near the rubber. At this point the ball is in F1 hands in the circle near the rubber, R1 is back on 1st, and R2 is about 3-4 ft off the base heading back w/o pausing (not moving fast). I raise my hands and say time to clean off the plate. About the time I got to "Tim.."in my time call F1 turned and threw to F4 who was on second. However, F1's throw sails in center field and R2 come sin to score, and R1 is safe at third.

I go out to my partner (who is regarded as one of the best umpire there and a friend of mine) and tell him I had called time prior to F1 throwing to second and we need to bring the runners back. He looked at me and gave me that "Your better than that look" and asked why I called time before R2 was back on 2nd base. I told him that I kicked the call and assumed that play was over. He laughed a little and said, "In 10U ball you cant assume anything, bet you don't make that mistake again." Neither coach really put up a fuss because the score was 13-1 and the losing team hadn't had a hit yet. Needless to say I was buying the drinks that night.



Now, on to some of the things that I would say are "ugly".

-Husband/wife umpire team (wife only does plate and husband only does field) call IFF with both hands in the air that caused a game ending tag when a player thought time was called (See IFF rule thread for the actual situation). BU also wore a ball bag WITH balls in it on the bases. PU refused to wear a hat. Also, when people tried to help them on their mechanics and dress the dynamic duo said that they had been doing this for 25 years, it was the way it has always been done, and they weren't changing.


-Facility was trying a new style of base peg that did not use concrete. Instead, you dug a hole and put this sleeve in the ground that had "prongs" that came off of it. The prongs were supposed to grab the ground when the dirt was filled back in. They didn't work at all and many times field maintenance was called to come re-dig the hole and re-set the sleeve.


-Another umpire whose pants we so tight you could see the outline of the pocket against her leg. I am surprised that she could even move in them, and no it wasn't a "good" tight. She also refused to wear a hat because it would mess up her hair.


-The facilities didn't allow the umpires any free concessions. All we got was water. I can understand not giving us the "rib eye" burger, but a sack lunch or Gatorade would have been real nice.


- I was up in the scoring tower showing a mother/daughter team how to work the scoreboard and a coach ripped me into. Went like this:

Door flies open and I am wearing my umpire pants and undershirt.
Coach: "Where the hell is Dot?"
Me: "Coach, I am sorry but I do not know who Don is." (I thought he said Don).
Coach: "How can you umpire softball and not know who the hell Dot Richardson is?"
Me: "I am sorry coach, I thought you said you Don. I do not know where Dot is at this moment."
Coach: "well, I need to find her so I can figure out why the **** I cant appeal a call."
Me: "Coach, please watch your language and I am sorry but I cant help you with your situation."
Coach: "Well, I need to find Dot and ask her my the god damn umpires kicked me out for trying to appeal a ****ing call. This is bull****."

At that moment the UIC comes from around the corner and joins in...

UIC: "Sir, you are going to have to calm down."
Coach: "This is complete bull****. All I was doing was trying to appeal a call and that umpire threw me out."
UIC: "Coach, calm down and we will get everything sorted out."
Coach: "This is still bull****. I am going to find Dot.

Well, the coach heads back down to the field and refuses to leave until he talks to Dot. The umpires stop the game; notify the PFX staff that escorts him off the facilities. Turns out he was trying appeal a judgment call from the BU to the PU who was having none of it. PU said that it was the BU call and he will not honor his appeal. Apparently that set him off and he got tossed. I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, wearing the wrong stuff.



- Umpire shows up on Saturday morning, does two games and has a game break before his next two. Leaves to go get food and isn't heard from again. No phone call or anything. I hope nothing bad happened to him.


- A temporary rubber was installed on one of the fields for a 10U game. Whoever put it here must have been drunk because it sat outside the original rubber towards the first base side. That made it about 1-2ft askew.

- Runner coming home on a passed ball, clearly safe but misses home plate by about 4". I signal a "weak" safe call, and DHC asks me "Blue, did she miss home plate?" I put my mask on assume position behind the catcher. Pitcher pitches and play continues. DHC comes out in between innings and asks me why I didn't answer his question. I told him that I was unable to answer his question and if he thought that the runner missed home he should have appealed. He didn't like that answer very much, but since he was down by 10 ruins at that point and was being dominated I don't think he really cared.

"Blue, did she miss home plate?"

That's a good enough appeal for me.

I am going to have to disagree on this one. Unless the fielder steps on home plate to make the live ball appeal the "safe" call stands. Now, if she did in fact hit home plate I would have looked at him and gave a small nod or something to let him know that indeed she did hit home plate and an appeal would be a waste of time. I do not think it would be appropriate for me to yell back "No, she missed it....."

I agree, and would add to that for future situations. Often times there is commotion when a coach is attempting to get his players to appeal, with no success, or appeals in such a manner that very few people realize an appeal has been made.

The best thing to do, IMO, when the appeal is justified for situations such as missed bases and leaving early on a caught fly ball, is to point to the coach and declare, "Coach, I heard your appeal for xxx." Follow that with affirmation of the situation and change the call.

This will draw attention to you and the fact that there is an appeal so that people aren't left wondering why some players are leaving the field. Make the call firmly and be prepared to talk to the opposing coach.

Speaking ASA, I disagree. The coach cannot make this appeal.

And....a verbal only appeal must be during a dead-ball period. Otherwise, the plate or player would have to be tagged for the appeal to be valid.

Welcome to softball. Things are little different on this field. Runners and batters are designated in the order they batted. IOW, if the bases were loaded with no outs, R1 would be on 3B, R2 on 2B, R3 on 1B and B4 at the plate.

Also, any "free" food may not be the concession's issue. Those folks are basically a business and in many cases, are accountable for their inventory. Those running the tournament would be to address on this issue as to whether they made any arrangements for the umpires. Done different ways all over.

Mike, This might be worth consideration for a rule change. Allow the same verbal appeal that Fed does.

Not from me. With all the daddy-coaches, scorekeepers and parents all screaming at the same time. :eek:

Nope, I'm quite happy waiting on a player to make the proper appeal and if she is being coached from the dugout, that's fine with me, too.

Or maybe still on deck. ;)

Thanks, nice catch.

It's been my understanding that women have the option to wear a hat. Is this correct? I never paid much attention to this, as I... uhh... don't exactly have the "proper equipment," if you know what I mean. :)

At he national I was at this year (not umpiring just took place in my next of the woods) every female was wearing a hat. Even the PU that wore a Hockey style mask still took their hats down to the field. They stuck them in the fence because they wouldn't fit under there masks (I think they got marked down for that also) .

Thanks for the tip..... :) :) :)

I am still going to mess it up though.......

If the coach would have instructed F2 to step on the plate with the ball I would have rung her up, or if they had announced they were making an appeal and made a proper appeal I would have rung her up.

I remembered one more.....


Runner on first and third (I still need to get the nuances of SB down with the R3, R2, etc) with an obvious bunt coming. F5 is playing way in, so in that she covered home on a passed ball. BU calls time and tells F5 she cant play that close. I have no idea what rule he was quoting or what. When I asked him after the game all he said was that he felt it was unsafe for her to play that close. Now, it might have been but I don't think that is his call.

Speaking ASA

The only rule an umpire could take action upon as it relates to the fielder's position (other than in fair territory) would be under 6fp.5.B, Defensive Positioning. However, the umpire would have to judge that the fielder was in the batter's line of vision or in an unsportsmanlike intent act in a manner to distract the batter. However, it isn't repositioning of a player, but an ejection.

This was not the case for sure.


There were also quite a few double calls that game on pop flys and fly balls in that game.

How is this good enough, coming during a live ball AND coming from the coach?

For one, the ball wasn't live. And as we all know, dead ball appeals can come from any participant. But having gone back to read that and carefully re-reading that long post this time, the coach coming out when they did and saying what they did wouldn't be good enough for me. At that time, any appeal, proper or otherwise, live or dead, would have been moot.

But, in a normal dead ball situation where an appeal could be allowed, I still think that I would have accepted that.

Not in ASA. Any infielder, but not any participant.

True enough. I stand corrected. Just another brain fart, I guess.

"I signal a "weak" safe call, and DHC asks me "Blue, did she miss home plate?" " I'm trying to see why you think the ball was dead. Sounds like the coach's comment came immediately following the safe call. If the runner missed, surely she's still close enough in ANY level of ball to not kill the play that quickly.

And no ... the coach can't make the DBA. I guess we don't "all know" this, since it's false.

You know, I need to try to quit reading and replying to this at work with so many distractions. For some reason, on my "careful" re-read, I just caught the part where he said the coach came out between innings and thought that was when he asked the question.

There is my one to miss on this board for the year. Now back to work.

what is a 'weak' safe call?? --puzzled--

Just a routine hands out to the side with no verbal call.

I use a "weak" safe call when something like this happens. Basically, I do not verbalize safe and its kind of a half-hearted motion. In my opinion she had "attained" the plate. Her entire body (legs, feet, and all) had passed the plate before they was an attempt to put her out, actually there never was an attempt to put her out. I signaled safe and that point it was up to the defense to either tag her or appeal. I treated it the same way I would have if a runner had "attained" first base (entire body past the bag) before the throw arrived, but didn't tag the base. In that situation I would wait to make sure that the runner did not hit the base with their trailing foot, make a weak safe call, and then wait for a live ball appeal. If the runner comes back and retouches first before the live ball appeal then there can be no appeal.

If my mechanics in this situation are wrong I am open to suggestions.

[QUOTE=Julio Caliente]I use a "weak" safe call when something like this happens. Basically, I do not verbalize safe and its kind of a half-hearted motion. In my opinion she had "attained" the plate. Her entire body (legs, feet, and all) had passed the plate before they was an attempt to put her out, actually there never was an attempt to put her out. I signaled safe and that point it was up to the defense to either tag her or appeal. I treated it the same way I would have if a runner had "attained" first base (entire body past the bag) before the throw arrived, but didn't tag the base. In that situation I would wait to make sure that the runner did not hit the base with their trailing foot, make a weak safe call, and then wait for a live ball appeal. If the runner comes back and retouches first before the live ball appeal then there can be no appeal.

In all my little-league, major, pony, high school playing in the catchers position I do not remember an umpire calling someone safe who didn't touch the plate, even if the runner clearly beat an attempted tag. I remember umpires making no call and that usually alerted the coaches, or the catchers to try to tag the runner out before he does touch the plate. In those more rare times when a runner misses the 1st base bag but clearly beats the throw a safe call would be made and if no live ball appeal comes before the runner retouches there remains no more appeal available. Is a missed plate in softball treated the same as a runner that misses 1st base? Are we to call the runner safe when she missed the plate just because no tag was attempted? I ask for more comments and direction from the board to help clear up my understanding. I have two years under my belt umpiring and three years coaching but the more I think I know the more I realize I have a whole lot to learn. .. Al

[quote=Al]I don't understand why this call would be any different than the 50 other calls at 1st base?

Al,

The instruction given for most in the baseball world tells the umpire that when a runner misses the plate NO signal is given.

ASA umpire mechanics are different on this point. The manual says to wait a second for the players to react, then give a safe signal.

Why the baseball and softball world are divergent on this point, I don't know. But it's just another one of those little things to keep seperate for guys that work both sports.

[QUOTE=IRISHMAFIA]
It really inst different mechanically excpet not as enthusiastic. I think it is called "weak" because they aren't safe until they touch the base.

I was taught in baseball to signal safe. They had attained the bag (as long as their entire body had passed the bag), there fore they are safe until an appeal is made.

Julio,

I was referring to plays at home plate only.

If you have a baseball mechanics manual, compare this to the ASA guidelines.

Thanks guys!

I just found the following information on a web site...

MISSED TAG OR BASE RULE

The first answer is from the N.A.P.B.L Umpire Manual which is now available in bookstores. The second is from clinics I've attended and articles in "Referee" magazine:

"On a play at the plate, should the runner miss home plate and the fielder miss the tag on the runner, the umpire shall make no signal on the play. The runner must be tagged if he attempts to return to the plate; if he continues on his way to the bench, the defense may make an appeal."

"On a play at first base where the runner beats the catch of the throw, but misses first base, the umpire signals and calls safe. The runner beat the throw so he is safe. The missing of the base is an appeal of a base running infraction and must be made by the defense, not the umpire. If the defense appeals before he returns to the base you then call the runner out." Don't ask me why the two plays are handled differently. I don't know. They just are according to the official rulings. Submitted by: Jim Booth

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I don't know what baseball league I was playing under all the years I played but it was in New Jersey and there was always a "no call" when the runner missed the plate even if the defense was ten feet away. Glad I didn't have this situation happen when I was behind the plate a few times towards the end of this season...especially during championship games. ...Thanks again... Al

I believe the difference is because one is a tag play and the other involves the throw beating the runner to the bag. The play at home also allows the runner to leave the field at the play's conclusion. In both cases, the D can appeal.

Speaking ASA, not sure about others

Not so. By rule (8.3.B), a runner which passes a base is considered to have touched the base. Well, if they are considered to have touched the base, then they must be safe. Of course, they are still in jeopardy via an appeal.

This is where the difference between some baseball and softball occurs.

Many baseball umpires, usually old timers, consider calling a runner safe and then out on an appeal as a "reversal" of the same call and consider it to show weakness in an umpire. Same mentality when being asked to go for help.

In softball, it is considered two independent rulings. Some consider it "coaching" a team if no call is made, thus tipping off one or the other of a problem.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying in this post. Maybe I should have been more clear. What I was trying to say was that they had attained the base (which is why during this whole discussion i have said "their entire body has passed the base") and were therefore "safe", but they aren't really safe until they go back and retouch first because they are at risk to be put out on appeal.

You know, I have never had a problem asking for help on a call. I know for a fact when there a runners on second or third and I am way across the infield there are plays that are difficult to see a pulled foot at first. I can think of one play that happened not too long ago. bases loaded 1 out, line drive to F4 who throws to first. From where I was I couldn't make a clear call if F3 was on the base w/ the ball before the runner was back. Called time and conferred..... I believe in making 1 call, and it being the right call. If you have to get together to make that call so be it.

Damn, made me go pull out my little book and look it up. I was wrong on the play at home. I am apologize to all.

Julio, you were only wrong if this was played by baseball rules and baseball mechanics. Remember, this was played by ASA rules, so ASA mechanics prevail.

Under ASA mechanics, no ball equals no call. That means, when the runner isn't played on, there should not be a safe call. If the runner is played on, ie, a missed tag, and touches the plate, there is an immediate and appropriate safe call. If the runner is played on, missed tag, missed plate, you pause momentarily to differentiate from a touched plate timing, so you are not falsely suggesting to the defense that the runner did touch the plate. If the defense fails to pursue the play, then you signal "safe", because the runner is, at that moment safe; and failing to make any call is "telling" the defense the runner missed the plate. The missed plate is an appeal; we do not "tell" the defense that they should make an appeal play.

NCAA handles it differently, in a manner only a college coach could appreciate. By RULE, not just mechanics, an umpire must signal safe and verbalize "no tag" if the runner misses home, even if the defense doesn't attempt a tag!! IMO, one of the worst rules ever written; when I do that, I feel like they should issue me a glove, too, since I am working for the defense.

Thanks for the help. I think what you said above is a stupid rule and is why I do not agree with the "no call" concept. They are basically the same thing. If you make no call at all it is like walking over to the coach and say "hey, they missed the base. You should appeal".


Well, I guess in ASA what i did was somewhat correct because I did wait extra time to make sure that what I saw was what I saw (yes she missed the plate) and that she didn't turn around for the plate before I signaled safe.

Just can't understand it. More or less, the umpire is saying, "Yeah, you're safe now, but you're gonna be screwed in a second or two!"