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  #1 (permalink)  
Old Thu Sep 06, 2007, 11:44am
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Red face Three Minute Clinic! HELP!!!

After having not umpired any diamond sports for 20 years, I find myself pressed back into service at the last minute. I'll be umpiring a women's slow-pitch church tournament tonight. ASA rules, but pretty laid back . Not sure if it'll be one man mechanics or two (depends on whether the "scheduler" can find a second umpire).

Question 1: Should I wait until game time to panic, or should I begin panicking now as part of my pre-game?

Question 2: Can you give me a mini clinic to get me up-to-speed enough to survive tonight, and maybe even do a good job?

Thank you!
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Old Thu Sep 06, 2007, 11:58am
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Make sure you understand the pitch height rule for the league (ASA -12ft max, 6 ft min), pitch count to start the at bat (sometimes 1 and 1). Be consistant on your ball /strike calls....After the ball is hit, move out from behind the plate and get a good position to make the call, after hesitating to mentally "see" the play. Most mistakes occur by calling safe/out too fast.
Anticipate where throws will go and hustle to a good angle position. Hopefully you know the rules for slowpitch. "Sell" the close calls w/ authority. Have fun. Most womens SP games play at a slower pace, so you should have time to make the right calls.
The biggest conflicts you will face are ball/strike calls, and close safe/out calls. Outside of any rules you may not be sure of, you should do ok.....
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Old Thu Sep 06, 2007, 01:27pm
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20 years

Quote:
Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle
After having not umpired any diamond sports for 20 years, I find myself pressed back into service at the last minute. I'll be umpiring a women's slow-pitch church tournament tonight. ASA rules, but pretty laid back . Not sure if it'll be one man mechanics or two (depends on whether the "scheduler" can find a second umpire).

Question 1: Should I wait until game time to panic, or should I begin panicking now as part of my pre-game?

Question 2: Can you give me a mini clinic to get me up-to-speed enough to survive tonight, and maybe even do a good job?

Thank you!
Have Fun, Enjoy the Game, and Do your Best
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Old Thu Sep 06, 2007, 02:12pm
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Remember three things and you can't go wrong:

1. In ASA, no advantageous fourth-out appeal is permitted on a runner who did not score.

2. In ASA, if the batter hits a high fly over foul territory and passes the runner on 1B while the ball is still live (i.e., before the ball lands foul), the BR is out.

3. ASA does not observe "last time by" with regard to missed bases.

That should cover it. Good luck!
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Old Thu Sep 06, 2007, 05:32pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greymule
Remember three things and you can't go wrong:

1. In ASA, no advantageous fourth-out appeal is permitted on a runner who did not score.

2. In ASA, if the batter hits a high fly over foul territory and passes the runner on 1B while the ball is still live (i.e., before the ball lands foul), the BR is out.

3. ASA does not observe "last time by" with regard to missed bases.

That should cover it. Good luck!
I guess I have been out longer than I thought. I don't understand 1 & 3 at all.
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Old Thu Sep 06, 2007, 06:36pm
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I don't understand 1 & 3 at all.

Well, you better get crackin'. These issues come up all the time in women's church league play.

Here goes:

1. Abel on 3B, Baker on 1B, 2 out. Charles gets a hit off the right field fence. Abel scores, and Charles misses 1B on his way for an extra-base hit. Baker is thrown out at home for the third out, and Charles stops on 2B. The defense appeals Charles's miss of 1B. Ruling: Appeal denied. There are already 3 outs, and Charles didn't score. Therefore, Abel's run still counts, whereas it would not count if the advantageous fourth out on Charles was allowed.

3. Abel on 1B. Baker lines a ball into right center. Abel rounds 2B and is on his way to 3B when F9 makes a diving catch. Abel misses 2B on the way back to 1B. Abel slides safely back into 1B, and the ball bounces away from F3, allowing Abel to advance to 2B. With Abel standing on 2B, the defense appeals Abel's miss of 2B on the return. Ruling: Even though Abel touched 2B "last time by," he is out for missing 2B on his return to 1B.

I realize that tonight's game has already started, so I'm probably too late. Sorry.

Let us know how things went!
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Last edited by greymule; Thu Sep 06, 2007 at 06:38pm.
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Old Thu Sep 06, 2007, 08:38pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greymule

3. Abel on 1B. Baker lines a ball into right center. Abel rounds 2B and is on his way to 3B when F9 makes a diving catch. Abel misses 2B on the way back to 1B. Abel slides safely back into 1B, and the ball bounces away from F3, allowing Abel to advance to 2B. With Abel standing on 2B, the defense appeals Abel's miss of 2B on the return. Ruling: Even though Abel touched 2B "last time by," he is out for missing 2B on his return to 1B.

I realize that tonight's game has already started, so I'm probably too late.
Good, because I believe this one is incorrect.
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Old Fri Sep 07, 2007, 10:40am
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Thumbs up

Quote:
Originally Posted by greymule
Let us know how things went!
Oddly enough both issues came up. But since the players were not named Able, Baker or Charlie, I wasn't sure what to do and just ejected them!

Everything went well. I had worked four years of ASA when I was younger, and it came back surprisingly well. I was by myself the first three games. I had the bases on the fourth. The only thing that felt weird was using "the carpet." I'd never done that before.

Thank you, archangel. I called a few illegal pitches because I'd been reminded to look for them. And I realized somewhere in the second game that I was starting to hurry my calls a little bit, so I slowed them down.

The only rules issue I had was what to do with the runners on an infield fly. They advance at their own risk, correct?

We had one injury. A lady in a hotbox dove back into third and dislocated a finger and the third baseman accidentally stepped on it, cutting it open. It was a little gruesome, and every lady in the place had to come have a look Lucky for her, my partner is an orthopedic surgeon. He "reduced" the finger (medical term for putting it back in place, I guess) to reduce the pain and sent her off to the ER to get it looked at.

The doc and I are on again tonight. We've got four games (two one-man, two two-man) including the final. Five games if we screw that one up. I hope this "beginners luck" holds out for just one more day.

Thanks again for the help!
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