Well.......it finally happened.....

Gulf Coast Blue · #1 (**permalink**) Wed May 08, 2002, 10:56pm

Me PU......Bases loaded.........2 outs........batter swings at a third strike in the dirt and immediately starts towards 1st.......

Catcher picks up ball and steps on home plate as she moves forward to throw to 1st........

YOU GUESSED IT.............she throws it into right field.........

I Bellow (like Mike Rowe.....and I am sure many of you here.......when I bellow........I BELLOW......."Out on the force.......that's 3"as soon as the catcher touches HP........

No one pays attention.......runners are running.......fielders are fielding.......coaches are coaching........parents are screaming.........

It was pretty fun watching.......But after I verbalize the out.....and showed 3 outs.........I let everything go on..........

My partner suspected what was going on, but was not sure.........and moved off the field........and when there was a play at third......everyone expected a call..........BUT.......he was not where he was supposed to be.........he and I were both on the 3rd base side of home......

Defense requests TIME......and wants an out at third.......the third base coach wants to know what the heck the call was.............

I attempted to calmly say..........the Runner from 3rd was out on a force..........NO RUNS SCORE.........

It took about 2-3 minutes to sort it out.........(I even had to explain it to my partner......but HE saw and heard my out call and figured being close to me was the safest place.........boy, was he wrong)....

The offense was convinced that I screwed them out of three runs (parents yelling, assistant coaches all wanting an explanations).......and the defense did not know what to think..........

I finally took the offensive manager almost to the outfield......and walked him through the play........(I believe he finally understood.........but I doubt any parent did or his assistants........I had to shoo them away.......lol)

Just another day in the life of a softball umpire.......

Joel

[Edited by Gulf Coast Blue on May 8th, 2002 at 11:11 PM]

alabamabluezebra · #2 (**permalink**) Thu May 09, 2002, 08:17am

In a case like this, I would move a couple feet up the third base line and continue to repeat my self "Runner from third is out on a force." before everyone gets started good.

I had a similar play where the bases were loaded with two outs. The batter hit a drive to the fence but she slung her bat. The runners ran, the coaches coaced and the fans cheered. I bellowed loudly numerous times "DEAD BALL! BATTER'S OUT FOR SLINGING THE BAT" but no one could hear me in the excitement. When everything finally settled down, I pointed to the bat hanging in the fence and announced again "DEAD BALL! BATTER'S OUT FOR SLINGING THE BAT". The coach understood the call but I caught holy hell from the fans.

The next time I had a similar scenario, runners on second and third and a slung bat. I moved up the line while making the call. The runner from third stopped in her tracks and the third base coach stopped the action on the bases. Everything ended a lot more peaceful.

Dakota · #3 (**permalink**) Thu May 09, 2002, 09:05am

Just curious - which rules have a batter out for a slung bat (assuming it did not interfere with the play)?

alabamabluezebra · #4 (**permalink**) Thu May 09, 2002, 10:50am

Hey Dakota,
I umpire Dixie Softball. It is one of those rules no one else seems to use like waving the bat to distract the pitcher. I don't make 'em, I just try to enforce them!

Dakota · #5 (**permalink**) Thu May 09, 2002, 11:01am

OK - Just asking.

I don't call Dixie & don't know their rules. Around here, with ASA and NFHS being the dominant rules, when fans (or occasionally coaches) want a batter called out for throwing the bat, we have to explain that rule doesn't exist.

I liked the way you handled the situation the second time, though.

Joel,

Why didn't you insert yourself visibly in the way, along with your 110 dBA bellow? Do you think that would have resulted in a more peaceful ending, as ABZ says?

Gulf Coast Blue · #6 (**permalink**) Thu May 09, 2002, 01:25pm

Joel,

Why didn't you insert yourself visibly in the way, along with your 110 dBA bellow? Do you think that would have resulted in a more peaceful ending, as ABZ says?

Dakota.........in 12U ball, I have been in situations where I did everything but tackle runners and attempt to stop them........sometimes, no matter what you do they are going to continue on.............grin

In this case.......I resigned myself to just allow all the extraneous activity..........I knew that it would all be sorted out at the end......

This was kind of a HTBT situation......but believe me......if you were there.......YOU would have known that the play was over when I called it........

Joel