Umpire Error

[Steve M]

Originally Posted by steveshane67

You guys are all missing the point of the post.

the home plate ump initially thought the batter had stepped out of the batters box (ie since there was no painted lines, thought he was too far towards the pitcher when he hit the ball). the runners both ran on contact, the batter probably jogged to 1B, by the time everyone realized what had happened, the runners had both proceeding 1 base and probably made a turn, and the OF just picked up the ball and was about to throw it to the infield.

now the action is over, since its just slow pitch, the umpire rethought his initial out of box call and ruled the hit was legal, and awarded bases based on what was "fair" not necessarily what is written in the rules, most slow pitch umps dont even know there is a rule book let alone can cite rule 5 section 6 subletter E part ii (just saying the softball rulebook is overly complex).

since this is a slow pitch game (probably a rec league), and most slow pitch leagues dont paint the batters boxes for whatever reason, the ump just did what he thought was right to correct his mistake. its not like the OF let a flyball drop or anything like that, so its really no big deal. if anything, he should have just awarded the batter 1st and only move the runners up 1 base.

the previous responses to the thread are unnecessarily condescending and the posters need to back off their "rulebook knowledge" pedestals, its slow pitch softball, ppl [most] play just to have fun.

If you don't want a rules based answer, then why ask the question?
Now, I admit, I don't care for rec ball. I want to be in a game where the players care about winning - not where their first focus is on just having fun.

Now, you've also got a major foul-up by the umpire when he reversed himself on a judgement call. He was properly positioned and saw everything he needed to see - and - made a judgement call. To reverse that later is just plain wrong.

As to you saying "most slow pitch umps dont even know there is a rule book let alone can cite rule 5 section 6 subletter E part ii (just saying the softball rulebook is overly complex)." You've got several folks here who umpire a lot of slow pitch and I suspect they take great exception to that.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Steve M

As to you saying "most slow pitch umps dont even know there is a rule book let alone can cite rule 5 section 6 subletter E part ii (just saying the softball rulebook is overly complex)." You've got several folks here who umpire a lot of slow pitch and I suspect they take great exception to that.

And I'm definitely one of them. 17 years behind the plate, Bub, and all of them were slow pitch.

Originally Posted by Steve M

As to you saying "most slow pitch umps dont even know there is a rule book let alone can cite rule 5 section 6 subletter E part ii (just saying the softball rulebook is overly complex)." You've got several folks here who umpire a lot of slow pitch and I suspect they take great exception to that.

I'm one of them, with 16 years on the field total. Matter of fact, the past 10 years, I've had two rulebooks to work from, the USSSA and ASA books. (Even worse, this past week I had to cram the SPA book into my mind!)

[steveshane67]

Originally Posted by Ref Ump Welsch

I'm one of them, with 16 years on the field total. Matter of fact, the past 10 years, I've had two rulebooks to work from, the USSSA and ASA books. (Even worse, this past week I had to cram the SPA book into my mind!)

Dont you think its a fair assessment to say that an umpire that posts on an officiating website might be among the top % most knowledgeable among umpires???

Once again, I wasnt saying the umps on here are bad, just saying most of the umps ive personally seen (NE, SW, and Midwest) are not good.