Ta hell with the foul pole ....
 

This just happened tonight. I am the League Guru not the ump. 14U and a 200ft field. Had a girl cream the ball down third base line with base loaded. The ball went air born and kept going up. It sliced to the left passing into foul territory before missing the pole by inches.

PU: FOUL BALL!!
Coach: WHAT?!?!? You gotta be kidding me, you can't rob a girl of a hit like that!!!
PU: Sorry coach it went foul.
Coach: Ahhh, your full of it, that was an awesome hit and your robbing her.

So apparently if the ball clears the higher portion of the pole as it goes over the fence, it is always considered fair.

New one on me. :confused:

Speaking of foul/fair ball, the one question I get every time I call a ball close to the line foul when the person is still in fair territory but touching the ball when its in foul territory: "But blue, his feet were in fair territory...doesn't that make the ball fair?" *sigh*

Here's a response given to a coach after a blown call from one of the umpires earlier this year:

Well coach, the umpire exam had 100 questions on it and I got 80 of them correct. This situation must involve questions I missed.:eek:

Again with the fall-ball firsts...

For those who don't know, our fall-ball up here is all one-man mechanics, and all 7th and 8th grade, NFHS rules, with most leagues having some kind of per-inning run rule, and usually a "no new inning after 5:30pm" rule due to no fields having any lights.

So Team A has 4 to 5 players playing select/ASA ball. They're facing Team B, who has one or two select ball players. B2 on Team A hits a 200'+ shot to center field on her second pitch in the first inning, and winds up getting a home run.

2nd inning, B2 again hits a bomb, but this time only gets to 3B.

4th inning, Coach B instructs her F1 and F2 to intentionally walk B2. F1 and F2, being the novice 12 and 13 year olds that they are, have no clue WTF to do. After a little help, they get the walk. B2 is upset she doesn't get to hit.

5th inning, bases loaded. B2 up to bat. Intentional walk again put on. B2 takes the first two pitches, and is grumbling about it the whole time. 3rd pitch F1 rolls in... kind of like bocci (sp?) ball.

B2 golfs the ball past F4 into right center for a stand up, 3-run double. Inning run rule kicks in, and that inning's over.

First time for me in fall ball that a coach decided to intentionally walk a 13 year old for fear of her hitting ability... twice... then got burned by it.

Ha! I just let the coaches know that I like to screw up a couple calls every game - just to keep everyone on their toes.

Sadly, there's an umpire I work with who does this just be an a**hole of a jerk. :(

Rules expert coach, according to him... definitely an obstruction expert. :rolleyes: Both of these are same guy - ASA 18U "A".


1. I'm BU. Bunt Grounder down the line to F3 who is shallow. F3 fields the ball and turns to toss to F4 who is covering 1B... BR goes around F3 and is thrown out on the banger at 1.

Blue.. she just cant get in the way of my runner like that. My runner gets a lane.

2. I'm still BU, F2 up the line a little awaiting throw, Runner coming from 3. R1 makes contact with F2, F2 misses ball.. Runner scrambles to home. R1 safe. Partner has no call. Contact was not USC, just some minor contact from F2 in the way but it did cause F2 to miss the ball I'd guess. Coach is all over PU wanting runner out for not sliding. Coach is walking away from the convo in a huff, I've been hovering in vicinity... he looks at me. "What about you, do you have the same thing as your partner." ..

"No".

"Ok, so what did you have."

"Obstruction on your catcher."

"WHAT!!!".


Priceless... :D

Well, I guess there are times when an umpire should answer a coach's question about their partner's call :rolleyes:

More new/old rules learned tonight. Men's SP Fall Ball

If a runner leaves a base early on a caught fly ball, you do not recognize a subsequent appeal unless the defense makes a serious effort to retire that particular runner.

The umpire cannot call a batter out for stepping in the middle of the plate to hit while hitting the pitch in the championship game.

A batter isn't required to enter the BB when directed by the umpire if he is trying to find out how many HRs his team has available.

The pitcher cannot run up to the PP even if he comes to a complete stop while in contact with the PP prior to delivering the pitch.

Bases are awarded based upon the runners location when the ball leaves the field of play and, BTW, the award is two from the outfield, one from the infield.

Did I mention the umpire is required to call a ball if the pitcher does not present the ball?

Oh, and the best of the night, it is okay to have a bat with a crack if it is "longitudal" (their word, not mine).

Making up a rule and a word should count for some type of bonus points.

From Websters Dictionary and Thesaurus; longitud'inal, of or in length; running or placed leghthwise; of longitude...

Hey, they were close.:D

Scrabble must be interesting with those guys... :rolleyes:

Wow...just...wow...wth? :confused:

Man...you got schooled!!!! :rolleyes: