Helmets

[Steve M]

Bill,
Technically and absolutely, the answer is no, a player may not deliberately remove their helmet during a live ball without being called out (over the fence home run is not a live ball). That being said, on very hot & humid days I have "not seen" a player standing on a base remove a helmet when all action is done. I've also gone up to that player and said something like "I did not see you take that helmet off during a live ball. If I had seen that, you'd have been out. Please remember to ask me for time before doing that again. And remind your teammates of that too." This is said in a way that nobody hears me except that particular player. That's the discretion the book speaks of. Since I only work the older levels, I prefer the NCAA's wording on this. Under NCAA's rules, that player standing on the base is allowed to remove the helmet when no play is happening during a live ball.

Steve M