Balk?
 

A gentleman I umpire with had a conversation with another umpire who said he just got back from umpiring an ASA National tournament and that he called a balk during the game.

My friend said, "You mean illegal pitch?" And the other one said, "No, balk."

I couldn't find anything in the ASA rulebook that says there are any balks in ASA. Or am I missing something?

Rita

no

Probably that guy's last national.

For the little ball guys. Isn't a balk a dead ball?

Did he also say that he got sent home after that game? :eek:

IIRC, it is in FED. Not in MLB rules though; it's a delayed dead ball, although they don't call it that.

Even though the primary definition of "balk" is
: a ridge of land left unplowed as a dividing line or through carelessness

There is a fifth definition of "balk" as
: failure of a player to complete a motion;
especially : an illegal motion of the pitcher in baseball while in position

So, a balk literally can be any failure of a player to complete a motion, including a checked swing, diving back to a base after attempting to advance, holding the ball afer a bluff or attempt to throw, etc., etc., etc. The "especially" clause above is not part of the essential definition.

:rolleyes: :D

Only in the strange world of NFHS baseball.

Fwiw
 

I thought it wasn't but I didn't know what "ASA National" was and I know some tournaments make up their own rules.

I received an reply from my softball assignor that said he was asked to go home early.

I don't understand why he would brag about the call then....

:rolleyes:

Rita

ASA Nationals do make up their own rules - and they decide on them every November and print them plainly and clearly for everyone to read in a nice little book.

No exceptions.

What part of "Championship Play" did this guy not understand? :eek:

This is why I asked if he got sent home after that call.
Unfortunately, there are some umpires who make up their own rules.

What ASA National was it?

Not sure, and given how I've gotten in trouble posting on this website before (on the baseball board) I would be reluctant to give details.

This guy is one of the few I've ever asked not to work with. And I'm not the only one. It will be interesting to see if he comes back to our association next year.

Rita

LOL yep.

Rita

Someone was BSing or completeley clueless...
Did he buy a piece of pie?

He does both, Hugo. Who's to know? I do know he was sent home early.

No, he didn't buy pie. You know, I came home with half that key lime pie?

Rita

Shame on someone, whomever that may be, for sending this guy away in the first place if he truly is that bad.

It's not championship play he didn't get, it's softball period.

What many do not understand, and I found out the hard way, umpires sent to nationals are not always determined by the UIC, but sometimes by commissioners/district commissioners and/or other individuals who may be part of a local association commission.

Yeah, I agree with your decision not to give this kind of detail. I don't blame you one bit.

Not that it wouldn't be hard to figure out. My name isn't that common

Rita

True, but at least that's limited to the people who were there, the people who know you or this umpire, and the people who receive the reports. ;)

While at the 12U in Montgomery, a call out came from the 16U in Chattanooga looking for umpires for 1-2 days. I'm pretty sure they were looking for live bodies at that point and would have taken just about anyone. I didn't go so not sure why there was a need but if they were desperate there could have been some yahoos sent there.............

One of the guys in my crew was at the 16U in TN, and my understanding was that it was HOT. I suspect they may have lost umpires to heat exhaustion.

Correct. Two of my friends were there and they said EMT's and IV's were common. Temps 98 - 102 each day.

174 teams....hot and humid....several umpires did go down from what I heard.

A side note - the PU for the championship game was one of ours from AZ...very proud of her!

We had a tourney here a few weeks ago. Temps were in the upper 90s, lower 100s. I'd heard that at least 10 umpires went down from heat on the first day. :eek:

While the heat was a factor, that isn't why they needed umpires Wednesday.

The TD accepted some late registrations that created the need for a remote site not previously planned for; three fields for a total of 10 games added on fields not manned on the first day of elimination play (3 umpire system).

We (in Georgia) were prepared to man them all (using 12-13 umpires) when we were told last minute (the night before, after telling our umpires to drive out 5:30 am to be on site by 7:00 am, as they weren't providing any rooms to get there the night before) they had dug up some more locals, and just 5 or 6 were needed. Several of mine were in the group that went; and yes, the reports I got were they saw bodies that were barely warm.

Several of mine were in the main group, and one of my fill-in-for-one-day was asked to stay for a few more days. Heard a few stories that raised hair on my neck; local first year umpires that had never seen (let alone worked) three man system before, and more. At the ASA/USA 16A National.

Because they "weren't prepared for so many", reports of not being fed, umpires sent home after their last assignment, no umpire party, and more. Seems to me the hosts shouldn't claim not prepared if they chose to accept late fill-in teams and registrations, and not skimp on umpire hospitality.

Not great reports from the local teams, either.

Some hosts get that you HAVE to take care of your umpires.... some dont.... The south USUALLY handles it the best....

And that's all it takes to get me in trouble!

Rita

Don't the teams have to earn their way to Nationals?

Rita

NCs max out at a possible 226 teams. From what I was told, every one of the 172 original teams qualified, no fill ins. Some teams cannot make up their mind and try to come in late. It doesn't mean they did not qualify at some point.

Also, in some cases, there are teams that may have been in the fringe and just missed qualifying, or teams earned berths and returned them. When this happens, the host may offer berths to "fill in" teams. Usually, this comes through the team's JO Commissioner who probably wouldn't lift a finger if that team did not support the local ASA program, so most of the time, it is a legitimate ASA team used as a fill-in.

Temps on the "coolest day" was 97. Out of the 8 days, 6 were over 100 and two days were 106 and 108 with high humidity. The heat index on the first day was 128 or something. It was dangerous. The temps you guys experienced was similar to what Cary had 2 weeks ago.

First day we had 14 umps go to Duke University Med. Center for heat illnesses.

Which is why I ended up getting a call from one of the UICs, asking if I could help out on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was in Wisconsin attending my grandmother's funeral, or I would have certainly helped out as much as possible.

The whole time, I was thinking and worrying about you guys (and ladies) who were calling the tournament. I knew how hot it was, and my fears of umpires falling out were proven correct. Thankfully, no one had serious complications that the medical facilities couldn't handle.