Drop 3rd Strike (ASA)

[jbambas]

I'm the head umpire for my local park district and had a bit of a run-in with a neighboring park district umpire who we have joined up with to increase the total number of teams that play each other. The problem is the "house rules" vary slightly and there is one that is really bothering me. This "long-timer" insists that he has been umpiring for 30 plus years and that there is NEVER a drop third strike when there are 2 outs. He called it a "3rd strike rule"??? There was no talking to him about it since his 30 plus was obviously more correct than my 8 years. I politely told him that his interpritation was an interesting one and walked away. I looked up rule 8.1.b (I think that was the number) in the ASA book which is written much poorer than in the NFHS book, and it seemed pretty clear (and makes comon sense to me) that there is ALWAYS a drop 3rd with 2 outs regardless of where the other runners are. I talked to a few other umpires who are ASA certified and was a little suprised to find that there really does seem to be two interpretations. So....I'm now very confused as to why everyone isn't on the same page on what always seemed to me to be a very simple rule.

Thanks,

Confused Blue ???????