Learn something new every day

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Attended the Loudonville 16-U tourney this past weekend ... thought it was a competitive tourney and very well run, but learned something new wanted to share. Runners on first and second ... batter hits a blooper over 3B's head ... it hits the left edge of the base and kicks fouls over to the fence, runners all move up. Ump calls foul ball and when asked "didn't the ball hit the bag?", he responds that it hit the "foul side of the bag"! Refused to allow any more discussion or to confer with the base ump. Fortunately it didn't affect the outcome of the game. :)
 
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That's hilarious! Gotta love the umps who know game so well that they have no need to read the rulebook, attend refresher classes or ask for help from the other ump.
 
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maybe they should paint the "foul" side of the bag orange........................ ? ;)
 
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Or use an Orange bag on that side also? ?;D That way we can tell when it hits if it is fair or foul??
 
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Umps brother must have been in Pittsburgh working a 14U game. Runners 1st and 2nd with a pop-up in the infield (less than 2 outs), no call or indication by the ump. Ball is dropped by the fielder and all runners make the next base safely. It then dawns on the ump that this is that infield fly rule thing he'd heard about, so after the play he calls "infield fly - batter is out, dead ball and base runners return to their orginal bases". Huh?

This was when the game was still close, don't know if it would have made a difference later or not. At least it was between two teams that were both from the host organization and he knew it was on the "fair side of the bag".
 
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I guess he didn't see any chalk fly.

On a more serious side of this, was the bag properly placed- in other words could the bag have been moved so that part of it was actually in foul territory? If a bag is kicked or moved out of position and the ball hits it in "foul territory" what is the proper call? Is it our responsibility as a 3rd base coach to make sure the base is properly located?
 
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JWB

Did you stick around for the finals on Sunday evening?? Luckily we did not have that happen in our game down there and I must say the umpiring was outstanding all weekend except for one on Friday night (young kid was just not ready for 16U but he will learn and get there eventually). The three that did the finals only had one missed call in 8 innings in a championship game and it didnt effect the outcome whatsoever (except for the normal ooohs and aaahs of ball/strike calls).
 
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Lewred ... no we didn't stick around ... lost by 1 in the quarterfinals and had things to get back to. Thought tournament was great and umpiring was fine except for that one strange call (Witz ... bag was properly placed). Congrats to the Waves on the tourney win and their fine season.
 
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do base players have right to block bag when ball is NOT coming their way? brought this to umps attention and the left fielder told the adults to shut their mouth and then proceded to tell her coach we were yelling at her, no one said a word to player, but opposing coach came over and harrased us for 2 innings happened in n ridgville on sunday, by the way, person trying to bring this to ump's attention is an umpire himself..
 
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To my way of thinking the fans shouldn't be trying to tell the umpire how to call the game (umpire or not), but by rule a fielder cannot block the base without the ball. The offended coach needs to calmly approach the umpire and make his/her case - sometimes you'll actually get the call next time, but not always. My catchers have been getting mixed signals on this all year as I don't think I've had two umpires explain or call the rule the same way.
 
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These situations demonstrate the need for coaches to learn two magic little words...

"I protest!".

In cases where a rule has obviously been misapplied, the legal protest will rectify the bad call, and the game will resume from that point.

A batted ball hitting a bag is a fair ball. Runners are never returned to their bases on an infield fly call. These are not judgement calls, they are written rules.

The calls made on those plays stink, but there is a remedy available to the offended team. Learn how to properly appeal those bad rule interpretations and two good things will happen.

The call can be reversed and the problem rectified. And, just maybe, when the protest is upheld, the umpire lacking in rule knowledge will be educated so the same bad call isn't made in future games.
 
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Bretman,

The problem with saying "I Protest" is that you usually have to have a wad of cash in your hand and you are at the mercy of the tournament to overrule the umpire so you get your big wad of hot sweaty cash back.

I say that if a tournament is going to require you to put up money for a protest, that if you are correct they should pay back extra. Say $75 for a protest. If the ump was wrong you get $125 back.
 
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Coachjwb, we were at Loudonville this weekend. We had a play at the plate and our catcher had the ball in her glove with the tag on and the opposing player kicked at it atleast 5 times and finally kicked it loose. She was called safe, even though she never tagged the plate and our catcher picked the ball up and tagged her. I asked the umpire how long she had to kick the ball out before she would be called out.

On the infield fly not being called, it is still in effect but since the ball dropped the runners did not have to go back to their base, the batter would still be out though.
 
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But if you know you're right, then you know that you'll win the protest.

By the way, I totally disagree with exorbitant protest fees. These outrageous fees discourage protests and help to enforce bad umpiring.

When an umpire is wrong, he's wrong. If the coach knows the rule better, then more power to him. Making a legal protest cost prohibitive is doing the coaches and teams a disservice.

Besides the outrageous cost (for some tournaments) there is another downside to filing a protest. You are taking a gamble that the protest committee reviewing your protest actually knows the proper rule!

Still, if you know you're right and can back it up with a specific written rule, your protest should be winnable.
 
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In a recent tournament where the opposing team was at bat, the batter hit the ball to second where it hit their runner. ?The ball deflected to fielder at 2nd who threw the runner out at first.

Umpire call runner out (correct) but awarded the batter 1st, even though she was thrown out.

Umpire said it was a dead ball once it hit the runner so the batter gets first. ?I explained that it was a "delayed" dead ball and the result of the play stands (out at 1st). I asked him to talk with the other umpire to help him with call. ?He seemed reluctant. I then just happened mentioned that I carried $100 in my wallet at all times "just in case a protest is needed" and in this case, I was not afraid of losing that C note. ?He talked with the field umpire and reversed his call. ?He apologized after the game ( I then told him that the $100 mysterioulsy disappeared after the call reversal). ? ;D
 
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Johnnies,

You're giving away your secret. From now on you better carry that C-note! LOL
 
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You would think I would learn to keep my mouth shut, but NOOOOOO. ;D
 
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Well, you pulled a great con job on the umpire. Too bad it wasn't me calling your game. I could always use an extra hundred bucks!

Interference is an immediate dead ball, not a delayed dead ball. The runner was correctly placed at first.

Need proof? Read ASA rule 8-7-K. Then read the "NOTE" which follows after pargraph L. Now read the "EFFECT" which follows paragraph Q.

Would you like to bet another hundred?
 
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as a player, i disagree with the entire concept of the protest. I understand that some calls will go your way, and some calls wont. and yes, on occasion those plays will screw up the outcome of the game. However, how often does one play actually affect the outcome of a game? I have played in a game where bad umpiring calls cost us a big game, and ruined our chance at an upset in the state tournament, but i have played in so many more games where it has not done anything but delay the game (and since a lot of us complained about long delays at tournaments we wouldn't want to be hypocritical would we? :)). Those long delays just make us players restless and if they go on for an extended period of time can make us get "cold". and having a cold pitcher will affect the game more than that one call.
I think that coaches protesting is all an ego booster for them. Many coaches like to feel that they know everything about the game and when they think that they know a call they jump on the opportunity to show off their knowledge. I've been playing for almost 10 years now and i've never read the rule book, and chances are many coaches haven't either. I guess protesting a call and being right makes them superior or something. Why can't the umps just do their job, and the coaches do their jobs. Why don't we all try to respect one anothers positions on the field? how about we back up the promise that sports build character for life and instead of being argumentative, have the coaches teach the girls that sometimes in life things just don't fall your way. I guess i am still bitter about a protested call that declared me ineligable for a game, but i think that coaches should try to stay out of it a little, and definatly keep the tournament directors out of it.
I think that the coach who pretended to have the $100 bill is a genius. When umpires refuse to ask for help, they aren't being any better than an outraged fan/coach/player. Stubborness doesn't solve anything. that's why they have a second umpire right? and if they dont' want to ask for help, maybe just please the coaches by going and pretending to say something to the other ump. that way everyone is happy and nobody would know! ?;)
i guess it all boils down to that ever famous question "can't we all just get along?" ?:)
 
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We had a tournament where the ump called a crow hop because the pitchers foot left the rubber !!!! LOL.
It drug the ground, but because it left the rubber he thought it was a crow hop. LOL. After we took him to school, and showed him the book he apologized. Red faced, but he apologized.
 

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