u/judehaz

I've been taught that we only point fair, with the hand toward fair territory (not pointing across our body ever), and never say "fair" or "fair ball" - no vocalization on fair balls, just point.

For foul, we say "foul" (not "foul ball") loudly and put both of our hands up, palms open, at shoulder/head height. Repeat "foul" multiple times if the situation warrants to avoid confusion/chaos, especially at younger ages.

In today's Pirates game, U3 (John Tumpane) called a close (maybe a few feet) ball foul using the hands up motion I described, and called "foul" loud enough for the broadcast to pick it up, but then somewhat nonchalantly pointed in foul territory. I was always told this was something you don't do it and it makes you look like a doofus.

Has the mechanic evolved or is it different in 3-man or 4-man crews? I've only ever worked solo or two-man. Thanks!

I've been umpiring for two years now as an adult (after doing it for a few years as a teenager, per my post history), and the bane of my existence (presently) is close calls at first on ground balls to the infield when I'm doing 14u and younger solo. I think my problem is that I'm not getting a proper view of the play, but on small fields, with the batter and catcher usually in between me and where I want to go from the jump, I just seem to be lagging to get a good angle, and maybe a little slow when it is multiple games in and July 85+ degree humid weather. Assuming nobody else on base/nothing else to watch, what should my optimal path be from behind the plate in these situations? I appreciate all advice. Thanks as always!

After doing a bit of research, it's unclear to me if the cutoff man throwing the ball out of play constitutes a TOT (time of throw) or TOP (time of pitch) two-base award. Is it a first throw from the infield or a throw from the outfield? Does the cutoff man's position (in the outfield grass or in the dirt) matter here?

To be clear, we're talking about a base hit to the outfield, fielded by the outfielder, and thrown into the cutoff man as runners are advancing. In this case, R2 was coming home, cutoff man throws wildly to home and the ball goes into the dugout area of one of the teams.

Thanks!

OBR, adult wood bat league. Two-man crew. One out. R2, so I'm in C. Sharp grounder to the third baseman. He seems to be fielding it to throw to 1st (yells of one, one, one, and he's clearly going to attempt the play at 1st), so I take a few steps backwards toward 1st, open up a little so I can pivot as he throws, and continue to watch him/the ball. He boots the ball but it's still near him, and now his teammates are yelling "tag the runner!," R2, who was running on the play and is headed to 3rd. He bobbles a bit trying to orient to the attempt the tag, and ends up lunging toward R2. His body is now wholly blocking any view I might have of a tag. Seeing no tag, and seeing R2 not deviate from his path in any way to indicate any kind of contact, I call safe.

Defense is incensed, appeals to my partner, but PU says he did not have a view of it.

A few innings afterward once things have calmed down (thankfully the call did not affect the score), I talk to the player coach of the team that was on offense (and, from the 1st-base dugout, had a better angle than I did), and he tells me there was indeed a tag applied. So I got it wrong.

I'm just not sure how I could have handled this better. How do I call out if I can't see a tag? No scenario seems to have me breaking on a 45-degree angle between home and 3rd in that situation to have a chance at the play, and the chaos all happened in less than two seconds (first I thought he was throwing to first, and was in position for that while still watching the play, then the bobble, then the decision to attempt the tag, and him spinning around with the entire play now occurring beyond both the third baseman and R2 from my perspective.

Later, a player on the aggrieved team grounded out to 1st while I was in A and said "you've got to get better." I didn't escalate even though it was personal, since it was the 7th inning, and didn't respond, but did want to say "so does your defense."

For context, as per my pervious posts, I'm a 2nd-year adult ump aside from doing it a few years as a teenager.

Thanks, as always, in advance, for your collective wisdom.

I'm a second-year ump with around 150 games under my belt so far at all levels. I learned a great lesson today. 16U, two-man. Around the 4th inning, runners on 1st and 2nd, so I'm of course in C. But, as I'm about to describe, a bad C. R2 steals, and I move maybe 10 steps toward 3rd. 3B has the ball very early but misses the (initial) tag on R2. I see nothing else (from my bad position) and call safe.

Defense appeals rather assuredly. I conference with my partner and learn that R2 left the bag during the slide and the 3rd baseman tagged him. This was all blocked from my perspective by bodies. I overturn and call out. After the inning, my partner and I talk some more, and he says I need to be more active in the working area, running and getting into the best possible position before stopping to see the play.

Turns out, doing so much plate this year (probably 90% of my games), I got very out of practice in the field. And perhaps a bit lazy.

The universe rewarded me by having a similar situation with a steal at 3rd later in the game. You can be sure I was in a deeper C position, and got my butt much closer to the play to see a tag straight on, vs. the half-assed angle I had earlier.

It was a great learning opportunity. If you're new, don't be afraid to 1) conference, and 2) ask questions and learn from your partners, even if during the game. It made a real difference for both my accuracy and confidence. Turns out I (hopefully) don't have terrible eyes/judgement; I was putting myself in a terrible position to see the play.

Had a 14U rec baseball game earlier today. Low 50s, cloudy, pretty chilly, so a lot of kids had layers under their jerseys.

Relief pitcher comes in wearing a white long-sleeve undershirt. Before his first pitch, I ask him to roll both sleeves up under the jersey. His own coaches say they don’t care and that he can wear the sleeves. I said it really isn’t their call, then checked with the opposing coaches since they were the ones batting. They said they were fine with it, so I let him roll the sleeves back down and we played on. The pitcher, who was incidentally Black, seemed a little uncomfortable by all of this.

Did I over-police something that should stay in organized high school Fed ball? As a second-year up who has about 150 games under his belt across everything from 8U to JV, I still worry sometimes that I may be trying to big-ball or prove myself by policing things like shades/white or white-adjacent sleeves on pitchers, kids wearing helmets when coaching the bases, insisting on a helmeted-kid guarding pitcher warm-ups in foul territory during play, making kids wear a hat while in the field, etc. But then I think about a mentor that talked to me about potential lawsuits if something bad happens in a game I'm umping and that safety with kids involved should be a top priority.

I know our goal is to be un-rememberable and unseen to the extent possible. Could use some advice on this kind of dead-ball umpiring, particularly in rec ball and non-school tournament games as the summer heats up. Thanks!