The batter's box

It's Game #3 of the night down at Grasslawn, Perrigo, North Creek, Loyal Heights, wherever. Smitty is up to bat.

"Hey blue!" the catcher half yells at you. "Make him get in the box!" You look...and half of Smitty's right foot is sticking out of the back of the box. Half of it is in. You decide that's ok.

It's NOT ok. Not only is it not ok, but teams tell our president, Don, and others at our league meetings they want this rule enforced.

Here it is from the ASA casebook.

PLAY 1-5
F1 steps on the pitching plate while B1 starts with a foot outside the lines of the batter’s box or is touching home plate.
RULING: If F1 has not started the pitch, the umpire should hold up play and instruct B1 to get into the box. In cases where there are no batter’s box lines evident, good judgment must be used and the benefit of any doubt must go to the batter. (1-BATTER’S BOX; 7-3A)

PACKET NIGHT/TEST NIGHT

Packet Night and Test Night have been combined this year. April 6, 630PM, South Park Community Center. The training staff and others will be there to point you in the right direction for those answers on those pesky test questions. We'll have horse doovers and other goodies. Cya there. Oh, don't forget you CAN work on your test in advance. Print out a copy from the link on the smsua.com website.

Runner awards

ASA 2009 Casebook

PLAY 8.3-4

B1 singles to right field and F9 throws the ball into the dugout in attempting a throw to F3.  The umpire awards B1 to 3B who cuts across the infield rather than touching 2B.

RULING: The defense must make a proper dead ball appeal for B1 missing 2B.  If the defense does not appeal, the action by B1 is ruled legal after the first pitch to B2. (1-APPEAL PLAY; 8-3I; 8-7G))

We tell everyone not to go looking for boogers, for they will find you soon enough. There is one place where we create our own boogers that can be simply fixed.

Some plays require us to award two bases to a baserunner. 

"Dead ball! Runner gets third base!" (Or second or home, whichever the case.)

So the runner goes to third base. Defense wants to appeal the runner missing second. Of course the runner missed second base. Now we have a big booger on our hands.

This is sooooo easily avoidable.

"The runner is awarded second base and third base." No boogers. No ugly arguments or ejection reports.

Wasn't that easy?

Evaluations

It is vitally important for you to be evaluated this year. If you want to do league, district or state playoffs in high school, you need to be evaluated. If you want to do metros, territorial, regional/national qualifiers or nationals, you need to be evaluated. To have evaluations scheduled, go to www.smsua.com and surf to evaluations, fill out the fields and send.

However, you need to be evaluated even without the playoff considerations. Evaluations are the ultimate training tool. We can tell you what is right, what can be improved and how to improve it. It might not always be nicey-nice, but it won't be mean. It makes no difference if you are a first-year umpire or a thirty-first year umpire. We all need formal evaluations.

Crow Hop/Replant

A crow hop is a replant of the pivot foot that allows pitchers to gain an unfair advantage. This video, courtesy of NFHS, shows how most crow hops occur. Be sure you know the difference between a leap and a crow hop. A leap, simply put, means both feet in the air at the same time before the pitcher has released the ball. A crow hop, generally speaking is a replant of the pivot foot that allows a pitcher to gain an unfair advantage.

Stepping within the plane of the plate

Pitchers are required to NOT step outside of the 24-inch width of the pitchers plate during their delivery. We have seen more pitchers violating this rule by stepping outside of the plane of the pitchers plate. This allows the pitchers to gain an unfair advantage, adding to their crossfire effect, a curveball or a screwball.

This is an illegal act and should be called by the plate umpire. It's an easy call and takes nothing away from your ability to call strikes.

In NCAA, the fields are marked with a pitcher's box to help establish and maintain legal deliveries by pitchers.

Video courtesy NFHS.

LEGAL drag

A legal push and drag

Video courtesy NFHS. Here is how a pitcher SHOULD be dragging their foot without a crow hop or other violation.

Stepping off the plate, breaking the hands

Videos are from NFHS.

This one describes how a pitcher may legally remove herself from the pitcher's plate. Remember that NFHS is different from ASA and NCAA. In NFHS, the pitcher MAY START with only one foot on the pitcher's plate.

In some browsers you may have to click on the little arrow in the bottom left hand corner of the video screen to start the video.

Code of conduct for umpires

This is straight from the 2009 NCAA rule book. It is a good reminder for us all.

Umpires are expected to uphold the integrity of the game and enforce its rules by observing the following guidelines of ethics and professionalism:

a. Develop and maintain a comprehensive knowledge of current NCAA softball rules and umpire mechanics.

b. Be fair and unbiased in making decisions, rendering them without regard to the score or the quality of the play on the field.

c. Honor all assignments and contracts.

d. Refrain from use of tobacco and alcohol on site.

e. When in uniform or on site, do not fraternize with players, coaches and/ or spectators.

f. Cooperate with your partner(s) to arrive at decisions that are ultimately correct and fair.

g. Listen to a coach’s concerns and respond in a professional manner.

h. Refrain from sharing information that might be used by a team’s future opponent.

i. Seek help from the on-site administrator or other appropriate individuals in controlling unruly students and spectators.

j. Be courteous and display a dignified attitude toward the game and its participants.

Welcome!

Hey Blue!

Welcome to the SMSUA training blog. We are using this blog to help all of us become the best umpire we want to be. Whether you are a novice or an expert, we hope you will

• Learn


• Ask questions


• Improve your skills

There are no "stupid" questions. We realize every question is important to you, and you are important to us -- and as more than just a fellow umpire.

We will identify rulesets when we talk about rules. Be sure you read all of the post. It will say ASA ruleset, NFHS ruleset, ASA SP only, ASA FP only, NCAA ruleset only. Some rules, mechanics and other issues we discuss will apply to just one of those, others will apply to multiple or all.

We're also going to have a brief little something good about SMSUA umpires on a regular basis. This could be just a photo and a brief blurb. It's our way of saying thanks to you for a job well done.

If you have comments, questions, concerns, ideas or anything else, please ask. We are not genies and don't grant wishes, but we will get you an answer from the appropriate folks.

Who is we?

"We" on this blog work through the auspices of our UIC, Tom Henderson. We include the SMSUA training staff as appointed by Tom, including Sean Wells, Kayleen Dunson, Diane Kolb and John Brooks. We have some of the greatest umpires in the world, and we have invited them to be part of our blogging crew when their schedules permit. Our blogger invitees include Lori Bish and Eric Hawthorne, PAC 10 conference umpires; John Personius, one of the best slow pitch umpires in the world; Malcolm Boyles, ASA Deputy Director of Umpires for the western territory; Bill Silves, ASA Region 15 UIC; and perhaps a guest blogger or two.