Umpire Qualifications

... and the truth is, if you put yourself in a boat and head for the falls,,,, there will be a crowd who will yell at you if you make it,,, and another crowd who will yell at you if you drown.

Can't win either way sometimes.

 

What's Your Call?

I am a softball coach now, but have Umped baseball and softball for 20 years. I know there were times where I completely missed the call and I'm sure there are 1000s of times where I may have missed it. Depends on which coach or set of fans you ask. LOL But I do have a coupla situations for you, Stretchy and other Umps please refrain from answering for a little while.

1. Runners on 1st and 3rd, no outs, pop up hit to ss, which ump calls the Infield Fly?

2. During an Infield Fly situation, if the infielder intentionally drops it, what is the penalty?

3. Must the infielder attempt to catch an Infield Fly? What happens if he/she just lets it fall to the ground untouched?

4. Infield Fly situation, neither ump calls it, is it still in effect?

5. Infield Fly situation, batter attempts to bunt to move runners, hits a pop up (not line drive) to the pitcher, is it an Infield Fly?

Just a few simple scenerios dealing with 1 rule. If you are knowledgeable, they are simple. If you have to open a rule book or call someone, stop beating on Umps. Remember, there are much harder and unusual situations which an Ump has to interpet in a split second. He/she can't say, 'Wait, let me go to my car and look this one up".

Just for fun, when you answer these, don't quote Rule # or page #.

 

Okay..let me be the 1st dummy to try to answer this: I keep in mind that an Infield Fly Rule (assuming that there is runners on 1st and 2nd or bases loaded and less than 2 outs) is a judgement call by an umpire that the ball should be caught by reasonable effort.

1. Field ump- he has to make the judgement that the ball should be caught
2. The batter is out. Players remain at their base.
3. That's tricky. Since you said it is an infield fly (whether the player touched the ball or not), batter is out; runners advance at own risk.
4. No...it must be called by umpire- it's a judgement call.
5. bunts are not considered as an infield fly

I'd like to follow up on one of the questions. It may cause a few eyebrows to raise:

1st and 3rd, no outs, pop up to SS and he intentionally let the ball drop in front of him without touching glove. What is the call?

 

Thats my point completely Jester,,, there are many fans who don't know every technical rule in the book, yet while the umps are forced to make split second calls on every play, they are fair game when they blow it and the less knowledgable feel they have the "right" to yell at them when they screw up.

While I agree the umps assume this risk (aka get in the boat and head for the falls scenario), at the same time it would be nice if more fans realized most of these guys in blue are really trying to do their best, and albeit many of them will be the first to tell you that they don't know everything and haven't seen everything either. They make mistakes.

The only umpires that I ever have a problem with, are the ones who make it clear they are calling a game one-sided maybe because they have a history with one of the coaches or someone from one side just gets under their skin,,, and unfortunately those umpires do exist,,, the good news I believe is that those umpires are in the rare minority and usually don't last in the business.

Btw, I think I'd like to take a shot at those 5 questions, but I will wait for now. I will say at least one is a trick question...

 

I've got one for ya tj. An umpire calls out Infield fly, but at the end of the play, the umpire must reverse it and the batter is not out. Why?

My other question for the umpire guru's. I was under the impression an umpire just had to signal with a raised arm if it was an infield fly rule. It was not necessary to call it out loud. Is this correct?

 

Braves, to answer your question about umpires reversing a call, I have always believed that everyone (players should get it on strike 3, coaches should get it, and umpires too) gets one "do-over"...

Am I right?

 

Close and the answer is very easy. A pop up to 1st baseman- Infield Fly is called- the ball travels in foul territory and 1st baseman drops it.----Foul Ball

 

Of course, the foul ball.

 

2 times I have had the opportyunity to sit with a man who was at the game to evaluate the umpires. he never questioned their calls, their strike zone but looked to see were they in position, how they interfaced with coaches, how they acted between innings and a few other things I cannot remember. he even gave me a copy of his checklist.

I don't have a problem with calls umpires make. I just want them to hustle, be in position, be humble enough to ask for help if they feel they need it, communicate professionally and quietly with coaches (I hope for the same from coaches). One sign of a great game is one where you never know the umpires are there. I find it fun to watch professional umpires.

 

Did i wait long enough?

Below are my answers