BASEBALL

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET … STAY THERE

Stop Moving to Secure a Clear Picture of the Action

When umpires must move to see a play, as Paul Cohen, Calabasas, Calif., does here, it is imperative they stop and come to a set position before making their final decision. This allows their eyes to also stop moving, giving them a clear look at the action.

By Jon Bible

Recently, I came across a couple of film clips taken from major league games played decades ago. In one, an umpire called a tag play at second base while running full tilt. In the other, the plate umpire’s head dropped about three feet as the pitch arrived. Indeed, setting up at the last second and shifting one’s body down on a low pitch and outside on pitches in that area was common back then. As a young umpire starting out in the 1960s, I recall the thinking behind these “mechanics” was that we’d have a better look if we moved to where pitches went — an old descriptive term was “riding with the pitch” — and that to get base plays right we must be on top of them — even if this meant making calls on the run.

Excessive movement wasn’t unique to umpiring. Watch film of old-time games and you’ll see football officials dashing madly about and basketball officials constantly bouncing around the court. There was no such thing as working in a measured “cruise control” fashion back then.

Eventually, the powers-that-be realized excessive movement is counterproductive, for when our body is moving our eyes are as well, and this makes it harder to properly focus on, and accurately process, what’s in front of us. Now, the thinking is that to enhance our chances of making correct calls we need to get set and then stay still before the critical part of the play occurs. Obviously, there will be plays that require a lot of motion on the part of some or all members of the crew, especially the fewer umpires there are. But no matter

what the situation is, the general “get set” principle applies.

When calling pitches, get set as the pitcher begins his delivery so you’re still when the ball leaves his hand, and track the pitch into the catcher’s mitt with your eyes without moving your head. Most of us have an imaginary “window” — if the pitch is there it’s a strike and if not it’s a ball. If our head is moving as the pitch arrives, the window will move, and this will make it harder to be accurate and consistent. Movement also increases the chances of the catcher obscuring our view of the pitch. If you don’t have a locking mechanism to help you stay steady, such as putting your hands on your thighs, develop one.

On tag plays at the plate, umpires often dart here and there as the ball arrives and are moving when the catcher makes the tag. We can’t plant ourselves in one spot and stay rigid because adjustments may be needed depending on where the ball, catcher and runner go. But too often, we overreact and move too much and in too herkyjerky a way. If we make slight, controlled movements and then get set and stay still before the tag occurs, it’s more likely we’ll end up in a good position to see it and the baserunner’s foot or hand in relation to the plate, and be able to properly process what happens.

At first base with an infield grounder, move into fair territory — how far and where is up to you — while the fielder fields the ball and then get set as he throws so you’ll be still when it arrives. Then, listen for the sound of the ball hitting the glove while watching the runner’s foot hit the bag. If you’re moving, you decrease the chances of properly registering what happened first. Again, a locking mechanism, such as putting our hands on our thighs as we set up, will help us stay steady. (Old-time umpires grabbed the lapels of their coat.)

We may need to adjust if the throw is off-target and there’s a swipe tag, etc., but again the key is not to overdo it and move too much or too abruptly. Most likely, a controlled step or two will get us where we need to be to see what happens.

As for other plays on the bases, getting close can be challenging, especially with fewer umpires (and it’s possible to get so close that we lose sight of all of the play’s ingredients). But experience has shown that getting a good angle on the play and being still as it happens are more important (within limits, of course) than how far we are from it. As a play starts, move in a controlled way to get that angle and then, no matter where you are, stop and get set just before the tag is applied or, on a force play, the ball hits the glove.

Base plays in a two-umpire crew can test us. On a pickoff, turn as the pitcher throws and plant your feet instead of running toward the play. You’ll be farther away than if you did the latter, but your eyes won’t be jiggling when the tag occurs. On a steal of second, turn as the catcher’s throw passes you and then stop, plant yourself and watch the action. On a steal of third, move toward the mound (not toward third) when you sense the runner breaking, turn as the catcher throws, stop and observe.

On trouble balls hit to the outfield when you must go out, don’t keep running so you’re moving when the ball hits near the foul line or pole or an outfielder makes a shoestring catch. You’ve got a better chance of getting the call right if you can sense when the ball is about to hit the ground or glove, and get set before it does. As is the case with base plays, you may not be as close as you’d like, but your eyes won’t be bouncing up and down at the critical point in time. One additional note: On trap-catch plays, don’t run toward the fielder because you’ll lose the angle on the ball in relation to the glove; instead, run parallel to the ball’s flight. Jon Bible, Austin, Texas, worked seven NCAA Division I College World Series. In 2019, he was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas. *

BY THE NUMBERS 1

The number of new full-time hires to the MLB umpiring staff during the offseason, as Jeremie Rehak was brought aboard in late December to replace retiring Mike Winters. That also created a single crew chief opening at the big-league level, which was filled in March when Mark Carlson was promoted to take Winters’ spot.

SIDELINE

ACC Crew Makes History

The Atlantic Coast Conference made history in late February when all four members of the umpiring crew for a weekend series between Virginia and North Carolina were Black.

Umpires Linus Baker, Damien Beal, Greg Street and Randy Watkins were assigned to the series, which took place Feb. 25-27 in Chapel Hill, N.C. It marked the first time an all-Black umpiring crew had worked a game in a Power 5 conference.

“From the beginning, the ACC was completely on board when I suggested having an all-Black crew, and making history in doing so,” said Troy Fullwood, the ACC supervisor of umpires. “These guys are ACC umpires, veteran guys that have been umpiring a long time and deserve this opportunity to be a part of history. Hopefully we’ll get to the point where this is not a first, but the norm.”

SOURCE: THEACC.COM

TOOLS

RefSmart Timer

Belt timers are no longer just the domain of football back judges trying to keep accurate track of the play clock.

With the 20-second action clock now taking a central role in college baseball, RefSmart has created a version of its Game Day Timer device that now accounts for that interval, as well as the 120-second break between innings.

The RefSmart timer is available through most gear suppliers and generally retails for about $70.

TEST YOURSELF

In each question, decide which answer is correct for NFHS, NCAA or pro rules. Solutions: p. 81.

1. Jones, the starting designated hitter (P/DH in NFHS), is pinch hit for by Smith, a legal substitute. a. The role of the designated hitter is now terminated. b. The DH is locked into the position of the DH and can never be replaced. c. Smith is now the designated hitter.

2. If the first-base coach leaves the vicinity of his coaching box to argue a close call at first base: a. The umpire shall instruct the coach to return to the coaching box. b. Both the assistant coach and the head coach are immediately ejected. c. The assistant coach and the head coach both receive a written warning and shall be restricted to the bench for the remainder of the game. d. Only the assistant coach is restricted to the bench for his action.

3. The official scorekeeper informs the plate umpire that the player at bat is an illegal substitute. a. The umpire shall ignore the information until the defense tells him or her. b. The umpire shall ignore the information until the offense tells him or her. c. The umpire, being aware of the infraction, must enforce the penalty. d. The umpire shall consult the official book kept by the home team.

4. The role of the DH or traditional DH in NFHS is terminated for the remainder of the game when: a. The DH assumes a defensive position. b. When a pinch-runner is used for the DH. c. When the DH is ejected for arguing a strike three call. d. All of the above.

5. It would be a balk if the pitcher, after having his entire non-pivot foot pass behind the perpendicular plane of the back edge of the pitcher’s plate, attempted to pick off the runner at first base. a. True. b. False.

VICTOR CALZADA

Point Before Pounding That Hammer

The first rule of umpiring is get the call right.

The second rule of umpiring is to use proper mechanics to show everyone watching that you got the call right.

Take, for example, plays involving a possible pulled foot or swipe tag at first base. In this series of three photos, professional umpire Steven Rios of El Paso, Texas, shown here working a junior college game, illustrates the three necessary steps for getting the call right, then “selling” to everyone what he saw.

In the first image of this sequence on the left, Rios establishes a strong set position, ensuring that he has no movement and is able to obtain a clear view of the play in question.

In the center image, Rios uses his left hand to indicate that he

observed the first baseman make contact with the base while in possession of the ball before pulling his foot off the bag. The use of the left hand is important — if an umpire makes this motion with the right hand, it could be misconstrued by players, coaches and fans as an “out” ruling. That becomes problematic if, instead of signaling the first baseman has the bag, the “point” is being used to indicate the ball was dropped.

In the third and final image of the sequence, Rios uses an emphatic “hammer” with his right hand to signal the “out” ruling. This signal should not be used until after the first baseman has voluntarily released the baseball, indicating Rios has observed the entire play and there are no questions about whether the defensive player failed to have complete control of the ball.

Come set. Point. Drop the

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CASEPLAYS

Legal Whack

Play: B1 strikes out and F2 drops the ball. F2’s throw to first strikes B1 in the helmet while he has his right foot in the runner’s lane and his left foot in the air — last on the ground in fair territory beyond the foul line. F3 was in position to receive F2’s throw. Ruling: In all codes, B1 is out. Since B1’s left foot is outside the running lane and B1 was struck by F2’s throw while outside the running lane, B1 has committed interference (NFHS 8-4-1g; NCAA 7-11p; pro 5.09a11).

Barehand Tag

Play: With a runner on first, B2 grounds up the middle. F6 dives for the ball. He crawls toward the bag with the ball in his glove, reaches out and touches the base with his bare hand a splitsecond before R1 arrives. Ruling: Legal tag; R1 is out. Bases may be tagged with the bare hand or empty glove provided the fielder has secure possession of the ball in the glove or hand (NFHS 2-241; NCAA 2-78; pro Tag Definition).

Not Gone Too Far

Play: With a runner on first, B1 hits into the gap. R1 rounds second and collides with F6. He gets up and advances past third. About halfway home, he decides to retreat back to third as the ball is relayed home. Ruling: In NFHS, the ball remains live for all obstruction calls. In NCAA and pro, R1 was not being played on, so the ball remains live. In all codes, R1 should be awarded home. Even though he advanced one base beyond the obstruction, he most likely would have scored without the obstruction (NFHS 2-22-1, 8-3-2; NCAA 2-55 Type 2; pro 6.01h(2)).

Obstruction Decision

Play: With two outs, B1 flies to center field. The pitcher, believing the half-inning is over, sprints for the first-base dugout and obstructs B1 before he has touched first. The fly ball is then (a) not caught, with B1 being thrown out at second, or (b) caught. Ruling: In (a), if the obstruction affected B1’s ability to advance to second safely, B1 would be awarded second base. If not, B1 is out. In (b), B1 is out (NFHS 2-22-1, 8-3-2; NCAA 2-55; pro 6.01h(1)).

Don’t Drop the Ball on the DH

By George Demetriou

The designated hitter rule debuted in the AL in 1973, and is one of the few rules where the three major baseball codes have dramatically different provisions. Under pro rules, the DH may only bat for the starting pitcher and all subsequent pitchers in any game without otherwise affecting the status of the pitchers in the game (5.11a1). The rule has not changed much over the years, outside of a one-year experiment in 2020 with using the DH in both leagues, a decision created in part by the shortened season necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also in 2020, the NFHS adopted a second DH option to complement its original version. The new “player/DH” option is modeled from the NCAA rule, but is distinctly different. It gives a team the opportunity to let the DH play part of the game defensively and then come off the field without terminating the DH role.

NFHS

For an NFHS game, not only must a DH be named prior to the start of the game with his name included on the lineup card, the type of DH — traditional (3-1-4a) or player/DH (3-1-4b) — must also be designated. A team forfeits the use of a DH if it fails to declare one prior to the game. Under the traditional rule, a starting defensive player cannot be listed as the DH in the starting lineup, thus the DH is one of 10 starting players (see left, below). The DH cannot be used as a pinch runner because that would change his spot in the batting order, but a pinch hitter or pinch runner for the DH may be used with that player then becoming the new DH.

Unlike the traditional rule, the player/DH rule allows the starting designated hitter to also be a starting defensive player, meaning the team would begin the game with nine starters — nine defensive players, one of whom doubles in the role of the designated hitter

(see right, below). That player has two positions: defensive player and designated hitter, so there are 10 positions occupied by nine players. The team could ultimately go to 10 players and then also return to nine, but only once.

The biggest similarity with the traditional DH is a player/DH can be used for any of the nine starting players. That feature is unique to NFHS rules. The defensive role may be substituted by any legal substitute, but only the starting player/DH can ever occupy the DH role. The biggest difference with the other two rules (NFHS traditional and NCAA) is an offensive substitution (pinch hitter or pinch runner) for the DH terminates that role. That includes the player already in the defensive role for the DH. However, such a player can bat for the DH and assume a normal role as the ninth player.

Another unique feature of NFHS rules is re-entry. As mentioned, under the traditional rule the DH is one of 10 starting players and has the same re-entry rights as any other starter, but with the player/DH there are only nine starters. If another player substitutes into the defensive role, the original player/DH may re-enter defensively one time and retain the player/DH status. That counts as the starter’s re-entry. Also, the starting player/DH and any substitutes can never be in the game defensively at the same time.

However, it does not matter which defensive position the player associated with the DH plays. Multiple legal substitutions are permitted on defense and do not impact the DH role.

NCAA

The NCAA DH rule, which received a major re-write prior to the 2021 season, is similar to the pro rule in that the DH can only bat for the pitcher. But aside from that, the college rule is unique and is arguably the most complex rule in any sport (7-2). Like the NFHS rule, a college team can start with either nine or 10 players. If the head coach lists 10 players on the team’s lineup card, he must designate which of the nine players other than the pitcher is the DH (7-2b1). When a team submits a nine-player lineup, the plate umpire should remind both coaches that the pitcher is considered as being in two positions — pitcher and DH (7-2b3). In other words, the pitcher’s spot is always a P/DH spot, and an easy way to remember this rule is that the game always begins with a 10 “slot” lineup, even though there may only be nine players. As long as the substitution rule is adhered to, a team may alternate between nine and 10 players. The 10th slot remains until one of the acts that terminates the DH takes place.

Re-entry is not allowed in college games except for a player who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion and, after appropriate medical evaluation, is cleared to return by appropriate medical personnel (5-5k). Thus, if the pitcher, DH or P/DH is removed from the game for any other reason, he cannot return in any capacity. Additionally, if the DH or P/DH is removed from the offensive lineup, he cannot return to bat.

Termination

The DH is “locked” into the batting order and no multiple substitutions may be made that alter the batting position of the DH. As previously mentioned, the DH cannot be used as a pinch runner because that would change his spot in the batting order.

The DH is eliminated in all codes if one of two events occurs. The most likely is the DH is used defensively. While that is a legal substitution, the DH must continue to bat in the same position in the batting order and the player for whom the DH is batting must leave the game (retaining his re-entry right in NFHS). Consequently, the team must revert to nine players. The other event is if the defensive player or any previous defensive player (via re-entry) for whom the DH batted, subsequently bats, pinch hits or pinch runs for the DH.

Under NCAA rules, the following

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acts also terminate the use of the DH for the remainder of the game and require the pitcher and any substitutes for the pitcher to bat for themselves: the DH plays on defense at any position other than pitcher (7-2b12), the pitcher is switched from the mound to a defensive position (7-2b Note 2), a player already in the game at another defensive position (different spot in batting order) becomes the pitcher (7-2b14), or a pinch hitter for any player in the batting order other than the DH subsequently enters the game to pitch (7-2b9). George Demetriou, Colorado Springs, Colo., is the state’s rules interpreter. *

Always Ahead of the Action

One of the biggest mechanics benefits to working the threeumpire system compared to the twoumpire system is that in almost every situation, there is an umpire “ahead” of the play and ready to receive it, rather than having to possibly chase it from behind.

A great example is when there is a runner on first base and a clean base hit to the outfield.

In the two-umpire system, the plate umpire is responsible for all plays on R1 at third base, while U1 is responsible for any plays involving R1 at second base and any plays against the batter-runner at first or second base. The plate umpire is also then responsible for all plays at the plate.

If there is an overthrow at third base during a play on R1, and R1 tries for home, that play is the plate umpire’s responsibility (MechaniGram A). And unless the plate umpire is Usain Bolt, he or she will be trailing that play and have to work to get the best angle to call it from behind the action.

The three-umpire system, on the other hand, allows for an umpire to remain ahead of this play and accept it rather than trail it. In three-umpire mechanics, as soon as R1 commits to third base on a clean hit to the outfield, the plate umpire rotates to third base for all possible plays on this runner and has no further responsibility for plays at the plate.

That duty falls to U1. With U3 in the middle of the diamond and responsible for all plays at second base, as well as any plays back into first base involving the batter-runner, it’s U1 who has to put on the track shoes. Once U1 observes the batterrunner touch first base and the plate umpire rotate up the third-base line, the correct mechanic is for U1 to rotate to the plate (MechaniGram B). This puts U1 ahead of any possible baserunners attempting to score, and allows U1 to receive all plays rather than requiring an umpire to chase them. *

LF

BR

U1

R1

CLEAN HIT

OVERTHROW

THROW

RF

CLEAN HIT

R1

BR

THROW CLEAN HIT

R1

BR

U3

R1

BR U1

From pre-pitch placement, taking the sign and the delivery, taking the sign and the delivery, to illegal pitches, this book has to illegal pitches, this book has everything you need to know about the pitcher.

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In baseball, the pitcher makes the world go round. As umpire, you have to know what they can and can’t do, inside and out.

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