| Subject | Date Asked |
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| altered bat | 7/25/2008 |
Q: We have a kid in our 11-12 division that has a bat with about a 6-8 inch crack in it, we stated that ...
A: The rules for damaged and altered bats is pretty simple. Use an altered or illegal bat and you are ...
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| force out | 7/8/2008 |
Q: Hey, I'm a little league umpire, and I had a play where the 3rd baseman made a great play by ...
A: If a player has possession of the ball at the time that he touched the base where the force out is ...
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| Batted ball hitting runner | 7/8/2008 |
Q: I just saw a game in where a batted ball hit the first base runner on his way to second. i thought ...
A: If the umpire declared that no fielder had a chance at making a play then no dead ball would be ...
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| Dead ball | 7/2/2008 |
Q: Runner on firstbase. Line drive hits umpire (behind pitchers mound. Does ball become dead and batter ...
A: First off I would like to apologize for my tardiness in answering your question. There have been a ...
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| Baseball rule--putting ball in play after a dead ball | 6/30/2008 |
Q: My question relates to an incident that occurred in a youth baseball game (13 and 14 yr. olds). Our ...
A: With the ball dead in the manner that it was the pitcher would need to have the ball for it to be ...
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| Balk | 6/28/2008 |
Q: They had runners on first and third with 2 outs. We had a left handed pitcher pitching from the ...
A: If a right handed pitcher had used the same move, stepping in front of the mound and faking to ...
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| pitcher hitting batters with pitch(softball) | 6/27/2008 |
Q: How many times can a fast pitch softball pitcher hit batters during a game before being removed from ...
A: There is no set number of how many times a pitcher can hit a batter. If the umpire deems that the ...
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| obstruction rounding third | 6/24/2008 |
Q: Runner at second. Batter hits line drive to left. Runner rounds third where third baseman is ...
A: The call is still obstruction. As soon as the contact happens the umpire will hold out his fist ...
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| lttle league pitching | 6/21/2008 |
Q: Cal Ripken Major League Little League (10-12 yr. olds) When pitching to the batter can the pitcher ...
A: The natural wind-up of a pitcher is stepping back with the opposite foot in which he throws and then ...
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| Runner Interference | 6/20/2008 |
Q: I have a quick question about a situation that happened recently in a 14U game. We had a Runner on ...
A: The only time that a defensive player has a right to the base path is when he is trying to make a ...
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| question | 6/18/2008 |
Q: Hey, I'm a little league umpire, and this play did not happen as the runner was tagged but if it ...
A: I apologize for my late response, I've been out celebrating my birthday for the past two days. In ...
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| Little League Hitting - fast pitchers | 6/15/2008 |
Q: I coach a 10 year old travel baseball team. I am comfortable with their swings in general and we ...
A: The biggest thing in order to be able to hit fast pitching is the load of the swing. Work with your ...
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| Little League: Challengng a Tag Up - is this a force out | 6/12/2008 |
Q: The below question was submitted by someone else. I was reviewing the Q&A's and come across this ...
A: In the question it was stated that the runner on first took 5 steps off the base. I assumed that to ...
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| Machine Pitch (7 & 8 year olds) | 6/10/2008 |
Q: In a recent game, a player was hit by a pitch from the pitching machine. The scenario, wind blowing ...
A: In the pitching machine age group in my little league there are no HBPs. I'm not sure about yours ...
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| Little Leage: Challenging a Tag Up - is this a force out | 6/10/2008 |
Q: I have Little leauge question in regards to tagging up. Here is the situation - player on 1st and ...
A: I'm sorry that this has taken me so long to answer, I was on vacation but forgot to say so on the ...
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| Legal force out | 6/8/2008 |
Q: (11-12 year old Dixie Youth league): Scenario: With two outs, the first baseman knocks down a ball ...
A: If the call went against you the first thing that you should have done would be to appeal to the ...
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| Obstruction interpretation | 6/7/2008 |
Q: Kevin, My 9 year old team recently had the following situation happen: 1) runner from third ...
A: I have not heard or read of anything regarded defensive equipment either. It is up to the umpire to ...
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| Igloo cooler refresher | 6/6/2008 |
Q: I had a coach that during the summer he would provide our team with a cooler clearly marked not to ...
A: I have never heard of this before. I would not want anyone to do that either considering the ammonia ...
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| two base error? | 6/2/2008 |
Q: scenario: a grounder is hit to the thirdbaseman who fields it cleanly, then bobbles and drops the ...
A: Honestly, this could be ruled both ways. If it is believed that the 3rd baseman would have gotten ...
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| homerun with one runner on base | 5/31/2008 |
Q: we had an incident where the opposing team had a player hit one over the fence with one runner on ...
A: If the player who hit the homerun scored before the runner on base then the base runner would be ...
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| sliding into home plate | 5/28/2008 |
Q: My son plays for our local Pee Wee team, and they play by baseball rules, with a few changes - one ...
A: If there was no attempt at throwing the runner out then there was no play. However, the meaning for ...
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| trick plays in baseball | 5/28/2008 |
Q: base runners on first and second, infield, pitcher, catcher come together at the mound. once they ...
A: It is a legal play as long as the pitcher is not on the mound. The mound is defined as a 4-foot ...
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| Batter Interference or not | 5/19/2008 |
Q: In a BPA tournament this weekend there was one of those odd circumstances that had everyone ...
A: That is a pretty tricky situation. The determining factor in this call is the batter's intentions. ...
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| catchers mitt interferes with the batters swing | 5/16/2008 |
Q: I need an unbiased answer and it sounds like you are the one that I need to talk to. In a recent ...
A: Catchers obstruction and catchers interference are the same thing. Catchers interference is the ...
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| little league baseball 9-12 year olds | 5/14/2008 |
Q: Our team bases loaded batter hit ball to second baseman, which he fell over the umpire on the field ...
A: It sounds to me like your umpires got influenced by the other teams coaches. If there was less than ...
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| Penalty for illegal pitch | 5/12/2008 |
Q: What is the penalty for a pitcher who puts his fingers to his mouth and does not wipe them on his ...
A: The penalty is an illegal pitch. However, the umpire is within his rights to eject the pitcher for ...
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| bat regilations | 5/5/2008 |
Q: hi my name is alec Siva and i play in the juinior leage and i was wonderimg if im allowed to use a ...
A: I know that a lot of leagues have been outlawing wooden bats recently. However, I cannot tell you if ...
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| avoiding tag at home plate | 5/4/2008 |
Q: Runner rounds third coming home, catcher is about one foot in front of home plate toward the ...
A: When independent little leagues decide to have a rule that you must slide at home it is to prevent ...
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| catching | 5/1/2008 |
Q: as a sophmore catcher in high school i was wondering what is the key to get a solid throw down to ...
A: The throw down to second is all about weight transfer and leg strength. You need to push hard off of ...
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| Out of Play Ruling | 4/30/2008 |
Q: Last night in a Little League game, a hard hit batted ball deflected off the 3rd baseman, who was in ...
A: The runner scores, no doubt about it. When a fair ball is thrown or deflected out of play all ...
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| Umpire Call | 4/27/2008 |
Q: Junior league baseball. I had a situation where my runner was rounding 3rd and paused for a second ...
A: Umpires may not call time if runners are still moving unless your league has an over-riding rule ...
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| baseball little league | 4/16/2008 |
Q: R on first, long fly ball to outfield, runner takes off at hit of ball, and is between second and ...
A: Wow that is a tricky situation. The runner would get third because even though he had passed second, ...
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| Pitching changes during an inning | 4/15/2008 |
Q: Last night I had both umpires tell me that you cannot change pitchers during a batters at bat. You ...
A: The MLB rule is that a coach may not visit the mound twice while the same batter is at bat. There is ...
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| Foul Tip | 4/14/2008 |
Q: I am new coach, this year and I am pretty familial with the rules there are a few that I do not ...
A: I am not familiar with ozone rules so I cant help you there, however, an official of your league ...
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| umpire's call on play at home | 4/13/2008 |
Q: The catcher on our team was called for interference on the batter in the following situation: player ...
A: The umpire definitely made the wrong call. If the batter doesn't swing and makes no attempt to swing ...
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| RE: 7 year old playing baseball | 4/8/2008 |
Q: My 7 year old son has never played baseball or even t-ball before and I have signed him up to play ...
A: Having kids pitch in the 7-8 year old division does seem very early to me. In the league that I run ...
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| balk question | 4/7/2008 |
Q: With a runner on second or any base for that matter.My pitcher started his delivery and while in the ...
A: After a pitcher has started his delivery, he is not allowed to pause because, as your umpire said, ...
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| Swing Correction | 4/6/2008 |
Q: My son is five years old and is playing T-ball for the first time. He doesn't make a full swing and ...
A: At that age there isn't really all that much that you can do. However, there are a couple that you ...
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| International Tie Breaker Rule | 4/2/2008 |
Q: This is my second year of umpiring and have coached several years. This is also the first year I ...
A: It is funny to me that you ask this because my league is just implementing a tournament to finish ...
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| Baseball coaching | 3/29/2008 |
Q: i am 16 years old and i was asked to coach a 9-12 year old baseball team i said yeas but i never ...
A: That is way too much information for me to give you over the internet. My advice is for you to get ...
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| Ruling on interference or obstruction | 3/26/2008 |
Q: Situation:Run on second, batter hits ground ball that deflects off pitcher toward shortstop. Before ...
A: There are a couple of things that will make a difference in this call. Did the runner have enough ...
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| Obstruction vs. Interferance | 3/17/2008 |
Q: Can you clarify the differences for obstruction versus interference? The situation was as follows: ...
A: The decision for the umpire in this situation was made based on where the ball was. Since the ball ...
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| Umpiring | 3/13/2008 |
Q: during a game that i managed this last week (California High School JV baseball)i gave my catcher a ...
A: The umpire does have the right to deny a request for time out. However, the umpire was in the wrong ...
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| Interference | 2/25/2008 |
Q: First, am I correct that a batter who swings and misses and remains in the batters box is not ...
A: The batter has the right to stay in the box as long as the ball itself doesn't bounce and enter the ...
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| Runner rules question | 2/11/2008 |
Q: AAU game:One out. A runner is on second base, the pitcher is in the wind up set position. The ...
A: There is nothing in any rule book that I've read that pertains to this play so I will do my best ...
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| steroids | 1/23/2008 |
Q: Do you think the government is wasting time with he whole steroids in baseball issue?
A: I think that the government shouldn't have even gotten involved in the first place. But now that ...
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| 9 Year old Pitcher | 1/15/2008 |
Q: My son plays AAU baseball as a pitcher, I keep the pitch count when he gets to 65 pitches, I will ...
A: At that age its really tough to say how many pitches your son should throw. If your son gets tired ...
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| Umpire call at the plate | 10/15/2007 |
Q: If a batter has a 1-1 count on him and argues the next pitch to the point where the umpire ejects ...
A: It wouldn't be penalizing the pitcher by renewing the count. It would be helping the pitcher by ...
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| Tag up on fly ball | 10/14/2007 |
Q: Kevin...a ball is hit to the outfielder...it hits his glove and pops up in the air. Runner on 2nd ...
A: Despite my natural instinct to say that the runner has to wait for the catch to be complete, it is ...
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| Umpire call at the plate | 10/12/2007 |
Q: If a batter has a 1-1 count on him and argues the next pitch to the point where the umpire ejects ...
A: I have never seen an actually ruling on a situation like this nor have I read anything in the rule ...
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| pennant race definition | 10/9/2007 |
Q: Have an ongoing argument going on and would like to resolve it, Could you give me the definition of ...
A: While the most common definition of pennant race involves only post-season games, it could also be ...
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| double play | 10/2/2007 |
Q: there is a man on first. Batter hits grounder to short stop. SS then throws to 2nd baseman who does ...
A: It sounds to me like the runner on second should have been safe. As long as the runner going to ...
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| Your opinion on my arm troubles | 9/16/2007 |
Q: I am a senior this year. I am 6'2'' 184lbs, and have been clocked at 90mph on the gun. I have been ...
A: At this point in your career there is probably nothing that I can tell you that you haven't heard ...
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| Umpire Interference? | 9/10/2007 |
Q: I was involved in a 15-16 age Little League game where I had a runner on second and third and one ...
A: The batter would be given first base on the dead ball and no out would be called. The runners would ...
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| Umpire Interference? | 9/10/2007 |
Q: I was involved in a 15-16 age Little League game where I had a runner on second and third and one ...
A: 5.09 The ball becomes dead and runners advance one base, or return to their bases, without liability ...
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| hitting | 9/6/2007 |
Q: i wanted to know how i can increase my power and bat speed to become a better hitter ANSWER: There ...
A: Wrist curls will help the most. Grab a small dumb bell, probably a 5 pounder to start out, sit in a ...
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| hitting | 9/5/2007 |
Q: i wanted to know how i can increase my power and bat speed to become a better hitter
A: There are a lot of things that you can do to increase your power and bat speed. The one thing that ...
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| Improper Batting Order | 8/22/2007 |
Q: Similar to a question asked previously, but.... Runner on first; batter hits to shortstop, who ...
A: The runner at second would remain out and the batter would stay at first. Also, the proper batter ...
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| pitching | 8/10/2007 |
Q: sir , i would like to know let's say in your prediction if you work hard throwing long toss ruining ...
A: There are a lot of factors that could influence the improvement in your arm strength in that period ...
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| Standing on a fielders foot | 8/1/2007 |
Q: I have never seen this happen and couldn't find it in the rule book. On a catchers throw back to ...
A: Usually when the runner steps on a fielder's foot the runners foot doesn't stay on top. Every ...
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| Infield fly rule | 7/29/2007 |
Q: Can you please explain the infield fly rule? I've seen the infield fly rule called, resulting in ...
A: Sure thing. The infield fly rule applies when there are runners on at least first and second base ...
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| arm hurting | 7/23/2007 |
Q: ive been expierencing pain in my upper arm i am fourteen years old and i have never thrown junk ...
A: If I were you I would take about a week off from throwing completely. If you don't feel any relief ...
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| my arm and infield | 7/23/2007 |
Q: I am a freshmen in high school and i was throwing and hurt my arm. The doctor said i just hurt my ...
A: If you have done everything that the doctor has advised then you need to go back and tell him/her ...
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| my arm and infield | 7/23/2007 |
Q: I am a freshmen in high school and i was throwing and hurt my arm. The doctor said i just hurt my ...
A: I'm going to need a little more information about your "hurt" arm before I can give you my advice. I ...
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