Umpire question

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Apr 6, 2017
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Scenario- Ball leaves pitching machine and crosses home plate...Runner on 2nd begins steal to 3rd. Meanwhile at HP our catcher is looking for ball when the Ump behind her tosses it to her. By the time he does this and she turns to throw to 3rd, the runner was already there. I know he was trying to be helpful but it really confused her and let the runner steal when there was a possibility of her making the throw to third and getting the out.

Can they do that? I've never seen an umpire behind the plate touch the ball unless time had been called. And at this age (10U) the umpire feeding the machine only calls time when he's received the ball and is about the throw the next pitch.

I know it's really not that big of a deal because this one moment didn't really affect the outcome of the game (We lost pretty bad from other things), but I definitely don't want this happening when it counts.

**He held the ball for a few moments. He didn't pick it up and immediately give it to her. She was scrambling to find the ball when he finally tossed it to her.
 
Last edited:
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Lol, no they are not supposed to help.

I guess if someone made an Issue of it umpire would need to decide what would have happened if they didn't help and reset runners if needed.

Or do this.

[video]https://youtu.be/lM0HzMOT4nc[/video]
 
Last edited:
Apr 6, 2017
23
0
Thank you! DH husband wasn't too concerned, but if the game would have been intense he might have felt differently, lol.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
I guess to each his own, pretty weird rule set, but if you are machine pitching why are you stealing?

Guess no one can figure out exactly what to do at 10U that makes sense at 8U machine pitch and no steals makes sense and at 12U they should be playing normal rules.

But 10U brings out the gray area I guess....and 10U machine pitch and intense should not be used in the same sentence
 
Mar 13, 2010
960
0
Columbus, Ohio
No, an umpire should never handle a live ball. But this sounds like maybe a recreational league where the umpires might be as untrained and inexperienced as the players.

The "by the book" rule for this is that whenever an umpire handles a live ball it should immediately be declared dead. Any runners have to return to their last base.
 
Last edited:
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
Thank you! DH husband wasn't too concerned, but if the game would have been intense he might have felt differently, lol.

Need to back up the banana cart here. Stealing in machine pitch 10U? Two umpires? It sounds like a true beginner rec program that may have it's focus on the wrong things. At that level it should be more about teaching, fun and game flow rather than intense games.

JMHO
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
So in this 10U machine pitch scenario the umpire prevented your catcher from firing a laser beam to the 3rd baseman who would have caught this rocket, executed a perfect swipe tag to the runners feet and then sold it to the umpire? Is that what happened? :)
 

obbay

Banned
Aug 21, 2008
2,199
0
Boston, MA
I think this needs to be said again:
Need to back up the banana cart here. Stealing in machine pitch 10U? Two umpires? It sounds like a true beginner rec program that may have it's focus on the wrong things. At that level it should be more about teaching, fun and game flow rather than intense games.
I think machine pitch at 10U isn't right. At U8 LL we had kid pitch until they walked 4 batters in an inning then the coach would finish the inning. how else do pitchers learn to pitch and batters learn to hit live pitching?
(and no, it was not like watching paint dry. it was actually pretty fun!)
 
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Apr 6, 2017
23
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Not sure why the focus of this post has turned into why our 10U rec program is machine pitch. MY question was asking about the umpire handling the live ball. A big thanks to Quincy and BretMan for actually answering my question!
 

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