Interference, score book...

[SESwildfire]

This past weekend in pool play my team decided to blow an 8 run lead (i take responsibility for this and in no way does this story say the call cost my team). Going into the bottom of the last inning my team leading 6-9, two outs runners on the corners my starting pitcher decides to take a soft dribbler hit back to her and attempt a throw home instead of to 1b. Caught my catcher off guard and girl was safe...

fast forward a few plays and we are now at bases loaded, 2 outs. score 8-9. Hard grounder to my shortstop, instead of charging the ball shirt sits on it and the runner hits her the moment the ball gets to her. she boots the ball. Ump calls interference batter runner is out to make 3. We think we won the game (even though in my eyes we lost due to poor play). At this point the tournament was postponed for rain, and all officials and teams are leaving facility and they are locking it up.

Check pool play about 10 mins after game time only to find out the opposing teams (home team) scorekeeper must have counted the runner coming home from third and it was scored a tie.

It took me 3 hours of back and forth calling to officials, tracking down UIC, sending pictures of score books, tracking down home plate ump, asking for opposing score book. I was told NUMEROUS times that the home teams score book is official and that it didn't matter what our score book said. Finally 3 hours later it was corrected to 8-9.

I guess my question is even though home teams score book is official what if its wrong? Doesn't it then turn into a well my book says this type of thing. If this tournament was not rain delayed those same umps would have then had to call two more games after ours and the chances of them remembering exactly who scored might have ended this differently. So what are the right ways to approach this? This is at a fall State level tournament.

Next question is does this play becoming a timing play with girl crossing home vs the interference call?

either way we did it to ourselves and in no way am i talking down to officiating or opposing team.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Easy part first ... no, it is not a time play. The run does not score.

Now for the fun part ... Rain delays ... ugghhh.

The home book is the official book. If it is wrong, it is right. If you went running for cover without checking everything ... sorry.

When the skies are opening up and the attendants for the Ark are calling for boarding passes ... the umpires, the head coaches, and both book keepers should be getting together before any of them get away. The books should match and the PU should be noting everything on his scorecard (count, outs, any runners on base, batter, and score).

 

[SESwildfire]

Easy part first ... no, it is not a time play. The run does not score.

Now for the fun part ... Rain delays ... ugghhh.

The home book is the official book. If it is wrong, it is right. If you went running for cover without checking everything ... sorry.

When the skies are opening up and the attendants for the Ark are calling for boarding passes ... the umpires, the head coaches, and both book keepers should be getting together before any of them get away. The books should match and the PU should be noting everything on his scorecard (count, outs, any runners on base, batter, and score).

See thats the thing I never left the ball fields, in fact the officials had to ask me to leave so they could lock it up. The umps for our game were still around, the opposing team was nowhere to be found. I have never stuck around to confirm scores with opposing coaches and book keepers before. lesson learned i guess.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Lesson learned indeed. As an umpire I learned it the hard way too.

I’m not talking about leaving the complex, I’m talking about before leaving your field. If you need to take a moment and meet under shelter, OK, but you should insist this be done if the umpires aren’t leading it.

 

[CHSUmp97]

See thats the thing I never left the ball fields, in fact the officials had to ask me to leave so they could lock it up. The umps for our game were still around, the opposing team was nowhere to be found. I have never stuck around to confirm scores with opposing coaches and book keepers before. lesson learned i guess.

FWIW, I have no idea as the plate umpire what the score is at any given time. What is on the scoreboard or what the official bookkeeper says is what I go with. So in your situation where the home team's book says the score was tied when the rains came, I would not be able to confirm nor deny he/she is correct.

I've heard of some colleagues who will go to the each scorer after every half-inning, verify the score, and write it down on the back of their line-up card, just to keep track. I've never done it, and quite frankly, it's not something required of umpires in any manual I've ever read. Those who do this I guess were victimized by a scoring issue in one of their games.

I can only remember two times where I've been the plate umpire that there was a dispute about the score. Just this past season in a HS varsity game, the scoreboard showed the visiting team up 9-1 going into the top of the fifth or sixth inning. I know for a fact that the visitors scored three runs to go up 12-1, but at the end of the half-inning, the board showed the score as 11-1. I went over to the home team head coach and told her that the score should be 12-1, so don't pay attention to the board. Her team scored one run to make it 12-2, and then the inning ended. I called ball game by run rule, even though the board showed a score of 11-2. The home head coach started arguing that we should play another inning!

The other time was in another HS varsity game when I lived in northern Virginia years ago. The visiting team was winning something like 8-1 in the sixth on the scoreboard, and they scored twice to go up 10-1. When the home team failed to score, they went back out to play defense for the next inning. Here comes the visitor's head coach with his scorebook to tell me that the board was wrong, the score was actually 11-1, and the game should be over. He then claimed that way back in the second inning, his team scored five runs, but the board only reflected four of them. I looked at him like he had a third eye growing between the other two. Then his scorekeeper shouted from the sidelines that they did score five in the second inning, not four, and to look in her book, like that was going to convince me. I told the coach that he should've said something right after his team batted in the second inning, not wait until the sixth, and to go back to the dugout. He asked me to check with the home team's book! I reluctantly did, and sure enough, the home book had only four runs scored. He accused the home scorer of cheating. Groan...