Leaving early and other calls

[corlay]

View attachment 10541
Compounding the embarrassment, the ESPN crew doing the game (Pam Ward/Cheri Kempf) watched the replay multiple times, and never mentioned Gadbois leaving early.

yeah, I immediately picked up on it, watching the game live in real-time.
And then the reply illustrated it further.

I was as perplexed as you.

 

[riseball]

Was watching one game where the pitchers leap and replant was described as "somewhat illegal".

 

[chinamigarden]

Lets go back to the good old days where a pitcher could do anything she wanted all year and then at the WCWS she gets called for 14 IPs in a game. That was fun.

If you want better calls, insist on them all year not just at the end of the year.

I'm not a fan of letting IPs go, but to wait until now to call them sucks. The rules should be enforced all year, or not at all. Not just because its the tourney.

As for the TV people not mentioning the missed calls. They have enough trouble getting an audience, can you imagine if every play and rule infraction was parsed and defined. Other then about 36 of us here the rest of the TV audience would turn off the games.

Heck some of the worlds best ever can't properly describe what someone playing their position is doing, you really expect them to be able to tell you what the ump is supposed to do?

 

[riseball]

Use all the sarcasm you want...Riseball is absolutely right. I've been in too many umpire "training" meetings where the group is told to "ignore the IP unless it's blatant"...so whose definition of "blatant" are we supposed to use? Is landing a foot outside the pitching lane "blatant" enough? How about replanting a foot in front of the pitching rubber? Is that "blatant" enough?

And how do these same umpires keep getting nationally televised games? The HP's total failure to see illegal pitches by the last Utah pitcher in game one against FSU (she was landing a FOOT outside the pitching lane with her "screwball") is an embarrassment - yet she keeps getting plum assignments (nationally and internationally).

And oh by the way - it was that Utah-FSU HP umpire that came to many ASA training sessions I attended and made the "don't call it unless it's blatant" statement referenced above. And I've forgotten how many "old timers" always bring up "she's not getting any benefit so I'm not calling it".

I am totally ready to try robots behind the plate.

To your point how can an officials association and its members retain any credibility with a statement like "ignore the IP unless it's blatant"? They are their own worst enemies. You either enforce the rules of the game or you don't. It is black and white. There is no room for discretion. The pitch is either legal or it is not. The runner left early or they did not. Would love to hear any official who has been on the bases for any of the games of well known skippies and not called at least 1 or more IP's explain how they are not incompetent, a fraud, or both.

 

[JAD]

Leaving early is a risk/reward proposition. If the umpire does not call it the baserunner gains an advantage. If they do call it you just ran yourself into an out. I have never been a big fan, but know some coaches who teach their baserunners to push it to the limit.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

I just don't know why/how this wasn't called. This game actually was one of the most exciting games of the Super Regionals, but to have this call missed or not called really shocks me. It ended up not affecting the outcome but the potential tying run moved from 1st to 3rd on two pitches with only 1 out. Compounding the embarrassment, the ESPN crew doing the game (Pam Ward/Cheri Kempf) watched the replay multiple times, and never mentioned Gadbois leaving early.

She left 1B early too - I noticed it on the replay while the announcers were trying to figure out if the pitch was deflected by the batter. The ump at 1B seems to be focused on home plate.

 

[Phathead]

Well I think it was Murphy or could have been one of the "big coaches" was quoted to the effect of if you don't get caught with a leave early every once in while you ain't base running correctly. I teach my team to push it. If the other team starts complaing to the umpires about leave early then your doing it right.

 

[MTR]

Use all the sarcasm you want...Riseball is absolutely right. I've been in too many umpire "training" meetings where the group is told to "ignore the IP unless it's blatant"..

Then that is a direction, not a discretion of the individual umpire, correct?

.so whose definition of "blatant" are we supposed to use? Is landing a foot outside the pitching lane "blatant" enough? How about replanting a foot in front of the pitching rubber? Is that "blatant" enough?

Don't know about "blatant", but was always taught and have taught others that you call it when you see it, but you need to be sure you saw it and not just guessing. Also, if you have to change your mechanics or go looking for a reason to make an IP call, it probably isn't there.

And how do these same umpires keep getting nationally televised games? The HP's total failure to see illegal pitches by the last Utah pitcher in game one against FSU (she was landing a FOOT outside the pitching lane with her "screwball") is an embarrassment - yet she keeps getting plum assignments (nationally and internationally).

And oh by the way - it was that Utah-FSU HP umpire that came to many ASA training sessions I attended and made the "don't call it unless it's blatant" statement referenced above. And I've forgotten how many "old timers" always bring up "she's not getting any benefit so I'm not calling it".

Well, unfortunately, those aren't just the "old timers" making such excuses for not doing their job. If it were, this thread may not exist. You know as well as I, at certain levels umpires are directed to not make certain calls unless it is blatant (there's that word again). Don't agree with it, but I'm not the one paying the bill

I am totally ready to try robots behind the plate.[/QUOTE]

 

[buckgeno]

They don't need to go over every play; but if you know softball you know the umpires blew this call. If you don't know softball, it would be a good teaching point and the explanation could be done rather quickly.

 

[CPEM]

Batters sticking their elbow pad out into the river or even the strike zone ( I am still waiting for the player with two strikes to stick her elbow out there and have the umpire ring her up on a called third strike)

P.S. One thing I will admit though is when these things do get called coaches will make the obligatory trip to talk to the umpire but never really put up much fuss and walk away knowing they got caught and not mad and upset it was a bad call.

I actually saw this called and it was exactly as you described: 2 strikes, batter stuck her well-protected elbow out just a smidge too far, ball made contact with her padded elbow just over the plate, she started trotting down the line to 1B when the umpire called her out. Here's where it deviates from your description, though. The coach came out and argued the call and got herself tossed. It was televised and I got a picture of it (see below). It was Tennessee vs. Arizona, and Tennessee was eliminated from post-season play after losing this game by 1 run. Big time call by the umpire. As a pitcher's dad (whose DD has seen her HBP this high school season go from 3 last year to 12 this year with a major share being elbows hanging out in the river or places further), I couldn't have been more ecstatic to see that.