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All it took was a phone conversation with baseball enthusiast Steve Johnson to get me to offer to set up yet another blog–this one for high school and college umpires. After leading a basketball officials’ learning blog (www.iaabo.wordpress.com) through this past winter, I believe that a blog for umpires may be a valuable opportunity to entice dedicated officials to spend a little more time thinking about their on-field performance. Let’s see how it goes!
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I am looking for a PDF or online version of 3-man mechanics that would be used for JC and NCAA baseball. I have found some already, but they aren’t specific to college, so they aren’t consistent. Some of them talk about a ‘deep B or C,’ where others only use A,B, and C positions. Another one has the first base umpire going between first and second base at times, while one manual I’ve found says they never leave A position. Any ideas?
It really depends on the crew that you work with. I have never worked in a system that required a deep B or Deep C - I thought that it was a preference.
There are lots of times that the A position guy leaves ‘his spot’.
1. When the third base guy goes our on a fly - the system then turns to a 2 man rotation.
2. Runner on 2nd or 2nd & 3rd with less than 2 outs, the the A slot guy goes to the B slot.
3. A rule of thumb that I have seen is the 3rd base ump goes to the C slot (when inside) and the 1st base ump goes to the B slot (when inside).
As far as guides to see in print - I have seen some good stuff from NASO (books you can order through them). I have some from Little League and the systems are the same - so I think that a 3 man mechanic is the same, no matter what the level is.
Good Luck
Luke asks a good question which has several answers.I would begin by saying that there is not one mechanics manual for two and three and four man systems. Each level of play uses approximately the same mechanics, but there are differences that can only be learned by first studying the appropriate manual and then actually officiating games that utilize those specific mechanics.
Most junior colleges use NCAA rules and umpire mechanics. A great resource that specifically highlights NCAA two and three man mechanics is available from Epic Software whose site is:
http://epicsoftware.com/index.php?site_id=3&software_id=4,
The mechanics manual I have always referred to is the small red PBUC Manual for the Two Umpire System, published by the Professional Baseball Umpires Corporation. A third really good resource is the three volume set “Baseball Umpires’ Guidebook” published by Referee Magazine. Volume ! demonstrates Proper Positioning, Volume 2 addresses Communications and Mechanics, while Volume 3 describes 3 and 4 Man Mechanics. In addition, the National Federation of High School Athletics publishes its own mechanics manual for high school baseball as does Little League Baseball for its Major League, Junior and Senior League divisions.
One of the most important aspects of umpire mechanics is communication. When I observe a baseball game and don’t hear phrases like, “I got third if he comes” or “I’m on the line”, I know that the crew is not communicating well and thus is not giving the teams its best effort. No matter what mechanics the association to which one belong uses, unless the members of the crew constantly communicate with one another, they just cannot be an effective crew.
With respect to the four positions, A, B, C, D, the mechanics of the association under whose jurisdiction the umpires are working will determine in which position an umpire will stand in any given situation. However, the type and tempo of the game as well as the athleticism of the players involved will play a large role in an umpire’s decision as to where exactly he will stand when occupying each of those postions. For example, the normal starting place for the B position is halfway between the mound and second base on a line drawn from the back point on home plate through the point where the dirt and the grass meet on the first base side of the mound. That will work well for most situations. However, if the pitcher has a good move to first and is not afraid to use it, many umpires will cheat a few steps towards home on that line to be able to better see the pickoff play at first. On the other hand, if there is a real speed merchant occupying first base and it is an obvious steal situation, some umpires will cheat a little to the right of that line and back up a few steps toward second to get a better look at the tag at second. That is all a personal preference.
As far as never leaving the A position is concerned, I don’t think we serve the game well if we stay rooted in one place. Even in the four man system, where there is a base for every umpire, there are times when the umpire at second (the B slot) is in the outfield to rule on a catch/no catch, the umpire in the A slot(on the first base foul line towards the outfield) will take the runner into second. We always need to anticipate where a play might take place and have an umpire (and only one) there to cover it.
The bottom line, Luke, is that there is not one black/white mechanic system that applies to every level of play. The concepts are the same, but there are differences between Little League, National Federation of HIgh Schools, NCAA, and major league play. Learn the mechanics of the group for whom you are working, read the material, watch the videos, talk with current umpires, but most important, get out there and DO IT. Let the older, more experienced umpires guide you, but learn the flexibility of system in which you are working and realize that it is not black and white. Good luck to you!
Runner on third. One out. Fly ball to left fielder. It hits his glove. Runner tags and scores. Ball bounces off left fielder’s glove into the glove of the center fielder before hitting the ground. The umpire calls the runner out for leaving too soon (before the out if made by the center fielder. Is this the correct ruling?
This adds a twist to the situation where the runner can leave on first contact of the ball with the fielder, but the rule has to be the same. The runner should not be ruled out as long as he waited until the ball touched a fielder before leaving the base. Otherwise teams would try this to get extra outs.
This adds a twist to the situation where the runner can leave on first contact of the ball with the fielder, but the rule has to be the same. The runner should not be ruled out as long as he waited until the ball touched a fielder before leaving the base. Otherwise teams would try this to get extra outs.
2 outs, runners 1st and 3rd, batter hits to first, 1st baseman deflects the ball into the 1st to 2nd runner, who then deflects it to the 2nd baseman, who then tags that runner for the third out. The runner from 3rd crossed the plate before the tag, does he score?
First of all, I am assuming that this is a ground ball. If this is the case, the runner at first if forced to go to second. If the runner is tagged or second base is tagged before this runner reaches 2nd base, it is a force out and no runs score even if the runner scores before the out is made.
Now if you are asking about the situation where the ball never touches the ground going directly from the bat, to the first baseman’s glove, off the runner, and then into the second baseman’s glove without touching the ground, I believe that the ruling is a “no-catch” since it hit a runner. The ball remains alive because it has touched a defensive player before hitting the runner. Therefore, it is still a force play since the runner forced from first to second is retired before reaching second base. No runs can score. If the ball does not hit the runner and the ball is caught in the air, then the runner is tagged, the run would score if the plate is touched before the runner is tagged out or first base is tagged for the third out. However, in this case the runner at third may not have tagged up, so the defensive team can appeal at 3rd base (different ways to appeal depending on the rulebook governing the game at hand), to get an apparent 4th out. If the runner that scored is out on appeal, his run is negated.
Please someone correct me if I am incorrect about the batted ball in flight touching the fielder, runner, and then being caught not being recorded as a fly ball out. This is a strange situation and I couldn’t locate the rule or casebook play.