Baseball Rules in Black and White (College Edition) Coming Soon!

Baseball Rules in Black and White (College Edition), the second book in the Black and White series is quickly becoming a finished manuscript that will become available in August / September of 2017.  This work is a collaboration of well-respected baseball rules interpreters, assigners, and Division I & II college umpires and it is a privilege to be working with this elite group of rules experts.

We have spent months selecting and revising the specific College rules that are most often called, challenged or confused for this book.  Our goal is to provide an enhanced resource that presents a clearer understanding, while creating a greater retention of complex rules.   

Our Black and White format quickly locates a topic, gathers related rulings, and our rule language is revised (straightforward).  Just as with our High School edition of Black and White every revised ruling has the official rule and page number attached, all in large easy to see font. NCAA Umpires will be very happy to know our unique Black and White Format is especially beneficial clarifying the most complicated rulings such as Designated Hitter, P/DH.

 At this time there are seventeen chapters in our 2017-18 College Edition that include the following:

1. Balk, 2. Base Awards, (Squeeze Play / Catch & Carry), 3. Batting Out of Order, 4. Bench and Field Conduct, 5. Charged Conferences, 6. Designated Hitter, P/DH, 7. Infield Fly, 8. Interference - Batter’s, (Penalty), 9. Interference - Offensive, Umpire, Spectator, 10. Interference – Runner’s / Catcher’s, 11. Interference - Runner Hit by a Fair Batted Ball, 12. Obstruction, 13. Pitching Stances, 14. Running Lane, 15. Slide – Legal, Illegal, Force Play Slide Rule, 16. Substitutions – Definition, 17. Verbal & Written Warnings and Ejections

Baseball Rules in Black and White’s (College Edition) does require your time and effort (like every rule book) in order to benefit from its information. The difference with Black and White is, you will gain greater rule (clarity) knowledge in a shorter time, with better retention.

Author,

James C, Bettencourt  

Dirty Toilet

As umpires we have a job to do.

With most jobs there are good, not so good and some plain terrible tasks that have to be addressed. 

Selectively choosing which workplace tasks you can ignore initially might sound good, but in reality we all know that has serious pitfalls.

Let’s consider the tasks of a janitor. It would not be too hard to imagine certain tasks he would not select to do. Such as cleaning the toilet or mopping around the urinals when they are messy. Let it go for a couple of weeks, who cares, what’s the problem? Unfortunately we all have discovered the problem, many at the least opportune time.

Police are dispatched to a domestic violence call. Rather than the officers responding, they weigh the dangers associated with this type of call.  They then decide to go to Starbucks and have a Frappuccino.

Umpires see a player in the home team dugout pointing a bat that he is simulating as a rifle at the opposing pitcher. Rather than confronting this unsportsmanlike behavior, the umpires choose to ignore it so they can go to Starbucks and have a Frappuccino sooner.

Our tasks as umpires are not selective, enforcing the rules as they are written is the main part of our job.  If you are selectively choosing which rules to enforce or not enforce you probably deserve a dirty toilet.

Not making a call because you don’t know the rule, is not good. Not making a call because it seems less problematic, is only delaying a bigger problem.

"Infield Fly" The Bigger Picture

We have all seen defensive players either intentionally or unintentionally dupe base runners into believing an “infield fly” catch will be made, then proceed to roll a cheap inning/game ending double or triple play.

Many an infielder during windy conditions has ran in circles while diving to miss a catch in the middle of the diamond while runners stand on their base and watch. By rule language this would not be considered “ordinary effort” by the defense or an “infield fly”.  Strong erratic winds generally set this up as well as the debacle that will surely follow.

Experienced umpires are taught prior to calling infield fly to (1. observe the defense) to establish “ordinary effort”. During windy conditions I would also strongly recommend (2. observe the base runners), their actions could confirm or deny what you are about to call or not call.

Rule book wording in this case while correct, is also (during windy conditions) incomplete. Incomplete wording in this case can provide an unfair advantage to the defense, which is not what baseball is about.  

This Baseball Rules in Black and White post will be included in our soon to be released 2017-2018 College Edition.