Baseball Rules, Coaches and Umpires

BaseballRules in Black and White is honored to provide the National High School Coaches Association a series of informative articles pertaining to the rules of high school baseball.

Throughout the history of baseball coaches and umpires have had a strained love-hate relationship. At the pregame meetings smiles and handshakes, but once the game begins those welcoming gestures can soon become scorn and contempt by all. 

Personally, having been on both sides of this equation has provided me first hand insight. As a player who later coached, I was sure I had a solid understanding of the rules of the game and had little time for umpires. After becoming an umpire, I quickly realized that I knew the basic rules of the game and not much more beyond that.

One explanation why, I as a player and coach only knew the basic rules of the game, I was way too busy playing, coaching and having fun to ever take the significant time needed to study a baseball rule book. Besides after playing the game so long, I surely had learned all the rules. Right? Wrong!

Now after twenty years as an umpire, it has become too apparent that baseball rule books are complex, they are not fun and for many reasons. For starters, consider the perplexing rule book language and the extra small font. Another problem, one infraction can have several important related rulings scattered (hidden) throughout the book. It is also nearly impossible to quickly locate and process one ruling, that alone multiple related rulings. These are the realities of the baseball rule book and why many players and coaches choose to play the game and leave the exhausting rule book to the umpires.

The National High School Baseball Coaches Association and Baseball Rules in Black andWhite’s goal is to build a long overdue bridge, built with improved communication, mutual respect and enhanced rule knowledge. This is the beginning step in our efforts to create a bridge between Umpires and Coaches that can expand the respectful handshakes throughout every game.