Simple or Complex?

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• Published on September 17, 2016

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James Bettencourt

Baseball Rules in Black and White at Baseball Rules in Black and White

I know few people who like anything that is complicated.

Most of us have had the misfortune of ending up being in a room with a large cardboard box surrounded by several family members eagerly anticipating the construction of their new entertainment center or a computer office desk. As the box opens and the dozens of heavily weighted compressed pieces are exposed, the realization that you are going to be responsible for the end product quickly begins to alter your emotions. Then even more terrifying visions appear from the box, dozens of bags with assorted lettering filled with dozens of smaller bags also marked with assorted lettering, and these smaller bags are filled with a hardware store assortment full of nuts, bolts, screws, washers, flanges, brackets, unfamiliar parts and a thirty page instruction manual in four languages.

Another complexity just about everyone has had is the misfortune of the written drivers test, another holy testament to over complexity times ten. Reading the study material to prepare for a driver's test guarantees you nothing. It only prepares you to know what is in the study material. If they tested on that alone, everyone would get 100%, but no. It is as though having a clear understanding of what you will be tested on is the last important objective they want. It is as though their goal is to make you believe you're inept at the laws of driving and knowing how to drive is secondary.

How about when something is not complex but rather simple? There is a tendency to say simplicity sounds too good to be true or is not as effective, but in my experience this is not always the case.

For example, teachers in schools teach many complex subjects. The very best teachers who I learned the most from did so by simplifying complex information. They also had the ability to describe or illustrate information in multiple ways. This brings me to my objective of this post. Baseball Rule in Black and White "High School Baseball Rules Made Easy" has a simple user friendly format that is easy to read, understand and apply. This is particularly true for those who coach, play or follow baseball.

I simplified finding the rule you are looking for with a table of contents in the front of the book with the corresponding page number. The print in Baseball Rules in Black and White is fourteen font or larger. I did my best to simplify the language. I tried to make only concise statements without run on sentences that tend to overlap and confuse information which frequently are in the high school rule book. I included with each ruling in Baseball Rules in Black and White the high school rule book rule number and the page number so they can be easily found and cross referenced. I did this so in a matter of seconds the reader can find and confirm each ruling between both books.

Baseball Rules in Black and White is not complex. It is simple and effective. So for those of you who solely require the complexity of constructing furniture or a driving exam in order to understand baseball rules, there will always be the high school rule book. This said the high school rule book should never be replaced, but it can be made user friendly.

James C. Bettencourt

baseballrulesinblackandwhite.com

Big Time Awesome Baseball Rules in Black and White news!!!!

Baseball Rules in Black and White: If you are looking for a book on baseball rules tha...: If you are looking for a book on baseball rules that is a suspense or romance novel or one that gives you the dimensions of every ball park...

If you are looking for a book on baseball rules that is a suspense or romance novel or one that gives you the dimensions of every ball park and is 450 pages long, I am telling you do not buy Baseball Rules in Black and White.

If you are looking for a book on baseball rules that allows you to find troublesome rules quickly, then buy Baseball Rules in Black and White.

If you are looking for a book on baseball rules that allows you to easily understand troublesome rules, then buy Baseball Rules in Black and White.

If you are looking for a book on baseball rules that allows you to validate and cross reference rule & page numbers for troublesome rules, then buy Baseball Rules in Black and White.

If you are looking for a book on baseball rules that is written in easy to read large font, then buy Baseball Rules in Black and White.

Even though Baseball Rules in Black and White is specifically written for High School rule & page number cross referencing, the majority of the rules clarified in this book apply to many other levels of baseball or softball.

www.baseballrulesinblackandwhite.com

Having said this, we are excited to announce that we have begun the process of developing Baseball Rules in Black and White’s format into college baseball, college softball, youth baseball, youth softball, pro baseball and high school softball.  Each of these not only will follow our format but will be edited to include additional, specific and troublesome rule clarifications that are specific to each type and level of ball.  

You can buy Baseball Rules in Black and White at Lulu, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon and many other retailers.

www.baseballrulesinblackandwhite.com

bbribaw@gmail.com

James C. Bettencourt

What defines an umpire?

If I had to pick a few words to describe umpires new and old, they would be enthusiasm, passion, commitment, and uncertainty.

A new umpire has the enthusiasm of a 10 week old lab pup, filled with unlimited energy, always on the move or ready to move, because there could always be a reason to move.  So move they do. They move when a reason arises or just in case the reason to move may arise.  It may appear from a distance that the new umpire is extremely quick and a bit over zealous.  Let me assure you those perceptions are correct, but it is the young umpire’s enthusiasm that drives him and his desire for knowledge.

Umpires all have a passion of the game of baseball.  Every umpire if asked why he became an umpire would answer that they love the game and nearly everything about it.  The energy, the surroundings, the teams, coaches and yes, even the fans.  Umpires all bring a unique background with them, but all of them have an extremely strong passion for the game of baseball.  This passion mixed with enthusiasm powers new umpires to take that giant first initial step onto that very first big rung of a very tall ladder called umpiring.

Umpires have commitment to becoming better, learning field mechanics and learning baseball rules.  In an effort to always get better the new umpire’s commitment allows him to rise above his beginner’s status of unfamiliar rules, hurried timing and errant calls.  Instead of letting those things dictate who he is as an umpire, he is committed to use those same things to strengthen him into the umpire he will become. 

Lastly there is uncertainty.  For the new umpire uncertainty is the dark cloud appearing on the horizon in a very small boat with a hole in it, in a very big water far from shore. For all umpires there is no bigger obstacle to face than preventing uncertainty from taking over all of your senses. It can cause you to question your calls, your judgement, your qualifications even your very presence on the field, if you let it.

The good news is that an enthusiastic, passionate and committed umpire never allows uncertainty to control them, but rather they let it inspire them to become a better umpire. Bad things are not to be feared or hated, but rather studied, understood and used to empower. 

Frozen

There is no bigger fear for an umpire than to be unclear of a rule interpretation and then have that infraction happen right in front of them during a game. 

The first reaction is to have a delayed call or worse a no call, the famous “deer in the headlights syndrome.”  Hostile fans, coaches, players all either doubt your call or wonder if you are even qualified. That’s when it can get ugly.  This scenario plays out hundreds of times across this country every baseball season.

Mainly newer officials are subjected, but even seasoned officials are ultimately challenged by important game situations in conjunction with difficult worded rules.  Pressure of a game or play and a complicated rule can easily rattle and cause any official to struggle. 

Over five decades of either playing, coaching or umpiring baseball I wanted something available to help teach both new and old umpires difficult rule interpretations, including myself. 

My objective was to make difficult rules easier to comprehend so that they would be easier to retain and apply in those difficult games or plays. This would increase the chances of a decisive and correct call on the field.  I have seen both rookies’ and veterans’ field performance greatly improve after reading, comprehending and applying their newly gained rule knowledge from Baseball Rules in Black and White. Making calls in an automatic reflex action tells everyone that you know the rule and have made the correct call. 

I did not rewrite the whole rule book, nor am I trying to replace it. I have written a baseball rule clarification book that is an enhancement to the high school baseball rule book. The introduction in the book gives an excellent overview about Baseball Rules in Black and White. I believe it is not only another tool for your toolbox but an excellent tool that has been missing until now. This book is an excellent accelerator for new officials.

Yes, this is a repeat post, but it is so awesome I had to share it all over again.

www.baseballrulesinblackandwhite.com  www.Lulu.com

www.amazon.com  www.barnesandnoble.com  

Too many umps spoil the call

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddncpu9gd84


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddncpu9gd84

Now I am not sure if this was the worst call in the Major Leagues, because there have been some awful ones, from what I saw the home plate official initially got this one correct. Then a review was called for and what followed illustrates what happens when too much technology, too many people try to interpret complicated, poorly worded,  baseball rules. A mess!!!!

Baseball blender full of imperfection

Factors of an average baseball game include, intense speed of the 

game, small round ball, contoured piece of wood, dust, mud, rain, 

turf, lighting, wind, sun, heat, cold, extra 

innings, double headers, fatigue, unhinged coaches, 

unhinged players, unhinged fans, unhinged dugouts, unhinged

stadium and in this baseball blender full of imperfection only the 

umpire is expected to be perfect.  


That is only until when, even the umpire becomes unhinged.       

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=VngD0AuX3DQ