You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

A long time ago, I chose to settle down in the state of Iowa. It’s been a great play to raise my family. It also happens to be the one state that plays its high school season in the summer. Another good reason to live here as it has allowed me to watch my boys play baseball and not be on the road calling a game somewhere in the Midwest. I (along with most umpires in the state) did not anticipate having any form of a season. Now it appears that we may be moving towards an abbreviated schedule, but a schedule nonetheless. While my focus will be on attending my son’s games, there is still the task of keeping my registration updated along with taking the usual test and video for the Federation. Thus leading to my use of an old adage that is listed in the title of this article. The fun begins!

Question #26: With runners on second base and third base. The pitcher intentionally drops a fair in flight: a. The ball remains live and in play b. The ball becomes dead immediately c. It is a delayed d. The batter is due to a fielder’s choice

At this point, I am rather certain that the answer is “B.” Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I believe the answer to be “B” along with the unnamed test taker that is on the phone with me at the time as we go over the tests before submitting online. Upon completion, we submit only to find that Rule reference 5-1-1 (J) has emerged for one of the questions that I (we) had missed. I couldn’t understand until I “matched” up the question and the rule reference that it dawned on me!

Federation 5-1-1 (j): Dead Ball – Batter is out when: an infielder intentionally drops a fair fly, fair line drive or fair bunt in flight with at least first base occupied and with less than two outs.

To my dismay, I immediately grabbed my NCAA and professional playing rulebooks for comparison only to find…

NCAA 7-11-q: – When Batter or Batter Runner is Out: With fewer than two outs and first, first and second, first and third, or first, second and third occupied, an infielder intentionally drops a batted or bunted fair fly ball or line drive. The ball is dead, and the runner or runners shall return to their original bases.

Professional: INTENTIONALLY DROPPED BALL RULE (OBR 6.05L; FED 8-4-1c). This rule as stated in OBR, “A batter is out when an infielder intentionally drops a fair fly ball or line drive, with first, first and second, first and third, or first, second and third base occupied before two are out.

At this point, my head was spinning. How many times had I had this situation and incorrectly called the batter out? This play rarely happens. Perhaps a handful at best in 30 plus years of umpiring. I knew how to apply the rule, except for those six little words that I apparently overlooked during all those seasons of review. It all made sense…now! Without first occupied, there was no “jeopardy” to the baserunners. At this point, I picked up the phone to start calling some respected partners. To some relief, I was not the only one. In fact, 8 out of 10 umpires I surveyed were not aware of the “requirement.” Questions were asked about the rule across each platform. Same rule, phrased slightly different.

So what does this all mean? First, it tells me that the old adage is indeed true. You can teach an old dog new tricks! Secondly, it instills the benefit of the rules test. Third, it puts our noses into the rulebook so that we continue to learn! I would estimate that there are always 20 – 25 percent of the test questions that we look up just to be sure we are answering them correctly. Perhaps that leads to a discussion with a partner or a reference to another rule that we can educate ourselves upon.

I remember when I coached youth baseball that I would always challenge my players to improve on their weaknesses. I knew my players strengths. They did as well. The question was whether they were willing to improve their overall performance by challenging themselves during the offseason to improve. Which leads to my suggestion? Pick an area of the rulebook that you would consider to be an area of improvement for yourself. For me, I always start with the DH rule for review then work from there. As for you? Well, we have plenty of time right now don’t we?

Respectfully,

Don Umland DIII National Coordinator of Umpires