I’ve made no secret about my feelings regarding teaching players to push the rules cheat. One of my biggest pet peeves is teaching baserunners to leave the base early on a steal under the premise that the umpires probably won’t call it.

Apparently it’s a pet peeve of one of the umpires at the game I was watching yesterday too. Late in the game one of the teams had a runner on first. This team is fairly well known for its aggressive play, and this was a speedy runner with a high likelihood of stealing. As the pitcher delivered the ball, the field umpire yelled out “dead ball, no pitch.” As we were wondering what happened — was it an illegal pitch? — he informed everyone that the runner left early and was out. It was the third out in the inning and killed a potential scoring opportunity since there was a good hitter at the plate.

Kudos to the Blue for keeping an eye on it. The team hadn’t had many baserunners so there wasn’t much evidence that it might occur. But he did his job and made the call.

Now, it may have been a mis-timing on the runner’s part, but I don’t think so. I think she was doing as she’d been taught — getting an early jump. How nice that instead of getting a free base she was out. Justice is served! Considering this runner probably didn’t need to get that jump to steal the base due to her speed, what a shame that she’d been taught to do it anyway (assuming she has).

Your best bet is play within the rules. They’re there for your protection, and to keep the game fair. It’s also the right thing to do.

In case you haven’t heard by now, the National High School Federation (Federation for short) has ruled that metal cleats will be allowed in high school softball beginning this year. The Federation is the ruling body for HS sports, not to be confused with ruling body for a large group of planets on Star Trek.

I haven’t heard the particulars on why the rule was changed. Maybe someone who reads this blog has the actual answer. A few of us were talking tonight and I speculated that this was sort of a Title IX issue. Metal cleats have been allowed in HS baseball at least since the days I was playing, so maybe this is just a way of making things more even. Then again, do the boys have to wear face cages on their helmets?

In any case, I think that metal cleats are a bad idea. First there’s the safety issue for fielders. As I’ve mentioned before, some are taught to block access to the base with their legs. Having a baserunner coming into a leg with metal cleats is not exactly a good idea.

That’s not the worst of it, though. The big risk is catching a cleat and spraining an ankle — or possibly popping a knee or breaking a leg. Before you think I’m a total wimp about this, I just heard a story about a male youth player in metal cleats breaking his ankle trying to stop and go back to the previous base.

The parent telling the story said she’s heard that metal cleats are fine on a well-manicured field. But how many of us get to play on those? I’ve watched high school games on fields that were a risk no matter what kind of shoes you wore, much less high-grip cleats. My teams have certainly competed on fields that were even worse. It just doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Especially when you consider that the #1 injury among young female athletes is a torn ACL. So now you’re going to add in equipment that makes it even easier to pop that ACL. It just doesn’t make sense.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the number of injuries goes up this year. And if so, whether the Federation gives any thought to going back to a ban on metal cleats. Stay tuned.

Before I launch into this let me preface it by saying I have nothing but the utmost respect for the men and women in blue. It’s not easy to do the job they do. I know. I’ve done it. Every single pitch requires a decision by the home plate umpire, and often you have to think quickly and make a decision before you really have all the information you need. Add to that six to eight games in a day in the blistering heat and humidity and you have a tough job on your hands.

That being said, this tirade isn’t about making the calls. I may not always agree with the calls they make but I’m sure they’re making the best calls they can.

No, this post is about umpires not knowing the rules. To me there is no excuse for that. I’m just a coach, but every year before the season I read the rulebook cover to cover. I make sure I know what’s changed and what’s new. Apparently not all umpires do the same.

Here’s a case in point. For the second time this season an umpire declared in a pre-game meeting that a catcher’s mitt couldn’t be used certain positions. Which used to be the rule. Of course, this umpire stated that you can’t use a catcher’s mitt in the outfield, which was never the case. The old rule said a mitt could only be used in the catcher and first base positions.

That rule was changed I believe in 2006. Rule 3, Section 4 of the 2007 ASA rule book states “A Glove/Mitt may be worn by any player. The dimensions of any glove/mitt used by any fielder shall not exceed the specifications set forth below (see drawings and specifications.” In other words, as long as the mitt meets the legal dimensions it can be used in any position on the field. If it can be used in the catcher’s position, it can be used anywhere on the field. The rule is perfectly clear. It’s not highlighted as a change so it’s been on the books for at least a year. Why is it that two different umpires at two different tournaments insisted otherwise? Isn’t it their job to know these things? As my friend Rich says they’re the only people being paid to be on the field. It’s their responsibility to know the rulebook backward and forward.

Now, this is not to say that I like or encourage field position players to wear a mitt, especially in the outfield. They’re designed to accept a hard-thrown ball, not to catch a fly ball or a ground ball. But if a player insists on it, the point is it’s legal. 

Ok, so maybe it’s tough to know every rule. Again I can understand that. But that doesn’t mean you should declare something that is patently incorrect. If you don’t know, and you are challenged, perhaps you should have a copy of the rulebook handy so you can look it up. I know I always have one.

This year one extraordinary thing did happen. During a game I declared a courtesy runner for my pitcher and the umpire wasn’t sure he should allow it. I quietly told him that the ASA rules state a courtesy runner can be used for the pitcher or catcher at any time, and that it has to be someone not in the game. I told him I had rulebook in the dugout and he could confirm it there if he wanted. To my surprise he said yes, go ahead and find it. I did, he looked at it between innings, and he actually apologized for not knowing the rule. That was pretty cool of him. And pretty rare.

In a perfect world every official would know every rule. That’s not going to happen. I don’t claim to know them all by heart either. But if you don’t know the rule, as an official you shouldn’t be making declarations about it before the game. That’s just wrong.

Got the 2007 ASA rule book Monday night and started going through it as I always do. That’s when I found it — my nomination (so far) for the best new rule.

Essentially, it states that a legal pitch must be delivered from the side of the body on the throwing arm side. It specifically prohibits pitches delivered between the legs or behind the back.  I can’t help but wonder what happened, and where it happened, that necessitated making a rule about it. Most pitchers I’ve seen are doing all they can to get the ball where they want it with a normal delivery.

This is almost as good as the one about all base runners returning to their original bases after an offensive conference. You shouldn’t even have to have a rule about that. But I guess you do.

At the ASA meeting last Sunday one of the topics covered was a change in the rules for the 10U “A” level. If you haven’t heard, this level will now be playing by the same rules as the older levels. In other words, stealing home, unlimited stealing of bases, and dropped third strike are now legal. (They are not legal at the “B” level.)

I can’t imagine why the ASA would want to make this change. Well, yes I can. My guess is it was driven by the southern California teams. Out in SoCal they can play year-round, and they’re generally ahead of the rest of the country. Maybe they feel the existing 10U rules are too restricting. I can tell you around here in Chicago, though, where the season runs from April to July, it’s going to be a disaster. As one fellow from the Orland Sparks who was sitting next to me said, “A walk is now a run.”

I think we can expect scores that resemble football games more than softball games. Runners will steal second on the first pitch and third on the second pitch, same as usual. They’ll then be able to score on any passed ball or wild pitch.

What this is probably going to do around here is set pitchers back a couple of years. They will be so worried about letting in the runner on third that all mechanics will break down and it will be difficult to focus on learning to pitch the right way.

This is a bad idea. I hope after a year the ASA recognizes the error of its ways and goes back to more 10 year old-friendly rules.