Sunday, September 25, 2011

Polls: Incidental Contact

In most sports, such as baseball, the referee or umpire is considered in play, part of the playing area. Baseball's positioning of an umpire directly behind a catcher, straddling or right next to a foul line, or on the fringe of the infield grass occasionally results in a ball hitting an umpire or a player/umpire collision. Sometimes that results in interference & a base reward; sometimes, it doesn't. Anonymous writes:
Also from last night, the Giants second baseman Fontenot, while attempting to field a ball up the middle, ran full speed into an immovable object named Bruce Dreckman...Fortenot should have been called for clipping.
This isn't the first time Dreckman has found himself in between the defense and a routine ground ball.

Previous Poll (Tribute Uniforms) Results: Our previous poll, Polls: Tribute Uniforms, asked what should be allowed or not allowed in wearing a patch or other item of apparel as a tribute. Combining your votes on the blog and on our Facebook page, we note a preference for national, standardized tributes (Total Votes: 111):
  • National tributes allowed, normal size/color/etc restrictions - 31% - The most popular response allows for full-team tributes for national/global reasons, provided proper decorum is maintained.
  • Personal tributes only with league approval - 24% - About 1/4 agree that personal, non-national/global tributes need to receive league permission before they would be allowed.
  • National tributes only with league approval - 20% - 1/5 think national tributes should be subject to this league permission only requirement.
  • Personal tributes allowed, normal size/color/etc restrictions - 17% - Slightly less than half of those who would allow national tributes that maintain proper decorum would allow similar personal tributes.
  • They should always be allowed, no restrictions - 15% - This would mean any uniform alteration would be allowed, as long as tribute is cited as the motivation.
  • Tributes only allowed via league directive - 12% - On the other hand, this means only the league would authorize tributes by telling their teams what to wear.
  • Tributes never allowed - 5% - A clear minority want to preserve standard uniforms, no exceptions.
Current Poll: Have you ever been hit by a ball or player attempting to make a play (select all that apply)? Have you "pulled a Dreckman"? Discussion point: Could Dreckman have done anything differently to avoid this contact while inside at "B" or was he simply unlucky?

Have you ever been hit by a ball or player making a play?

7 comments :

Anonymous said...

Thanks for pointing out that clip...never seen that before. Dreckman doesn't even flinch!

Jack_1B Ump said...

I assume "foul ball" isn't included because the ball is presumably going to be dead anyway - we don't effect the play whatsover by getting hit by a foul ball... Because I'd also assume that 100% of umpires will say they have been hit by a foul ball when behind the plate.

John said...

As Jack said, how can you NOT get hit by a foul ball behind the dish? I'd think the response for "Yes by a passed ball at HP" will be very high, maybe even 100% too. Of course, the foul is more likely to happen because the deflection catches the catcher off guard, but especially at the pre-HS level, the catcher is going to have some problems with pitches in the dirt. I've had pants come back with multiple dirt ball outlines down at the ankles. I was very happy to switch from charcoal to heather grey...

Anonymous said...

Yet another case for the switch to the C slot.

Anonymous said...

In 38 years of umpiring, I have been hit by a batted ball (while in the infield) twice -- and they happened just three days apart. I must have been slow that week!

Anonymous said...

I would also assume that 90% of plate umpires have also been hit by a pass ball or wild pitch!

jhagen88 said...

I was working 3-man and a got a late break into my pivot cause I misread my partners actions. The Batter was rounding 1st and ran into me. Lucky he was safe at 2nd or I would have felt worse.

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