Umpire Diary

Last night I got home from my umpiring shift feeling pretty good. Today I woke up with one of my patented Sinus Migraines™, something I haven't had to endure in quite a while. I think the last time I had one I was working at Disney? Been a while, at any rate. (And by that I mean, last time I had one that wasn't brought on specifically by allergy—I get a similar reaction when exposed to the odor of spearmint. It's a weird, and as far as I know, unique to me allergy.) Regardless, it's a good thing I wasn't scheduled to ump tonight as well, it would have been less than pleasant as it's taken until... [checks clock] almost 11:00pm for it to run its course. Nasty fuckers.

But I'm OK now, more or less, so I'll try to recall anything of note from last night.

I had three games, all of which had at least one team I love to draw. Once again, Pitch, Please! was in the mix, as were the Seattle Squids. PP had a doubleheader, so twice the time trading barbs and such with them, and Brook made sure to give the proper response to my razzing him last week for "hitting like a pitcher" (i.e. striking out) by clubbing multiple extra-base hits.

One thing that came up that's a rarity, even in rec-league softball: I called a baserunner out for being hit by a batted ball. While another runner left from third base, the runner in question was taking off from second and the hard grounder smacked her right in the foot a few steps off of the bag (no runner on first). No complaints about the call of "runner out," but one infielder, a good dude named Wyatt, did challenge me for letting the runner from third score on the play. "It's a dead ball," Wyatt insisted, "he should have to go back to third!" With some real and some feigned confidence, I replied, "No, it's a base hit, so one base." Nevertheless, I wasn't 100% sure. Was Wyatt right? I didn't have the luxury of checking it out in the moment, so we moved on, but I did look it up when I got home, in Rule 5.06, Running the Bases:

5.06(c) – Dead balls:

The ball becomes dead and runners advance one base, or return to their bases, without liability to be put out, when:

...

(6) A fair ball touches a runner (or an umpire) in fair territory before it touches an infielder including the pitcher, or before it has passed an infielder other than the pitcher. The struck runner is out and the batter is awarded a base hit.

Well, that's not helpful. The vagueness suggests it's then umpire's discretion whether or not the runner from third would be allowed to score. Yay, me! However, when consulting a second source (umpirebible.com), I see that Wyatt was right:

 Section (6): A fair ball touches a runner or an umpire on fair territory before it touches an infielder including the pitcher, or touches an umpire before it has passed an infielder other than the pitcher; runners advance, if forced. The struck runner, if any, is out and the batter is awarded a base hit. (emphasis mine)

My bad, Wyatt. Something to remember for next time. Good thing it didn't factor into who won.

It was not a rainy evening this time around, so the field at Cal Anderson Park was not as free from interlopers as it was last week, but the shift still concluded without a BINGO.