baseballrules

Three generations of the Kincade family umpired their first game together earlier this week in a Little League senior boys’ baseball state semifinal game in New York.

Frank Kincade is 67. He was behind the plate. His son, Frank, Jr., 46, was at first base and his son, Steven, 23, was at second base. All live in Monroe, a northern suburb of New York City.

Read all about it.

Former local athlete and now softball umpire Patty Griffin is doing a great job in Tennessee. A well-respected science teacher, she also has earned the respect of many local players and managers. Read all about her in Blount Today.

The passion for baseball is more important for Bruce Holsopple, who rarely takes personal time during the summer. He says the four greatest words in sports are ‘pitchers and catchers report’ and he is sure that the calendar has only two seasons - February through August for baseball and August through February for football.

Read all about Bruce’s great work and love of baseball in the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Daily American. Unable to link it here, but it is worth the search.

What a way for a father and son to connect — through baseball and as umpires. Great story about Brad and Tanner Tucker having a fun time officiating local games in Rapid City, South Dakota. Read about it in the Rapid City Journal.

The Delaware Valley Umpires Association held it fifth annual golf tournament with proceeds going to athletes in this area of New Jersey in the form of scholarships.

The DVUA awarded a pair of two $1,000 scholarships to Bordentown High School softball standout Nicole Walls and Ewing High School baseball star Nick Cifelli.

“This is one small way that we try and give back to the schools and the athletes we see on a regular basis when we umpire,” said Dave Sipe, president of the DVUA. “We’re not always the bad guy. We actually like what we do and not very many of our umpires are in it for the money. And we love to give back to the community.

“Our umpires love what they do and even if they didn’t get paid for what they do, I think a lot of these men and women would still umpire because they care about the game and about the student-athletes.

“One thing I want people to understand is that being an umpire and working with coaches and players is a cooperative effort on everyone’s part, and we just want to give back what we can, when we can. Today we gave out two more scholarships to two very deserving young people. Hopefully, in a small way, it’ll help them with their college expenses.”

Perry Lewis has decided to hang up the chest protector and mask for good.

After more than 30 years of calling balls and strikes behind the plate at the high school and college level, the longtime Eaton, Colorado, baseball umpire has decided to retire. Lewis, who is 50, decided he wanted to spend more time with family. He will continue to officiate football and basketball, but is giving up the sport he loves the most.

“The greatest sport that has ever been invented is baseball,” Lewis said. “Obviously, when you go out and watch T-ball games all the way to the major leagues, the game itself is just unique. It is a great game, or it just wouldn’t be America’s pastime.”

After high school graduation in 1977, he became an umpire, and he has seen good and bad along the way.

He was working a playoff game in Erie one season when an intoxicated father threatened to shoot the umpiring crew. When the police arrived, they found the man in a nearby camper passed out with an unloaded shotgun.

Lewis also remembers a game between Fort Lupton and Valley in La Salle when a Valley player hit a ball down the third base line that hit a footmark about three feet foul in the all-sand infield and bounced back over the bag into fair territory. Lewis called it fair, drawing the ire of former Fort Lupton coach Charlie Lewis. He asked Perry how it could possibly be fair when he saw it bounce foul to which Perry replied that until the ball gets to the bag, anything can happen.

“Charlie said ‘I am going to go get the rule book,’ and I said ‘when you bring it back, I will bet you the title to my house against yours,’” Lewis said. “Charlie came by me about two innings later and said, ‘Do you like orange carpet?’”

Northridge High School Coach Mike Huston said: “The biggest thing with umpires is that you get some guys that maybe go out and they just go through the motions, but the good umpires go out and they are working hard all the time. That is what he does.”

In West Burlington, Iowa, an umpire emptied the stands at a high school baseball game, ejecting the entire crowd of more than 100 fans. Umpire Don Briggs did not have any problems with the student athletes during last week’s game between Winfield-Mount Union and West Burlington. He said the fans became unruly after a fifth inning controversial call.

The umpire borrowed a cell phone to call police as a precaution. West Burlington police officer Al Waterman said no one was arrested and he did not witness any bad behavior. However, he arrived only after police were called.

Briggs has been umpiring high school games in Iowa for nearly 10 years.

“I know it sounds like I’m the bad guy — but it was the crowd,” Briggs told the Des Moines Register. “If I got the control to ask one person to leave, I feel like I can ask them all to leave.”

The incident began when Winfield-Mount Union coach Scott McCarty came out to argue whether a ball that had been hit was foul or fair. While the debate was going on, West Burlington coach Jeff Housel tried to score his runner from third base, claiming no timeout had been called.

When Briggs sent the runner back to third, he said the home West Burlington crowd became unruly. There were no school administrators at the game at the time, and McCarty declined to remove any of the offending fans, so Briggs took it upon himself to clear the park.

“In one area, most of the people were really being mouthy — not all of them, but most of them,” Briggs said. “And they don’t say nothing when you look at them. They waited until you turned your back.

“I can get it to the point where we can play it safely with the kids. There was a lot of people yelling and arguing, so I made the decision. The kids were great, so I didn’t have any problems with the kids.”

After 40 minutes, fans were allowed to return under the premise that “anyone making a negative comment toward the officials would be ejected from the premises and could be charged with disorderly conduct,” according to the Burlington Hawk Eye newspaper.

Both coaches believed that the umpire’s decision to clear the crowd was a bit over the top.

“I’ve heard a lot worse during a game, I guess I’ll say that,” McCarty said. “But it turned into a playoff atmosphere after that [delay]. People were cheering, making plays. [West Burlington] had a great diving stop. It turned into a heckuva game.”

West Burlington, perhaps inspired by their revitalized crowd, rallied from an eight-run deficit to beat Winfield-Mount Union, 12-11, with the winning run coming on a steal of home in the seventh inning.

“Like I told the other coach after the game,” Housel said, “this is one you’ll never forget.”

What a great article in the Dallas Star-Telegram about the dedication of and issues faced by local little league umpires.

No further comment. The article says it all.

The wife of the Connors State College baseball coach Perry Keith has been charged with assaulting two umpires after a game in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Sheri Keith was charged last Friday in Washington County District Court with two counts of assault and battery on athletic officials. The charges stem from a May 9 incident in which Ms. Keith allegedly assaulted umpires Michael Lentz and John Williams after her husband’s team lost a game against Eastern Oklahoma State College.

According to a police affidavit, Ms. Keith barged into a locker room after the game, screamed obscenities and attacked the umpires.

If the accusation is proven to be true, she should be banned from all future Connors games. Her husband should bench her and tell her that he is the only member of the family who talks to the umpires.

Youth baseball almost didn’t happen this year in Greenfield, Ohio, a town of 5,000. The depressed auto industry has caused a lot of money to be directed away from recreation., But, local residents raised the money, fixed the fields, found equipment and registered 450 kids to play.

Some concessions have been made. Scoreboards and lights won’t be used due to the expense. Restrooms will remain closed and replaced by portable toilets that save money on water and sewer use. Teams will play with used baseballs — only one new ball per game.

Another glaring change is the games will be played without base umpires. The community has done a wonderful thing for themselves and their children. With only one ump per game, let’s hope they realize that not every call can be accurate.

We would like to suggest an idea: Let the experienced adults umpire behind the plate. Ask baseball knowledgeable mothers and fathers whose children are not playing in a particular game to volunteer their time to cover the bases. Give them a quick overview, tell them what kind of calls they can expect to make and get them involved.