(303) 575-1151
info@wjbaseball.org

Coaching Tips by The Chief

The following is an archive of Tim Gardiner's coaching tips. He is no longer available to respond to your questions.

Appeal Play by Opposing Team
Player Occupying the Base Path
The Infield Fly Call
Fear of Getting Hit


Appeal Play by Opposing TeamWhen the other team (bad guys) have an appeal play - first, make sure the opposing pitcher appeals correctly. He must first address the umpire to tell him that he is appealing a base. Then he must step back off the rubber and throw to the base. If he does this incorrectly it is a balk. Second, when the pitcher throws to the base, time is not out. The ball is live. (remember, only the umpire can call time out) Runners may advance. If the pitcher throws to second and you have a runner on third, SEND HIM HOME! Of course if the runner on third missed second and the umpire just happened to be doing his job and saw it, he's out anyway, what have you got to lose.

Player Occupying the Base PathQuestion: In both of our first two games, this has come up in differing areas. It concerns players occupying the base paths. As I understand the rule, defensive players should only be in the base paths when fielding a ball (whether thrown or hit). Alternately, base runners cannot go outside the base paths while running.In our game yesterday, the opposing coach had actually taught his first baseman to assume a position when catching a throw to first where he had one foot on the inside (field side) of the bag, and the other across and in front of the bag in foul territory. We had two outs due to the runner hesitating because he couldn't get to the bag. I discussed this with the field ump. He said that the first baseman was in the play, so could block the bag. He also said that the runner had "right" to the bag. I told him that in that case, our only alternative to make close plays was a collision with the first baseman. I know that the league tries to avoid these types of collisions, but don't know what to do instead, except hesitate and lose close plays.The second occurrence was a shortstop who set up in the base path. The field ump said he would give us leeway by allowing us to run around the shortstop. This of course means that the run from 2^nd to 3^rd is slower.What are your thoughts on this? I don't necessarily want to tell my kids to mow down a first baseman, and cannot believe a coach would teach a first baseman to do this. There are some really aggressive teams out there that will do this immediately.The Chief's Answer: Your question actually consists of 6 different questions and involves two different sets of rules. It involves Official Base Rules and Regulations and Rules of Play adopted by the Jefferson County Junior Baseball League for first and second division teams. Your team being a 10 level 3 team is a Division Two team.First the JCJBL rule. You are correct, the league does not want to encourage collisions. While there is no mandatory slide rule, if any base runner crashes into a fielder trying to knock the ball loose or to intentionally hurt the fielder, the ball is immediately dead, that base runner is automatically out and should be ejected from the game. This is a judgment call by the umpire.With that in mind, lets take a look at the Official Baseball Rules. There is no rule that I am aware of the states how a first baseman should be positioned to take a pick off throw from a pitcher. What you are really concerned with here are rules dealing with obstruction and interference. You said that the other coach taught his first baseman to assume a position where he had one foot on the inside (field side) of the bag, and the other across and in front of the bag in foul territory. Why a coach would actually teach this to some kid is beyond me. There is a rule (4.03) which states "When a ball is put in play at the start of a game, all fielders other than the catcher shall be on fair territory." Sounds to me like the first baseman is in violation of this rule. I also believe there should be a rule about a stupid coach who teaches this type of stuff to his kids but as far as I know there are no rules against stupidity.You are correct about the runners not being able to go out of the base line. Rule 7.08 states: Any runner is out when - (a) He runs more than three feet away from a direct line between bases to avoid being tagged unless his action is to avoid interference with a fielder fielding a batted ball; or (2) after touching first base, he leaves the baseline, obviously abandoning his effort to touch the next base.You are also correct that a fielder should only be in the base path when fielding a ball. Rule 2.00 defines OBSTRUCTION as: the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner. So the shortstop you describe as setting up in the base path should not be there. This is of course a judgment call by the umpire but in the future you can point this rule out to him. Rule 7.09 (k) also defines "obstruction" as: only to be called in the most violent cases because the rule gives him the right of way, but of course such "right of way" is not a license to, for example, intentionally trip a runner even thought fielding a ball.I think you would be hard pressed convincing an umpire that the first baseman in the situation you described was committing obstruction. Are you teaching your runners to dive head first back to the bag using their right hand to touch the right field corner of the bag? If you are teaching this technique and your runners are diving back without hesitation, it would have to be a darn good throw to pick them off. Which is how someone usually gets picked off anyway.If you have specific questions like these, I really want to encourage you to get a rule book, read it and have it with you at all games. If you don't know the rules, you can't teach them to your kids. I think one of the worse things I see other coaches do is assume that because they played the game when they were a kid or because they watch baseball on TV all the time, that they know the rules.While I'm not an official JCJBL umpire and I haven't been an official umpire for a very long time, I did coach for 7 years. I did read the rule book every year and always have one with me when I am umpiring or coaching a game.It's 103 pages which must be read if you are ever going to really teach someone to play baseball.    

The Infield Fly CallFirst, the infield fly call is a judgment call by the umpire. Its purpose is to prevent a fielder from dropping a ball on purpose and thus being able to turn a double play. An infield fly may be called when there is less than two outs and runners on first and second or if the bases are loaded. When an infield fly is called by an umpire he should immediately state "infield fly batters out." After he calls the batter out, the ball is live. Runners may advance. The runners are not safe at their bases unless they are standing on their base. If the ball is caught by the infielder, the runners may tag up and advance. If the ball is dropped by the infielder the runners may simply advance. When an infield fly is dropped, there is no force in play.From the game situation you described, the runner at second should have been safe since the ball was dropped and no force was in play. (unless the fielder tagged the base runner). It sounds like from what you also described in your game that the umpire called an out at first because the base was occupied by two runners at the same time. This would also be incorrect since the batter should have been immediately called out regardless of weather or not the ball was caught. The runner at first is allowed to occupy the base.If I read your game situation correctly, they called a triple play on you. The batter was out on the infield fly, the runner on second was out by a force and the runner at first was out because two runners were occupying the base at the same time.  Unfortunately, although your umpire was well meaning, he was also misinformed. The result should have been that the batter was out via the infield fly and everyone else was safe.Make sure your players understand that on an infield fly THE BALL IS ALWAYS LIVE! My teams have always used this to our advantage. Take this situation, the bases are juiced and the batter hits a fly ball to the shortstop on the edge of the infield. Your runner on third can tag on this play and score. Often the shortstop doesn't understand the ball is live and will not throw it home or, in a ten year old game, simply can't make an accurate throw home from the deep part of the infield to get the runner out.You could have protested this call, however, the protest would have to have been made before the next pitch was thrown.Hope this explanation helps.    

Fear of Getting HitYou know the first two lies a father tells his son when he is pitching to him for the first time don't you? "I won't hit you and it won't hurt."Why don't you just bean the kid and get it over with?Okay...............................Just kidding.As I'm sure most of you know, I have been, unfortunately, umpiring some WJBB games. I'm getting to hear all of those really stupid things parents and coaches say to their kids. I think the all time #1 stupid thing I hear is after a kid gets hit with a ball the coach will inevitably ask "are you all right?" Of course he's not all right. He just got hit with a ball. It hurts.I've seen kids get ruined by getting hit by the ball, they never seem to get over it. On the other hand, I've coached kids who make a career out of getting hit.As a coach, you need to have a talk with all of your players about getting hit with the ball. Teach them that getting hit is part of the game. All baseball players have fears about getting hit. It's how he controls that fear that will eventually make him an effective ball player.There are a couple of things you can teach about getting hit. There is a correct technique for getting out of the way of the ball. (See coaches manual) Unfortunately, sometimes this involves getting hit. Teach him how to see the ball out of the pitchers hand. You can practice throwing tennis balls at him to teach this technique.As a coach, the most important thing you can do when a kid gets hit is nothing. Don't make a big fuss over it. Don't ask the kid if he is all right. Like I said, he's not all right. Just tell the kid to go down to first base. In fact, tell him to sprint to first base. There's a mentality being shown which each kid on the field is aware of. By not saying anything your kids will quickly come to understand that getting hit is part of the game of baseball.On another note. I'm sure you are all aware of the problems we have been having getting umpires to show for games this year. You should first be aware that this is a JCJBL problem and not a West Jeff problem. Regardless, I've agreed to help out and call as many games as I can until the problem is solved. HOWEVER, the next time a coach has me pulled off the tennis court under the guise of an emergency, that team will be forced to forfeit his entire season.

The Chief