This past season I had exactly six times on the diamond when the game threatened to get out of hand. In each case an argument developed between a manager, coach or fan that drew me in and required me to enforce "house rules."

Worse, every report of game problems I received from a young umpire involved a disruption over "house rules".... rules: not taught at any umpire clinic, not developed at a meeting with the umpires present, never posted or handed to an umpire, just yelled at them by parents and coaches during a game.

Coach, I spend literally hundreds of hours each year reading and studying the rules. I attend workshops, clinics and subscribe to three publications designed to make me a better official. No where had I encountered these "rules" that suddenly I was to ensure were not violated.

Let's look at the situations:

Pitcher Rules

Rule Two: The maximum innings a pitcher can pitch is two in the early season, three later in the season. Again, this is coaching policy, an agreement that the coach has with the league, and should not be an enforceable rule by the umpires. Our rule book has well defined pitching restrictions that do not need adjustment. I would like a dollar for every time, after the first batter of the third inning had struck out, a coach came up to me and said "That pitcher can't pitch this inning." Now the game is delayed and it is coach against coach, and this then becomes parents against the umpires. The umpires will call the rule book, everything else is a simple agreement and not binding on the umpires.

In this specific situation what happened was a prime example of how these rules affect the game: Coach1: "It's two innings." Coach2: "It's three innings." Coach1: "It's two ...." Round and round, while the umpire watches and the fans yell.

If the coach feels that one of the league's guidelines has been broken he can phone the league administrators after the game, and they can investigate and impose sanctions as deemed necessary. Coaching guidelines and policy, outside the scope of the rule book, should not occupy the umpire's or player's time on the diamond.

Rule Three: Balks will not be called till mid-season If you are an umpire then you would appreciate the results of this one. The intent is instruction: the results anything but. The pitcher are literally given carte blanche to go for anything early in the season. If the pick off a runner you have a coach or parent yelling that you missed a balk. Since there is no penalty you often have balk after balk, delay after delay, argument after argument. Why? Simply, because pitchers have not been coached properly on pitching technique right from the early leagues. Because there are few, if any, pre-season practices to do this in, the game becomes the practice, the time for learning skills instead of applying skills. So, the umpire becomes the instructor and does the coach's work at the expense of getting the game underway.

In this case let the rule stand on its own. The pitcher who does not pause will have the balk called and the runner will advance. Will he fail to pause again? Not likely. Do your coaching and instruction in practices and the corrections required during the game will be minimal.

Policy or a rule? A guideline for players and coaches or something that bears equal status with balls, strikes, safe and outs?

The "Must-Slide" Rule

It has created a far worse scenario: With a runner on first, the batter hits a clean double but because the fielder is at second the runner slides in. What do you call here? The player has been taught that they must slide into a base anytime a fielder is present. The umpire would now have to call obstruction, and that will lead to bigger arguments.

Does the league not have a comprehensive, well written rule in place already? Why complicate it? Let the umpire interpret and enforce the existing rule. If it is a policy of the league that the players should slide at every base, that is policy, leave the interpretation of the book rule to the training the umpire receives.

No Infield Fly

Your fastest runners on first and second, the ball goes up and hits your runner who is standing on the bag. What is the call? The runner was out for interference is all the umpire has left. The protest that followed: "The runner is protected during the infield fly, so they should be protected even though the rule is not called."

The reason given for the rule modification: "the fielders might not catch the ball" and "that is the farthest some of the players would ever hit" may be true, but the rule remains the rule. The real reason for the house rule, in my personal opinion, is to avoid a game and coaching situation that has not been taught to the players.

The Helmet and Chin-Strap Rule

The rules of baseball concerning helmets and what happens when a helmet is removed accidentally or intentionally are specific. "House rules" which focus an umpire on details such as a chin strap, instead of the play at the base, are putting the emphasis away from the game and on to technicalities. They serve to breed contempt and arguments such as the one that happened above.

In my personal opinion, if the league cites as precedent rules that say "all runners must be wearing a helmet" as the basis for their local "automatic out" safety rule, then the same rule book wording also applies to the wearing of the catcher's helmet, found in the rule right above that one. If the catcher removes the helmet and face mask which they must wear, then the runner must be equally "automatically safe" on any play at the plate.

The argument becomes circular and quite heated. It is fueled by the well meant intentions of a house rule that becomes applied at times it was never meant to.

The No-Bat Rule

Now the umpire is expected to control the players in the dugouts! If you go behind the plate and put my mask on, you discover you cannot see the dugouts unless you turn your head away from the ball, away from the pitcher, away from the play. One umpire, eighty or more feet away is expected to have control over a situation three coaches, less than six feet away, miss.

Swinging a bat in the dugout is dangerous and I will ask the players not to do this. In every case they have complied. Holding a bat in the dugout? This is a house rule that, although perhaps well intended, took the responsibility away from the coach and placed it on the umpire. Calling the "rule" will lead to ill feelings around the ball park.

By the way, the conversation quoted above took place, not on a Tuesday evening, but on a Saturday morning in tournament play. Here we have the biggest side effect of house rules: a local policy coming into competitive levels of the game.

The Five-Run-Per-Inning Mercy Rule

First, the interpretation of the "five" runs varies. Some believe that you can actually score eight runs if the batter hit a home run with the bases loaded. The result has been a "fifth run" situation is which the coaches are running everybody home until a third out is made. The results are simply a travesty and moments when the diamond goes out of control. So, five runs is five runs, no more.

Next, when the league says "open final inning" I interpret that to mean the last inning of a regulation game, in this case, the sixth. That is not how it is being interpreted by the coaches however. Our younger games are played with strict time limits: no inning may start at one hour and forty minutes, no game continue beyond two hours. We are completing the third inning nearly eighty minutes into the game. Despite what common sense and my watch are telling me, the next inning is not the "open" inning. Here is why: if I declare it the open inning then it is also the final inning. If you get three up, three down then the game is over, and we have not reached the time limits.

Randomly declaring an inning as "open" has resulted in terrible games in which the visiting team has stayed at bat for over 40 minutes while the home team tries to make one out. It has also led to more bad feelings and arguments amongst coaches and parents about which inning should be open, or whether this is the open inning. etc. etc.

Finally, when we do reach the two hour time limit (which happens in the top of the fourth inning that has been declared open) having the umpire declare "Last Batter" has also had mixed results. Now we have all the runners in motion as we attempt to squeeze every run over the plate that is possible. This is then followed by "words" among the coaches, parents and ultimately the umpire who gets dragged into the conversations.

The solution to this one is simple, the umpire simply declares: "That's the game" after a batter has completed a time at bat. Game over.

In summary: if we wish a five-run-mercy-rule then it is exactly that. Five runs maximum per inning, no open innings, no declarations of last batter.

Open Substitution and Everyone Bats

What we regularly witness is a computer printout of whose turn it is to play second base this inning, to pitch in the third inning etc. etc. The printout often has the positions for the next month included and is followed regardless of the game situation. If the coach can't make a game, the players simply follow the sheet while any parent sits in the dugout. The role of the coach, and the development of position players, seems to be minimized. An "everyone does everything" mentality has led to no one done anything particularly well. Games drag on, pitch after pitch, passed ball after passed ball, error after error.

It has lead to one new complaint made to both the umpires, the coaches and the conveners: "It's my turn!" This is now heard from parents and players. In one case an umpire was told he could not start the last inning of a game because a player had only played in the outfield that game. It was the player's "turn" to be on the infield, it was the player's turn to catch, to pitch, to play first base. Bringing resolution to this is not a simple process.

There is also a downfall to this rule when the tournament team is selected and starts playing. Many, many coaches have no idea on how to manage substitutions and re-entry, or how to work through their lineups. Most players lack the unique skills needed to be a "position player"

Personally, my observation is that this rule has weakened the local level of play since it was put in place. As umpires we no longer see players who have quality skills at several positions around the diamond. We see a different catcher each inning, many who cannot handle the position. Have you ever stood behind a young catcher, who has put the equipment on for the first time, ever? You realize this just about the time you take the second shot off your collarbone on a high uncaught pitch. The desire to expand participation, remove some of the competitive edge, and simplify the coach's job has, at the higher levels, had the effect of deteriorating the level of play.

In Conclusion

The results of house rules, from the umpire's perspective, are often detrimental to the game. They result in arguments with coaches and parents that are not really part of baseball, but part of the trappings that surround a skewed interpretation of the game.

Next season, as the leagues form, I encourage you to revisit your "house rules," include an umpire in the discussions of these rules and the impact they will have on the game. Separate your "rules" from your "policy" and monitor policy at the league level, not during the game. Finally, if you have any real rules left, I encourage you to have copies of these rules distributed to the umpires and posted on the bulletin boards for all to see.

Let the umpires study and learn the rules of baseball as it is to be applied at this level. That is difficult enough without having artificial situations flare up as they have so often on our diamonds these past few seasons. The results have not been really fair to anyone let alone those who volunteer their time to officiate games for young players.

Still calling them as I see them,

... written August 9, 1999