In this episode, we continue the USA Base Umpire Mechanics from the Umpire Manual. This is episode 3 of 5 in the Base Umpire Mechanics miniseries. We dig in and cover Base Calls: Swipe Tag / Pulled Foot, Tag Play Philosophy, and Runner on 1B Pick Off from the Catcher (Chapter 5, Sections B2 and B3 in the Manual). If you want a free electronic copy of the manual courtesy of USA Softball, go to UmpiringFastpitchSoftball.com and click on the "More" button for this episode to get the link from the comments!

In this episode, we continue the USA Base Umpire Mechanics from the Umpire Manual. This is episode 2 of 5 in the Base Umpire Mechanics miniseries. We dig in and cover Base Calls: Force Plays / Tag Plays / Plays at 1B (Chapter 5, Section B1 in the Manual). If you want a free electronic copy of the manual courtesy of USA Softball, go to UmpiringFastpitchSoftball.com and click on the "More" button for this episode to get the link from the comments!

In this episode, we begin the USA Base Umpire Mechanics from the Umpire Manual. This is episode 1 of 5 in the Base Umpire Mechanics miniseries. We dig in and cover General Responsibilities (Chapter 5, Section A in the Manual). If you want a free electronic copy of the manual courtesy of USA Softball, go to UmpiringFastpitchSoftball.com and click on the "More" button for this episode to get the link from the comments!

In this episode, we finish the USA Plate Umpire Mechanics from the Umpire Manual. This is episode 4 of 4 in the Plate Umpire Mechanics miniseries. We dig in and cover General Responsibilities (Chapter 4, Section D in the Manual). If you want a free electronic copy of the manual courtesy of USA Softball, go to UmpiringFastpitchSoftball.com and click on the "More" button for this episode to get the link from the comments! There, you can also find the link to the lineup card holder that David talks about in the episode.

In this episode, we go over the USA Plate Umpire Mechanics from the Umpire Manual. This is episode 3 of 4 in the Plate Umpire Mechanics miniseries. We dig in and cover Difficult Situations (Chapter 4, Section C in the Manual). If you want a free electronic copy of the manual courtesy of USA Softball, go to UmpiringFastpitchSoftball.com and click on the "More" button for this episode to get the link from the comments!

In this episode, we go over the USA Plate Umpire Mechanics from the Umpire Manual. This is episode 2 of 4 (we KNOW, we were surprised, too) in the Plate Umpire Mechanics miniseries. We dig in and cover Movement from the Plate (Chapter 4B in the Manual). If you want a free electronic copy of the manual courtesy of USA Softball, go to UmpiringFastpitchSoftball.com and click on the "More" button for this episode to get the link from the comments!

In this episode, we go over the USA Plate Umpire Mechanics from the Umpire Manual. This is episode 1 of 4 (we KNOW, we were surprised, too) in the Plate Umpire Mechanics miniseries. We dig in and cover Calling the Pitch: Stance, Set Position, and The Pitch (Chapter 4A in the Manual). If you want a free electronic copy of the manual courtesy of USA Softball, go to UmpiringFastpitchSoftball.com and click on the "More" button for this episode to get the link from the comments!

In this episode, we talk about the rules regarding Legal, Illegal, Altered, and Non-Conforming bats from the USA rule book. We also hit on a few differences that we are aware of in NFHS, USSSA, and NCAA.

In this episode, we talk about some times where we were guilty of some bad umpiring. We're not just talking bad judgement, but instead where we fell down in executing our mechanics well with some in-game consequences. How did we deal with it and what did we learn?

In this episode, we cover the often misunderstood DP/Flex Rules. We go line by line through the USA rule book, but point out any minor differences along the way. However, most sanctions follow these rules for the positions. If you just want the summary sans discussion, skip ahead to 18:40 in the podcast. The DP/Flex causes a lot of confusion and we think that is partially because of some possible over-complication of the rules. DP and Flex are just two positions with many of the same substitution rules as other positions and just one or two "special powers". If you start to think of them that way, a lot of the mystery clears up!