ABUA

The ABUA is the largest membership association for amateur baseball umpires in the U.S.

The ABUA's purpose is to improve the overall quality of umpiring in youth league, high school and college baseball through innovative teaching and educational programs, and superior educational resources.The ABUA protects its members with the most comprehensive insurance package in the industry
(Liability, Medical & Lost game fees)!

The ABUA provides a national organization and network where individual umpires and local associations can promote professionalism, integrity and a love of the game.

In The News

Game Time!

The months of February and March are “game time” for some of the southern states but for most of us this is the time for clinics and schools to prepare for the coming season. As I travel to various events it is great to see many old friends and meet new ones, especially ABUA members, who are working to improve their skills. This is one of the great opportunities to discuss (and sometimes argue) some of the more challenging and difficult plays that confront softball umpires. During the past several weeks we have been discussing some of the difficulties that arise when working outside the diamond and quite often the problems that come up when working on the left side of the infield behind the shortstop and covering plays at first base. For the baseball umpires just getting familiar with umpiring...

Deflections - Part I

I received the following question from a fan recently: Q. The batter hits a hard grounder up the middle that deflects off the pitcher’s foot and goes towards the first base foul line. The pitcher chases the ball. The batter-runner correctly runs in his lane to first and both collide prior to getting to first base and both fall to the ground. The pitcher picks up the ball and throws the batter-runner out before he gets there. There was no intent on either player to instigate the contact. The base umpire calls the batter-runner out. Was he correct? A : I say no. If a deflected ball is within the fielder’s immediate reach, the runner must avoid the fielder or he risks getting called for runner interference. However, when a fielder chases a deflected ball and collides with a runner, obstruction...

A Catch is a Catch is not a Catch

How’s that for a catchy title? Under baseball rules, the word “catch” can have three different meanings. It depends on whether the ball is batted, pitched, thrown or tipped. All catches require secure possession of the ball. The differences are in the path the ball traveled before it was controlled. Except where noted, the material applies equally to NFHS, NCAA and pro rules. Thrown ball. The catch of a thrown ball fits the common usage of a “catch.” It simply means a player has controlled the ball and has secure possession of it. A good example occurs on a throw from an infielder to the first baseman after a batted ground ball. There is no requirement for the first baseman to catch the thrown ball in flight for the batter-runner to be out. The out is only dependent on the first baseman getting...

Walk Off

Most baseball lingo is over 100 years old, but the adjective "walk-off" first appeared in print in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1988. A walk off is a run-scoring event in the bottom half of the last inning of the game that gives the home team the win. Any event that causes the winning run(s) to cross the plate can be considered a "walk-off" including base hits, bases loaded walks, steals of home, sacrifice flies, passed balls, wild pitches, errors, balks, and even interference. Of interest to umpires is ensuring the events that must follow the walk off for the run to count. Except where noted, the material applies equally to NFHS, NCAA and pro rules. A run cannot score if the third out is made by: a force play (including appeals), the batter-runner before he touches first base, or a preceding...

Obstruction Questions

Even though the softball season has not started we still receive questions from umpires concerning plays that have occurred in the past or plays that we fear may come up in the future. Let’s look at some plays that have been submitted this winter. These plays involve obstruction. Obstruction is a topic we hear a lot about primarily because of two major differences (plus some smaller ones) in the ASA/USA Softball and NFHS softball rules when compared to most baseball codes. In fact it is probably the topic that we receive the most questions about. In these softball codes there is no provision that will allow a fielder to legally hinder a runner when that fielder is about to receive a thrown ball. Under ASA Rule 1 and NFHS Rule 2-36 obstruction is the act of a defensive team member that hinders...

2013 Plays - Part II

In the last edition I covered several jaw dropping plays from the first half of the 2013 season. In part two this two-part series, I’ll take you the rest of the way. July 5: The Marlins and Cards played in St. Louis. In the fifth inning the Marlins had runners on first and second and no outs when Jacob Turner attempted a sacrifice bunt. His bunt went in front of the plate and it was handled by catcher Yadier Molina, who immediately tagged Turner. Home-plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth ruled a fair ball and quickly called Turner out, which removed the force at all bases. Molina then threw to David Freese at third. Apparently unaware that Turner was called out, Freese never tagged Adeiny Hechavarria, the runner advancing from second to third. Freese then threw to first in an attempt to retire Turner...

2013 Plays - Part I

Before we go full throttle into the 2014 season, I thought I would review some interesting plays from last year in part one of a two-part series. April 4: The Baltimore Orioles were aided by a passing the runner violation in their 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. In the bottom of the ninth the Rays had Sean Rodriguez on second and Ben Zobrist on first and no outs when Evan Longoria drove a Jim Johnson pitch to the centerfield wall past a leaping duo of Adam Jones and Nate McLouth. Both runners froze momentarily to make sure it was not caught. By the time the ball hit the ground, Longoria was called out for passing Zobrist on the basepaths. Rodriguez scored on the play and Zobrist advanced to third. This would not be the first time Longoria passed Zobrist. On June 27, 2011, Longoria whizzed...

Points of Emphasis for 2014

In last month’s article we covered rules changes and mentioned that we would cover the 2014 Points of Emphasis this time around. Quite often the POEs are at least as significant as the rules changes and I believe that for 2014 many of us will spend as much time working with these items as with the changes. The 2014 National Federation Points of Emphasis includes some repeats from 2013 and these again offer more help to coaches than umpires – specifically discussing the DP/Flex rule education and teaching proper sliding and defensive techniques to improve player safety. At the same time these POEs also give umpires some opportunities to work on some key items to get ready for the coming season. In addition we have POEs on equipment checks and bats as well as the use of electronic devices which...

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