Well, I finally did it - last Thursday, I had my hip scoped by my surgeon. He removed a bunch of arthritic tissue, stitched up my labrum, and reshaped the head of my femur. The doc used the term "shredded" when describing my labrum to my wife during the post-op consult. Despite how painful this sounds, it's been a relatively painless recovery - I've hardly taken any pain meds, and I'm actually quite comfortable despite having to wear a hip brace 24/7. He had me on an exercise bike the day after the surgery, and the swelling went down by about 90% or so by the second day. I'm actually able to ..read more

An informal survey: How many of you slowpitch umpires wear a mask? Up here in MN I've seen very few. Among the umpires I see regularly none do, even after getting a foul ball in the kisser. I caught one a few weeks ago - something of a flat pitch, the catcher popped up a little so I couldn't see the bat contact the ball, and the batter fouled it straight back - I had no warning or inkling at all! Ball caught me straight into the chin, ouch!! But no mask for me, so far anyway. I have considered wearing light shin guards though, at least when I have pants on. Maybe it's just bad luck, b ..read more

I was watching the Big Ten semifinal between Michigan and Wisconsin this morning and have both a mechanics question and a ruling question. In the Top of the second inning, WI hits a fly ball to CF, R1 tags from 2B, bad throw gets away from F5 and R1 heads home. F1 who was backing up on the play throws home. Ball beat the runner by a step. Now my questions, Was the PU where he should have been on 1BLE even though the throw was coming from the fence behind 3B? If someone can find it. I saw her as safe on the live play, and still think she's safe after watching the replays, what do you guys ..read more

Looking for some help with this situation from a high school perspective. The Bases are loaded. The runner on 2nd base leaves early, the ball is pitched and the batter hits a hard ground ball to the pitcher who throws home. The catcher catches the ball and has her foot on home plate before the runner crosses the plate. Is this still a force out because the runner on second left early? Should the play have been stopped as soon as the player on 2nd base left early? Thank You ..read more

Well, I guess it's just that time. After 26 years of umpiring softball, I have decided to retire from the field. It hasn't been an easy decision, but I unfortunately need to listen to what my body, my doctors, and my heart are telling me. It's time. I will never forget the exact day that it all started - December 31, 1992. I was 15 years old, and my parents had invited the commissioner of a local church slow pitch league over to their house for New Year's. I used to play in the league as a child, and they taught me a lot about fair play, sportsmanship, and never giving up. However, being t ..read more

I'll try and make this clear, and get your impressions. Within the last few years the interference call on a home plate play on runner has moved away from a catcher's advantage. I remember calling interference on a R on an inbound ball still bouncing on the infield grass on the way to the catcher when she was plastered by the runner; who took her to be in "the base path" when that really wasn't the case. Now, the rule seems to be the catcher has to make contact with the ball at THE TIME she is going to make a play on the runner. In other words an incoming ball is not yet being fielded; so no ..read more