America's Pastime
Everyone knows Baseball, at
least until
something out of the ordinary happens.
Designed
as a Training Aid for
Recreational Managers, Coaches and Umpires
but informative for ANYONE
who follows the sport.
We tend to know baseball by the rules we grew up with. So it was with me (more than 30 years ago when my son began to play ball): I had played baseball for years - I knew all about it. After I was entrusted to teach the sports to kids and actually make the calls, I found that many of the rules I grew up with were nowhere to be found in the baseball rule book!
Parents: when our children decide they want to play a sport, we tend to get involved in the sport also. If it's a sport we don't know, we learn about it. If the sport is baseball, we say "no problem, I grew up with it - there's nothing more to learn" and we rely on those rules we remember from long ago.
Test Yourself: Here are some common situations. The challenge: can you distinguish fact from fiction? Enjoy:
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Batter is out if he bats the ball with his foot touching home plate.
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Batter-runner is out if tagged when he overruns 1st base and turns to his left to return to the bag.
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Runners trying to steal, must return to the base they occupied, (prior to the pitch), on a foul tip.
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A base runner touched by a fair batted ball (not deflected by a fielder) is automatically out.
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The ball is dead when the infield fly rule is called.
(Answers are revealed in the paragraph below.)
Whether you are an Active
Participant or a Spectator,
here is your chance to understand America's Pastime.
Understanding
the Rules of Baseball
2 DVD set with Workbook
Learn, and understand, the ruling on the above situations and much more; (and what is the infield fly rule anyway?) Yes, you'll understand that too! You'll be ready when that "something out of the ordinary" happens. The quiz? All of the quiz statements are false. You can find explanations to those and other myths at the Fact or Fiction Quiz at http://www.CMUmpires.org/CMUFactOrFiction.htm.
I have been active in recreation baseball for over thirty years. I have been teaching and refining this Baseball Rules Workshop for well over twenty years. Some participants enter with that "you can't teach me anything" chip on their shoulder. We disprove that myth quickly, the "chip" falls and we start having fun discussing baseball - discussing it in a depth, providing definitive examples, testing the boundaries and, at times, seeing how rules overlap. Come in, sit down, let the chips fall where they may. If you want to understand the basics of baseball, I promise this workshop will help you. If not, return it for a refund. (The small print: refunds granted only for return of all DVDs and unused workbook within 30 days of order - including unused workbook Product Code for certification exam. Sender pays return postage.)
Baseball programs can purchase the DVD set as a group learning tool for their entire program. It can be shared by managers, umpires, leagues or teams. Additional workbooks can be ordered as needed to provide a personal reference guide for each volunteer.Each participant is eligible to register for the workshop's on-line certification exam* which is available through the web site CMUmpires.org.
Individuals can purchase the DVD set as a personal baseball rules tutor and life long reference tool. The DVD sections can be accessed directly by topic using the DVD Header Index or by the DVD/Workbook Cross Reference. Imagine coming home after umpiring a game and wondering whether you got that last call right. Your computer mouse may be able to point you right to the answer. Each purchaser is eligible to register for the workshop's on-line certification exam* which is available through the web site CMUmpires.org.
