Officials' Quarterly

Officials' Quarterly is the magazine produced by the NFHS, i.e., FED, and distributed via snail mail to all officials registered with them. The quarterly rag covers all sports, not just baseball, and has tips, rulings, and information for those calling the high school sporting events played under the auspices of the NFHS. I received my copy of the Spring 2006 edition and thumbed through it, wondering what kind of "Smitty Stuff" would appear on its wonderful pages. I ran across an article by Phil Gawthrop, a high school umpire from Michigan. Mr. Gawthrop's article was based on using 10-2-3g, the FED equivelant of OBR 9.01c, to rule on points not covered by the rules. Specifically, what shall the umpire do about calling a strike before the ball reaches the plate.

Situation

3-2 count, outs are irrelevant. F1 throws a curve ball that the plate ump thinks will drop for a strike. The BR turns his front shoulder into the pitch and is hit BEFORE the pitch becomes a strike. 

Mr. Gawthrop's premise is simple and straightforward. There is no rule or interpretation that specifically covers what to do in that situation. Therefore, the Umpire-in-Chief shall use 10-2-3g and "make [the] final decision on points not covered by the rules." Mr. Gawthrop identifies and discusses five options for penalty enforcement:

Continued...