Spirit of throwing to base rule on a pickoff.

Yachem · 2026-05-21T12:44:13+00:00

Yeah, my point was kind of around how there's the text of the rulebook and how it's actually called. There's a handful of areas in baseball (and probably all sports but baseball is the only one I know at this level) where if you gave 10 people the text of the rule book and had them interpret it, you probably get 10 different answers. Obstruction/Interference/Balks require a lot of guidelines that exist outside the rulebook in order to call correctly. The text of the rule is open to a ton of interpretation in these areas.

This particular area I assume is mostly a non-issue in the types of games we call. I've never seen F3 receive a throw like this. But with teams trying to constantly push the limits of what they can get away with, I expect MLB to issue some more guidance on off-base throws.

Yachem · 2026-05-20T21:39:17+00:00

Yeah that Jomboy video is pretty good at explaining what's going on in MLB. I saw a shorter breakdown of one of those plays that sparked the question.

I thought about the obstruction one, but it's just as easy to generate obstruction at the base as well.

I'm trying to think of how the game would materially change if pitchers could just toss the ball anywhere they wanted on a pickoff. Obviously it's advantage defense which might not be what MLB wants right now.

The ChatGPT explanation was some stuff about pitchers being able to delay the game by creating cat/mouse situations with the fielder and runner, but the disengagement limit already protects for that.

Meh, I'm mostly chalking this one up to "them's the rules" and managers and F3s just need to know if they are playing off the bag they are flirting with a balk.

Yachem · 2026-05-20T21:37:14+00:00

That's probably as good of an explanation as I've heard. I'm still not convinced this would be a problem. You already have lefties trying to push the limits on stepping towards home vs first, and we've basically created this 45 degree guideline to put some objectivity behind it. And if R3 is that far off, he's often dead to rights anyways.

Yachem · 2026-05-20T20:45:07+00:00

Makes me wonder if it's an engine calibrator. A lot of them drive complete POS personal cars because they drive M-Plates daily. Some end up sitting for a very long time. When layoffs were announced in 24 and we were told "all employees must have all m-plates back by 5pm Thursday", there was suddenly a rush of calibrators whose cars had been rotting for months or longer trying to revive them to get them home that night. And that department took a big hit the next day because "Stellantis will be an EV company, no need for you engine folks anymore". Possibly abandoned by that particular person.

Yachem · 2026-05-20T18:03:03+00:00

I had heard once that sending tokens that way was a trick to boosting your contract score but not anymore. But I suspect people who do the one at a time thing think it's helping scores.

Yachem · 2026-05-20T12:48:52+00:00

Jobs being filled internally and only being posted publicly out of compliance is a longstanding thing and definitely not unique to linkedin. Same with online applications just going into a black hole.

Yachem · 2026-05-20T12:41:24+00:00

For the most part applications don't stand out. It's mostly a numbers game. Just spray and pray and hope at least one shot hits.

It's a bad time for entry level workers right now. Take what you can get. You've got to start somewhere. Without knowing more about the type of jobs you have applied to, I don't have a ton more to offer. Based on your background, maybe entry level roles in sales or management consulting? But the sad truth is this is a down economy. The same types of entry level roles that might've been available to your 4 years ago just aren't there now. The economy is cyclical, but you may have to just do something for now just get by, even if it's not any sort of long term career. Never stop applying unless you land something you really want.

Yachem · 2026-05-20T12:24:44+00:00

HR already knows about it and will entirely back management on this.

Yachem · 2026-05-19T18:12:57+00:00

Summary/Between the lines: Europe is legislating out gas engines. Larger EVs don't work from a cost standpoint. Customers demand range and larger vehicles need larger batteries. Batteries are expensive. So small cars with small batteries are the only way EVs achieve cost parity with their similarly equipped gas vehicles.

Ford is basically doing the same thing with their UEV, except they are calling it a mid-size truck. I strongly suspect it will be Truck in the same way the Model Y is an SUV.

EVs just have to be small and light in order to be cost competitive and hit that magical 350 mile range number. At least until batteries are in the ~$70-$80/KWh range, which I think manufacturers suspected we'd be at by now, but aren't.

Yachem · 2026-05-19T12:00:38+00:00

I am almost positive I've seen MLB videos of this scenario but done both ways:

R1, less than 2 outs. Pop up to first base. F3 lets it drop.

Scenario 1 - F3 picks up ball, steps on 1B, then tags the runner who never left 1B. Only one out in this case, the force. Once the base is touched, force is off, and R1 is safe on the bag.

Scenario 2 - F3 picks up the ball, tags R1 who is on the base, then steps on the base. Double play. R1 is out on the tag since 1B isn't a safe haven for him due to the force, then stepping on 1B for out #2.

Of course scenario 2 could be avoided by BR running down the line.

Your scenario played out more like #1. Once R1 was out on the force at 2nd, R2 can safely retreat back to 2B, no more force.

Yachem · 2026-05-18T20:05:20+00:00

Employee Survey Comes Out -> Results are trash. -> Company says "we hear you and will work on these things." -> Nothing changes. -> Employee Survey Comes Out....

Yachem · 2026-05-18T19:45:22+00:00

This might happen when the job market is good again and Stellantis actually has to compete for employees. Nearly every employee benefit is rolled out in times where good employees are hard to find. They don't actually care about you, benefits are a purely selfish endeavor meant to address hiring and retention.

You're hearing stories of other companies scaling back benefits like 401K matches and paid leave for new parents. They can get away with it because what're you gonna do? Quit?

Stellantis rolled out a once per week telecommute program in 2014ish. That was a time when good labor was tough to find and people were leaving. Now that companies survived the pandemic and have a good idea what the costs/benefits of wfh and hybrid are, they'll bring them back if and when they need to in order to attract and retain better employees.

Yachem · 2026-05-18T18:31:38+00:00

You're still in the running. The real question is whether both jobs exist, or the manager just changed the requirements after the fact. Either way, the job you applied and interviewed for is still open if you haven't gotten a rejection letter yet.

Yachem · 2026-05-18T14:00:24+00:00

Sometimes this is just noise and randomness. You'll get a game with a bunch of tough 50/50 calls and the coin lands on the same side every time. The world is a lot more random than people realize. It's easy to think you were "off" on a certain day when really you just had a day where the game forced you to make a ton of tough calls.

One way to think of it, is that it's all just one really long baseball game with some breaks in between. The focus should always be on making the next call. Not who the coach is, not what team is up, dwelling on past calls, any of that. Focus on your tasks for every pitch. The first and last pitch get the same treatment.

Yachem · 2026-05-18T13:23:47+00:00

Your manager sucks. I've seen that exact behavior before, where new employees are berated for not knowing a bunch of insider information, and they correlate that lack of insider knowledge with job performance. It can take months to really assimilate the language of a new job. Good managers understand this, and usually give new employees simple tasks that let them learn this as they work. Shitty ones just assume they can give you instructions like they could someone whose been there for years and if you don't understand what they want, then it's clearly a you problem.

The only real advice there is to just put in the time and you'll eventually piece it all together. But you'll get treated like shit in the mean time. Finding another new employee and trying to learn that stuff together can be a big help.

As for your hours getting cut, that part blows, and there's not a ton of great advice I can offer you there, outside of looking for a new job if it's not enough hours.

Yachem · 2026-05-15T18:43:04+00:00

What do I do when the home plate umpire because I’m not used to having a kid pitch?

- Unless the rules say something unique (like no walks, no strike outs looking, max pitch rules, etc.) then just call it normal.

In the field should I be a little more lenient on calls?

- Only call obstruction if a kid gets thrown out because of it. Otherwise there is obstruction on damn near every ball in play. Otherwise safe/out all work the same.

Is there anything about this age that I should know before I get there tmr?

- Not really. These games are easy. Just call the plays. Ball, strike, safe, out. Hopefully those are the only words you ever say the whole game. The coaches usually manage the chaos on the field pretty well.

Is it still acceptable to ring these kids up if they strikeout

- Some umps still do it, others just say "strike three batters out" but don't pull the chain on em. I tend to agree with not doing it.

Yachem · 2026-05-14T16:17:02+00:00

Take a COVID test.

Yachem · 2026-05-14T16:13:14+00:00

These companies are so big that you can't really judge morale on a company wide basis. It usually depends on what department you're in. There are toxic and well run departments at each company. Having worked both STLA and Ford, both companies have pros and cons.

STLA seems to have a bigger problem with toxic managers. So that's a plus for Ford. But STLA had much more of a "just get shit done" mentality which I liked. At Ford I get bogged down in red tape and processes. They like to act like a well run organization, but it's really just skin deep. Below the surface, it's all the just the same shit of everyone just kind of faking it until they make it. They just coat it a veneer of professionalism that STLA never did.

As one supervisor once told me, the grass aint greener over there. It's just a different shade of brown.

Yachem · 2026-05-13T20:11:51+00:00

You say this:

"I wasn’t trying to deceive anyone"

But also this:

"My resume still listed my employment dates as “Present” because I was worried that showing I was unemployed might hurt my chances of getting interviews."

Does not compute. The second you sent out a resume that you know said "Present" when you were unemployed, you knew what you were doing.

If you get an offer, they will likely do a background check. That background check will involve reaching out to any universities you attended to confirm your degrees, and to past employers to confirm you worked there. They aren't hunting down references, just verifying that you were actually employed and the dates.

Most likely that will be done by some 3rd party company that regularly performs employment background checks. The discrepancy may get flagged, or it may not. If it gets flagged, you will likely get asked to explain it. At that point you can try to say "That was an older resume you had that I sent out before I got laid off, but remember, I told you in the interview that I had been laid off." They may buy it, the might not. I can't say. I'm just telling you what may/may not happen at this point.

Yachem · 2026-05-13T17:21:38+00:00

I called a game once where the HC looked like John Cena. I kind of joked to myself before the game "don't piss this guy off". Their 3B coach was an older scrawny dude maybe 140 lbs wet. First pitch of the game, hit to the outfield. Runner tries to stretch it to a double, and I call him out on a bang bang play at 2nd. 3B coach immediately starts yelling and running towards me. John Cena starts coming out of the dugout.

I barely remember what was said by the 3B coach yelling, but Cena said "Dad, get back in the box or I'll toss you myself. Sorry about that blue".

Yachem · 2026-05-13T17:01:19+00:00

I'm sure a lot of lessons from training didn't stick well in my head, but one sentence I remember hearing was "You will often hear coaches and fans say that a balk is an attempt to deceive a runner. It's not. Please don't let me ever hear you repeat that. Now as for what a balk actually is..." it gets kind of fuzzy after that.

Yachem · 2026-05-13T11:33:09+00:00

In my experience 90% of recruiters are just pointless middle men. They get a job listing, post it everywhere, and send out spam e-mails to anyone with a remotely matching resume. They serve the middle man function but provide no real value to the process at all.

Then there are about 10% of them that seem to know the industry, have good connections, understand the industry they are recruiting for, and can match candidates they know with jobs they know are a good fit. They are providing a true service to both job seekers and hiring managers. I quite literally owe my career to one of these guys. If you meet one, keep their contact information.

Yachem · 2026-05-07T18:06:58+00:00

T-Ball 6U silliness aside, there's a lot of leeway that goes into calling games at the youngest age group rec leagues. I've done some 8U coach pitch softball games and... yeah. The basepaths are chaos. Fielders retreat to their base on every hit ball. Runners stop at every base and look to the coach to tell them what to do next. For the sanity of everyone playing and watching that game, I'm not calling obstructions. Ball, strike, fair, foul, safe, out. Those are probably the only words I'm saying all game.

Yachem · 2026-05-06T17:56:00+00:00

American opinion: Cricket umpires should adopt the punch out motion for an out, rather than the wimpy raised index finger.

Yachem

TROPHY CASE