In 2014, MLB unveiled their state of the art Replay Operations Center, a 900-square-foot room at the offices of Major League Baseball Advanced Media in the historic Chelsea Market building. It’s a technological marvel, outfitted with state-of-the-art video equipment. And it’s the nerve center of Major League Baseball’s expanded replay system. Unfortunately, PHBA is unable…

Read More

The Overthrow Rules 4.11 for both Pioneer divisions have been rescinded and revamped to encourage the kids (and especially the coaches) to make a play on the runners instead of simply getting the ball back to the pitcher to “kill the play.” In previous years, attempting plays and missing promoted the kids simply running the…

Read More

The rule for the number of coach pitches allowed was changed in 2020. So how many pitches does a coach really get to throw during coach pitch? This one seems simple enough, and yet the math never seems to add up for most coaches and umpires. This has been the rule for softball for years,…

Read More

The Look Back rule is specific to softball.  The rule, in the words of USA Softball (teamusa.org), “was supposed to stop players from dancing around between bases while the ball was in the Pitcher’s possession and control in the Pitcher’s Circle.”  The short, paraphrased version of this rule is this:  When the Pitcher A) Has…

Read More

The foul tip is one those baseball rules that confuses the casual enjoyer of America’s pastime and infuriates baseball purists.  This article is designed to help you understand this simple yet often misunderstood rule. According to MLB.com,  “A foul tip is a batted ball that goes sharply and directly to the catcher’s hand or glove and…

Read More