Here's some info. First year of umpiring baseball in TN in 1995. Have been umpiring high school, college and independent pro ball in the Coachella Valley since 1996. I do know a little bit about baseball rules and see pitchers try to take advantage of the hybrid rule nearly every game. Since this rule has been around since at least 2014, it's not as if coaches and pitchers don't know about it. Now, there are some stubborn umpires who don't like the rule and refuse to call it. Kind of like the guys who don't call the force play slide rule because they didn't have that rule when they played ball in the 1970's. It just so happens that when an umpire who does make that call is seen as making the game about himself. And you hear from the coaches how nobody else calls that. I seriously doubt that nobody has either called it or let the pitcher know to get his feet right or you will call it. Preventive officiating. When you get to the point of your state playoffs, you better have your pitchers in the right stance. You can't be waringing the pitcher at that point. Oh, I lived in Millington, Tn in 1995 and high school baseball was fantastic that year in that area. Germantown hs actually was the #1 ranked team in the nation and I believe Phil Clark was the HS Coach of The Year. Learned a lot there, but I also learned I hated tornadoes and humidity. Grew up in a small town in Mo. complete with humidity, tornadoes and bugs. Great hunting.
