2009 NCAA Baseball Rules Changes

■ Former Tiger coach Gene McArtor is now the NCAA Coordinator for Umpires. In that role, he has narrated a video detailing changes in the NCAA Baseball Rules for 2009 (the video runs about 20 minutes) . The 2009 Rulebook is also online in PDF format, and the first few pages detail these changes in print. Changes include:

· Positioning of base coaches
· Base coaches must wear helmets while on the field
· A coach leaving the dugout or their position to argue balls and strikes may be ejected without warning
· Specifications about personal confrontation and physical abuse of umpires
· Umpires will be emphasizing checking the proper location of the batter's box and the marking of the coaches' box
· Players shall not leave the dugout for home run celebrations or any other purpose while the ball is live
· Unsportsmanlike activities in the dugout will be penalized
· Umpires will emphasize the rule that a batter must not leave the batter's box during an at-bat, and will enforce the limit of 20 seconds between pitches
· Walk-up music must stop when the PA announcer announces the next batter or when the batter reaches the dirt cut-out surrounding home plate