Quote:
Originally posted by Phil Vivenzio
Situation: Offensive team has 1b and 3b and they are up by 1 run with 2 outs. The runner on 1st attempts to steal, I'm on the inside of the diamond at a good angle to maker the call. The runner gets a bad jump, but the catcher's throw gets there in plenty of time, but is very high. The runner legally slides curving his body away from the fielder as the fielder is coming down to make tag. I was shielded from the tag, but because I didn't hear or see tag and since the defense didn't make a good throw, I called the runner safe.
--[snip]--
Was my thought process correct in making this call?
|
Phil,
Once you are blocked from physically seeing the tag/no tag, you are forced to resort to the use of available clues. Was it a quality throw, did it beat the runner to the point of play, did it look like an out from the stands, how did each player react, etc?
If you made your decision simply based on the fact that you "
didn't see or hear the tag" then I'd say No, your process was flawed. That's the same as saying "I'd have to physically see an out before calling it". That tips the balance to the offense, because there will be a greater number of plays where there was either no clear tag, or you simply didn't
see a tag. It creates a mindset in which all the doubtful decisions are going to the offense. They already get the benefit of the doubt, by interpretation, on any perceived tie at the base.
OTOH, if you made your decision based on the remaining clues surrounding the doubtful tag then I'd say Yes, your thought process was correct. It sounds to me, from your description, that the high, non-quality throw made it a very close play that could have gone either way, and that's an important clue toward a safe call - but it is not the ONLY clue. Did the swipe of the tag still beat the runner's hand touching the base? Did the base runner look like he was pleading for a call his way? Did the fielder show the normal reaction for a successful tag (as opposed to some charade clearly designed to sway your judgement)? Was there any deviation from the arc as the tag passed by the runner's body? Despite the bad throw and great slide, did it still look like an out to everyone else in the park? If the answer is "Yes" to one or more of these questions, then you probably still had an out. Otherwise "Safe" was definitely the way to go.
Remember that you have time, especially in 4-man system, to delay your call until all the clues are available to you. Thank you for supporting eUmpire.com and for your excellent question.
Cheers,
Warren Willson
Freelance Staff Writer, eUmpire.com
NOTICE
For the benefit of the regular posters to this discussion board, I intend to honor my earlier declaration not to post to this or any other Internet discussion board for the foreseeable future. Since my resignation from eUmpire.com was not accepted, and was later withdrawn after protracted negotiations with the owners, I will however answer any direct questions about my articles such as the one posted here by Phil. Alternatively, you may email me at
[email protected] and I will reply, as a service to the customers of eUmpire.com Internet magazine. Please be aware that, since I am not posting regularly, there may be a delay in your questions on this board being brought to my attention (my thanks to R. Jordan McDowell for advising me via email that Phil's question had been posted).
I will only consider returning to normal discussions on this board when there is at least a clear understanding, or preferably some board guideline posted, as to how ALL of the staff writers are to be properly treated when posting here. This is YOUR discussion board, certainly, but its very nature places restrictions on the way eUmpire.com staff may post that should require concomitant consideration in the way posters reply to the staff. That is my own personal view, and not necessarily the current view of either the board's proprietors or the other staff writers at this time, although I would hope that both they and the posters here will see its plain common sense.
Cheers.
[Edited by Warren Willson on Jan 12th, 2001 at 08:09 PM]