I will ask every time to check w/ my partner on a checked swing (if I didn't rule ir a strike of course *lol* ). No matter where he is positioned.
If he is in a bad position he will not rule it a strike unless he is 100% sure. And I don't have the trouble w/ coaches or players that make a discussion out of why I am not checking. And the other thing is: if I check there is no room for discussion anymore about the call and the coach or player is satisfied, that I at least checked.
And I would go even further, I totally agree w/ a mechanic proposed by Peter Osborn. And I have not had any troubles w/ that mechanic either:
Quote:
I recommend that the plate umpire not call any check swing a strike unless he is absolutely sure of the call. In my games, I want to avoid gross misses. I have seen numerous plate umpires call little twitches by the batter a strike. The rest of the game becomes garbage for both of us. No one believes us any more.
As a plate umpire, if I am 90% sure (or less) that the batter offered at a pitch out of the strike zone, I make no call. Instead I immediately go to my partner without being asked. My partner may not have had as good a view of it as I did, but one thing is for sure. From 80-100 feet away, the play cannot explode in his face. He may get the call wrong, but he will not have a gross miss. Only one team will disagree with the call. Remember, I would rather miss three calls by a hair than one obvious call.
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But I see this as a totally different thing than any other judgement call. If the coach tells me what he did see, and I realize that I missed that point, because my focus shifted away from that, than I ask for the additional infomation.
Raoul