Quote:
Originally posted by PeteBooth
If the BU is following proper mechanics, he should always be ahead of the runner since he is cutting across the diamond (via hypotenuse like) and be in proper position when a play is being made.
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Lord love you, the above sentence
is exactly my point.
I've said an umpire should be waiting on a runner. That means, of course, that an umpire should be waiting at the advance base while one umpire is waiting behind at the retreat base.
As you point out, the BU
can always be ahead of the runner. But he can't be in two places at once.
So BU beats BR to third. Who is covering second when the BR changes his mind and retreats to that base? I'll tell you: The second baseman, that's who. If there's a slide and a tag and the BU needs help, when he asks F4, that gentleman is gonna yell: "He's out!"
Of course, once I was PU in a game with a runner on second. My partner was in C. The batter did a half swing, and I said: "Ball! No, he didn't go." The defensive coach said: "Check him."
With my partner in C, imagine! So I looked down the first base line and saw my basketball partner in the first-base coach's box. "Marcelo, did he go?" Of his own batter, Marcelo yelled: "Yes, he did!"
You gotta like a coach like that.