Just read the article
May issue of Referee by Jay Miner
Covering Double Plays Using Modern Mechanics
Obviously the best situation is several officials, each with their respective duties/lines/bases/catches etc.
Jay hits similar points as discussed here for "traditional" three-man mechanics: stay ahead of the play, have it coming toward you. Then he contends some other points for "modern" mechanics: better, more accurate results with two umpires calling respective ends of a double play; statistically, more correct calls at 1st with ump starting behind 1st rather than behind 2nd baseman.
He recounts a bunt situation of R1 and R2 (U3 at D for the expected close play at third, U1 at B) that became a hit situation after fouling off two bunt attempts (U3 moved to C and U1 back to A). U3 was able to watch the front end of the double-play at 2nd and stay focused for interference, missed base, pulled foot etc. U1 was able to focus solely on play at 1st.
I can see potentially better coverage of the impending collision at 2nd and perhaps, if his statistics are plausible, a more accurate call at 1st.
Eeehhh, maybe some valid points. It's worth thinking about.
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"There are no superstar calls. We don't root for certain teams. We don't cheat. But sometimes we just miss calls." - Joe Crawford
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