Quote:
Originally posted by gotblue?
At our state level, six man crew, the mechanic used was that, with no runners on, or with only R3, the 2nd base umpire would stay (go) out to call catch or no catch on balls hit to CF or the RF and LF alleys (U3 rotating to 2B, LFU coming in to 3B). In all other situations, U2 would come into the infield, leaving the RF and LF line umpires to call the catch.
At the risk of opening a new can of worms (my perception being that this is not generally a LL board), any comments on the effectiveness of using a 6 man crew on a 60' diamond?
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Why not use six? Why not use seven and an umpire will be in the outfield for the once-in-a-million trap that needs an umpire on the spot. (grin)
Of course, I also notice that in every game I've seen both umpires on the line signal fair/foul. What if the umpires disagree? That happened a few years ago, and LL UIC Andy Konyar pointed the wrong direction. He said "Foul!" and pointed fair -- or vice versa.
Shouldn't the mechanics be:
1. Any ball that does
not break the plane of the base is the responsibility of the plate umpire. (I heard some of the PUs calling "Foul!" on smashes down the line.)
2. Any ball that (1) hits the base, (2) hits in fair ground in front of the base and passes over the base, or (3) hits in fair ground between the base and the position of the base umpire is the responsibility of the base umpire (U1/U3).
3. Any ball that first hits fair or foul
beyond the base umpire is the responsibility of the line umpire.
If it ain't your call, don't do nothin'!