Quote:
Originally posted by David Emerling
Example: We occupied the first base dugout. One of my batters chases a curveball in the dirt and the catcher grabs it cleanly on the short hop. Strike three. Nobody reacts. The catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher while my batter walks back towards our dugout. He wasn't aware that the catcher had not caught the ball. I say nothing. As he gets closer to me, I say, under my breath, "Run to 1st, Justin." He looks at me perplexed. "Just go to 1st and do it now!" He does. He's safe. And I could tell by looking at the PU that he was extremely aware of the status of the batter the whole time, indicating to me that he KNEW that the catcher had not caught the ball. Naturally, the other team complained that the batter was "out of the baseline" but it didn't do them any good.
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I'm amazed that the umpire didn't declare that the batter had given himself up -- I know it's not right, but I've seen it so many times from uneducated umpires it's not funny.
My partners and I will watch the batter walk in the dugout and shoot each other a little fist at that point -- our little secret since we're the only ones on the field that know what's going on.
Secretly, this is one of the things I've always wanted to see, but from the third base dugout -- wait until the batter is one step outside the dugout and then have him run straight to first right over the mound. Then watch the defensive coach's reaction when I let the runner stay at first base.