[Ranger]

Pete, your situation is a great topic for discussion. Most of your discussion seemed to involve a play where the base umpire is in Position A or in foul territory along the first base line.

On an infield grounder, the umpire is taught to be 90 degrees from the line of the throw and facing first base. Most professional instructors agree on this. To follow these guidelines, most umpires will be in fair territory to make the call at first. Unfortunatly for the umpire, many of those plays will be routine and many will be quite difficult. Therefore, the umpire, after he moves into fair territory and positions himself facing the base and 90 degrees from the line of the throw, must pause to READ the throw for accuracy.

As the throw is in the air approaching first base, the umpire should be looking for a bad throw that may require a swipe tag. He also needs to look for the play where the first baseman may pull his foot. The umpire may also want to look for other things such as runner's lane interference and obstructions near the base. This position in fair territory gives the umpire the best position to see or react to any routine or non routine play.

To state this another way: the minute you are sure of the right position to take for this play, a new situation will come along to proove you wrong. If you have the benefit of a crystal ball, go to where the ball says to go. Without that crystal ball, take the position that is most often taught. It is a great position for the routine play.

If the throw is bad and the fielder will have to come off the base, you will recognize that well before the catch. In my experience, many umpires focus on the base too soon and do not read the throw. But if you work at reading that bad throw you will be rewarded many times over because you will be prepared to make a minor adjustment to be able to see a tag clearly.

With no runners on, the plate umpire should be going toward first base in case the base umpire needs help. If the base umpire is 90 degrees he will see routine and pulled foot plays well. If the base umpire reads the throw well and makes an adjustment he will also get the tag. But just in case, the plate umpire can help. Good position, good read, good adjustments and good timing will usually mean that the plate umpire will not be asked!