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Originally posted by Patrick Szalapski
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Me? I gotta "see" a fair ball.
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Really? I've always had the opposite attitude. A batted ball is fair until it is proven to me otherwise. Is this not good to have?
P-Sz
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Pat:
The answer to your question is: That is not "good to have." It's the principle of "benefit of the doublt," which all veteran umpires understand.
Consider: (1) If you don't see a tag, the runner is .... (2) If you don't see the batter swing, it is a ....
Thus, if you don't SEE the ball fair, it is ....
(Of course, the opposite would be true, but that is not in keeping with the clear tradition of calling instances 1 and 2 above.)
There's a philosophical point embedded in the nature of baseball: Pointing a ball "fair" is a decision that instantly affects the progress of the game. Calling that ball "foul" merely postpones the moment of truth. So, if you are guessing about fair/foul, your best chance of NOT affecting the outcome is to signal "foul."