[Andy]

Instead of further hijacking the "Positioning at first base" thread below, I'll start a new one on a topic brought up as part of that thread.

mcrowder referred to it as "reward the good play".

Scenario one: Ground ball to infielder who momentarily bobbles then throws to first, bang-bang play that could go either way - call should be SAFE.

Scenario two: Infielder makes an exceptional play to get to ball that she shouldn't (F6 going deep in the hole), then throws to first, bang-bang play that could go either way - call should be OUT.

Scenario three: B/R hustles out of the box after a hit that appears to be a routine groundout and creates a bang-bang play at first that could go either way - call should be SAFE.

In each of these, assume that there were no other issues like F3 pulling her foot, B/R missing first base, etc.

This philosophy has been presented to me as a game management tool by making the "expected" call. In other words, if an infielder bobbles the ball and the play at first is bang-bang, everybody including the defense "expects" the runner to be safe - after all, if the infielder had not bobbled, the runner would have been out easily. Conversely, F6 shows great effort in getting to a ball she shouldn't and firing a bullet to first - the expected call is OUT.

This is for this particular scenario only and not to be applied across an entire game as an excuse to not make a tough call.

The person that presented this to me framed it this way: If you make the call that everbody is expecting, you will not only get less grief at that time, but it will also prevent a "stepping stone" from being placed that could lead to a nasty situation later in the game.

My personal feeling is that we as umpires should call 'em like we see 'em, but on those plays as listed here, the philosophy may have some merit.

Thoughts?