[Carl Childress]

Originally posted by Carl Childress

[/b]We use the same mechanics in Texas. It's the best way to cover that play because an umpire is waiting for the runner instead of dipsy-doodling in a double pivot from A to B and B to C.

Even worse: Suppose R1 and the ball both go to third. The PU covers that play. But if the ball skips away and R1 tries for home, the plate umpire is supposed to take that play as well.

Yuk!

Having the PU cover third in this situation was the standard mechanic until the mid-sixties, when pro umpires, like me, began to climb their way up the charts. The weight charts, that is.

National League umpire Bill Williams was the first Doing It columnist for Referee magazine. He described the exact mechanics I'm talking about.

BTW: The pros don't even say A, B, or C. From the PBUC Umpire Manual, three-man crew, p. 87-88:

With a runner on first base only:

The first base umpire will position himself 6-8 feet beyond the first base bag with both feet in foul territory for the pick-off play at first base.

The third base umpire will move into the center of the infield and assume a position of either side of second base that is most comfortable for him to take the steal play at second base.

In Texas, we simply say: U2, short A; U3, deep C. (U1 is the plate umpire. I had nothing to do with that terminology.)

On the other hand, you'll find a great many wannabes who use the pro mechanics regardless of what their state system is: "Hey, that's the way we do in the NCAA Division 3, so I'm doing that in 5-A high school." That disregards the fact that a good high school team will scorch some of those walk-on, D3 college teams.

Wisconsin uses FED mechanics because Rich said he throws away his FED umpire manual as soon as it arrives. In the mid 1970s David Mosqueda, Jim Luther, and I wrote a mechanics system for our association. It took us about eight years to convince the state that our system was a better mousetrap. Texas adopted the Rio Grande Valley mechanics in the mid 80s and sold them to the NFHS in 1990.

Cornerstone: PU gets out from behind the plate. Whenever he abandons home, the BU prepares to cover the plate. We didn't invent that, you understand. We just realized that the old boys had done it right all along.

[Edited by Carl Childress on Oct 14th, 2005 at 06:22 PM] [/B]