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I ended a game on this exact call a few years ago, and refused to ask my partner for help. I had what I thought was a good look at the play (the first base coach begged to differ), and the plate umpire had other responsibilities (or so I thought). Needless to say, the offensive team wasn't very happy. After the game I asked the plate guy if he saw the play, and he said no - by the time the throw was arriving at first, the runner from second was arriving at and rounding third and he was watching for possible obstruction by the third baseman (we've all seen the play where the pivot man takes the throw, realizes he can't get the runner at first so he fakes a throw there and wheels toward third hoping to pick off the runner from second who has rounded too far, so the third baseman is coverng the bag for a possible throw). While I felt my sticking-with-the-call was then justified, hindsight told me my sticking with the call may not have been the best choice. If I had gone to my partner and he had said he didn't see the play, and I had then told the offensive team that we were staying with the original call, the coach's response would have been one we've all heard before - "Then you BOTH missed the call!" The thought also crossed my mind that if I went for help on this one, they may then ask for help on EVERY close play, which would lead to more on-field "discussions", which would lead to a bad, bad game. So I called the batter-runner out, stuck with the call, took some heat, kept my partner out of the mix, and the sun came up the next day.
If that play happened to me again, I think I'd go for help (based on the demonstrative response from the coach), and then I'd wait to see if, ultimately, the sun came up the next day. I like living on the edge - I take up less room there....
JJ
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