[ozzy6900]

Well, your partner's mechanics (or lack there of) defiantly caused a problem here. In FED, his actions put the defense at a disadvantage. In OBR, the players are supposed to know the situation.

Umpires are there to enforce the rules and make calls as to fair/foul, ball/strike and safe/out. A play requires that the umpire make the outcome known to the players involved. If he does not do this, he is not doing his job correctly. The lack of correct mechanics ("SAFE! OFF THE BAG! SAFE") did in fact cause the defense to relax.

As far as the runner goes, as others stated, he can try for second base until he reaches the dugout or other dead ball area. He is not considered abandoning his effort until then - even though there are those on this board who insist that if a runner moves away 10 feet from anywhere he is abandoning. Those people have a "hard on" to make a call that many of us with over 25 years in this business have yet to even see!

Regards