[jkumpire]

I beleive like almost everyone else here that the safe call is the proper call.

But we have to remember that most guys who do Baseball these days on the HS level use FED more than anyother rule set, and FED has made a mess of this interp.

Further, in their embarassment of an Umpire's Manual (though it is getting better) and a Case Book that is not as good as it should be, it gives the average FED ump no guidence on this play. This is one time where if FED would add the right interp. and mechanic for this play, the issue is understood and called uniformly.

The guys in this poster's association are not on the same level of understanding as most of us who are on this board. They are closer to the level of most HS umpires who have no clue about the subtle nuances of calling the game, and FED needs to help them learn what we know. Most HS umpires I know would fight you tooth and nail on this mechanic because it is counter-intuitive to what they have known about the rules of baseball.

To prove it, if you try to tell them you make a safe call, the first response would most likely be: "Then why don't we make a safe call when the runner comes home and misses the plate?" We just have too many FED guys who are ignorant of finer points of umpiring.