You all seem to be agreeing with me more than you might think.
What you seem to be saying is, you see the "play", make a "judgement" about it and then make the "call".
Having talked about this at length many times with many umpires, its always the same conclusion that's reached. "There is no absolute in a judgement call", hence the term "judgement".
On two calls in the same game that might look to the player, fan or coach as the same "play", there could be 100 things different about them. The play may appear to be the same, but the situation could be entirely different, creating a different result.
I've always tried to be very generous on judgement calls because I've been there and done that and its a lot harder than anyone who hasn't done it for real might believe. We're talking about something that happens in literally hundredths of a second with a decision made and rendered in the same amount of time.
To tell the truth, I quit umpiring because I never got the hang of the rapid "changing of gears".
I tended to focus on the immediate situation by concentrating on the pitcher, making sure he delivered the ball properly, then moved focus to calling the pitch. I was so intent on trying to call the pitch correctly, I was often just guessing about what else was going on. I honestly could not make a "sure" call on a bunt attempt on a pitch that was low and away. Heck, I was concentrating on the pitch call and really could only tell about the attempt by what it looked like when I got around to focusing on that.
In other words, I was a lousy ump with no confidence that I was making the right judgement, let alone applying the right rule to it!
I have nothing but respect for any umpire that has lasted long enough to start calling HS games! They have spent a whole lot of time on the big field, by themselves, with unknowledgeable coaches, players and fans second guessing every single call!
I'm glad I only keep score now and "work" for the ump, rather than against him.
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