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Originally Posted by David Emerling
If the umpires explained that they did not give the "Time/Dead Ball" signal, then it wasn't - even if the runners thought it was. After all, they didn't say "Time!", did they? They didn't say "Dead Ball!", did they?
Did the umpires say, "Infield fly, batter's out!"?
If so, then that's what it was!
The offense bears the responsibility of know what it means when an Infield Fly is declared.
As unorthodox as the umpires' gestures may have been, if they (the umpires) felt that it did not unfairly put the runners in jeopardy, then the call stands. The runner is out.
Now, if the umpires thought that they did, in fact, signal inappropriately -and- as a direct result of their signals the runners were unfairly put in jeopardy -then- I could see calling the batter out and putting the runners back.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
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Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree with you somewhat on this...
What we've got here is a fustercluck due to two umpires making a bad visual call. However, it is NOT up to the runners to know that ONLY an IFF was called when two umpires gave the dead ball signal. Maybe the batter's foot was completely out of the box. Maybe, somehow, the ball contacted the bat twice. Maybe a plane was about to crash land on the outfield fence. Runners can't see these things, and so they rely upon us umpires to make the right call, both verbal and visual.
I'm a particularly loud umpire, and despite this fact, there are times when verbal calls are not heard due to dozens of spectators and participants yelling a million different things. This is why verbal calls are almost always accompanied by visual calls, especially for situations such as these. When the wrong visual call is given, runners are placed in jeopardy. At this point, the Offensive Coach should have protested the game, and those two umps should be sent to the next clinic (or maybe to this forum).
I had an IFF the other night that went unheard due to everyone screaming, but I sure as hell threw up my right fist (and ONLY my right fist) and came out from behind the plate.