Danny, flinching pitches is not an uncommon problem with newer officials, and is certainly a problem to work on over time to eliminate from your game. Realize that the equipment is there to protect you, and will protect you. In fact, the best protection it can provide you is when it's facing the ball. IOW, not moving provides the best protection possible. It also allows you to see the pitches as best you can.
Now, to those who say the call cannot be changed.
If I had made such a call, that is, calling the runner out on a tag play, and my partner approached me and told me the ball dropped out after the tag, then I could correct that call to safe if I chose to. Likewise, if the fielder advised me after the call that he didn't tag the runner, I could correct that call also if I chose to. Where the added information comes from is irrelevant. It's just whether I wish to accept the information as true. There is no reason a player making a tag would lie after I made an out call to tell me he didn't apply the tag---that doesn't favor his team. Both potential call changes put me in an embarrassing situations, and it's my decision whether I wish to accept the added information. Still, it's my call to legally change. There is nothing
illegal in changing the call.
I am not saying it should always be done, and I'm certainly not saying it should be used as crutch for initially poor judgment calls. What I am saying, however, is that it is
not illegal for the responsible official to change his judgment call---under any set of baseball rules. OBR supports it, PBUC supports it, Fed supports it, and NCAA supports it. None will tell you that it's good mechanics. However, it is preferred to correct an obvious mistake instead of living with an obviously poor call---OBR, PBUC, and NCAA specifically state that while the Fed examples it in caseplay.
Here's an excerpt from a post made by Jon Bible, an ex-professional and reknowned veteran college umpire, that he posted a week ago on a different board:
A couple of years ago I banged the back end of a double play at first, with the first baseman stretching toward me (toward right field). As soon as I did, all hell broke loose and here came the first base and head coaches. Right there I had a small hint that something was not right. When I looked up and saw David Wiley at second base easing toward me, it was immediately apparent from his body language that he was coming not to get the troops off of me and make it a one-on-one, but instead to tell me something. So I immediately put my hands up and said "Wait a second. . . " and asked Wiley if the foot had come off the bag. He said, "only about two feet or so," so I immediately changed the call. The point is that Wiley did not jump right in yelling "his foot was off the bag," but instead created a situation in which I would know to ask for help and then do so. IMHO, that is the best way to handle judgment plays, unlike rule plays, where I continue to believe what I have already said earlier.
Now, while some have advocated a "List of Five" that allows you to "legally" change a call, that list
is not endorsed by any set of rules as the
only calls that can legally be changed (although some would like you to think so). The list is comprised from examples provided elsewhere. Yet, that does not mean they are the
ONLY situations where calls may legally be changed. Mr. Bible's correction is NOT among the "List of Five", and is frequently cited by those advocating the list as a call that should not and cannot be corrected. I beg to differ, as apparently so does Jon Bible.
Just my opinion,
Freix
[Edited by Bfair on May 13th, 2002 at 08:33 AM]