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From the OPoster
I should also mention that the partner I had in the game was a new partner for me. As we talked before the game he told me how long he has been umpiring, 30 years vs my 5. Being that I had worked 6 straight games Sat, 4 on plate I asked him if he would'nt mind doing 2 of our 3 on the plate. He said OK, I lavished thanks on him, and he told me how back in the day, PU was actually considered to be more of a position of status than BU. He mentioned that PU got paid more and could overrule BU calls.
I wasn't surprised when he gave me the "trainwreck" opinion after the game. I think that how one views this type of play may depend on whether one learned their trade in the "let em play" era, or in the present era which seems to be more safety first, safety second, and safety third conscious.
One good result to me of posting this and hearing the replies is to put the focus back on the concept of "impeding" when coaches come to me wanting an OBS call because F2 has the plate blocked at some point in the play before possession but also before the runner was at the plate. The OBS rule doesn't say anything about blocking the plate per se, it says that F2can't impede the runner w/o the ball. I will be telling offensive coaches that I did not see the runner impeded before F2 had the ball... No OBS.
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