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Well ...
None of know how this crew works and none of us know what they pre-gamed about these types of plays. None of us has been provided with any video of U3's reaction to the play, I mean we can't read his eyes or body language.
With that said, most of the crews I work on agree that Bag and beyond is the safe and standard mechanic that we use, but we add to it.
Balls in the cutout, either behind or in front of the bag may require good eye contact espeacally if the play is not routine, ie body positioning of fielder or runner and fielder near the ball and line.
Example, two Saturdays ago I was U3 with a runner on 3rd only. Hasrd hit bounding ball down the 3rd BL that hits R3 in the left butt cheek about 15 feet in front of the bag. The catcher moved into the PU's path and I read my partner late to get on the line and his eyes were saying, "Oh ****!" We have worked together before and always pre-gamed this, so I came up and sold a foul call hard and he echoed right away.
After the game he said thanks for reading me beacuse that was close and I got caugt up with the catcher and couldn't get the look I wanted to have. I smiled and said, you would have done the same thing. And he agreed.
I am not saying that this is what happened in this play, but I can see that something like it might have. U3 is behind and has a great look at the line, but is blocked from the ball by F5's body. The PU got out fast and hard and was in great position to see the ball, the line and the fielder. Maybe the PU saw something in U3 that caused him to make the call, or maybe he saw it at the bag and took the call as his.
Either way the thing that we can learn from this is work hard to make eye contact with your partners on these types of calls. If you do you will most likely prevent double calls.
When I am rushed and my pre-game is brief I tell my partners, if you do nothing else on the field today, "MAKE EYE CONTACT!" Umpiring is so much easier when the crew is using good communication and on the same page.
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