Quote:
Originally Posted by shagpal
mike, you seem to be missing the point why paul might want to give the safe call.
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Shagpal, I would not want to give a safe signal; I was trying to explain why I would be tempted to do so. AtlUmpSteve has it exactly right: a purported appeal is not necessarily an appeal, and if it is not, then the umpire manual does not require a response. I like his suggestion of saying "That is not an appeal" without a signal in lower-skilled games (say mediocre high school JV and lower).
If you have specific language in the umpire manual to back up your position that a response is required, I'd love to see it. Otherwise, citing the entire manual doesn't work; I looked and did not find pertinent language other than what Steve quoted. I did find "Umpires must guard against rendering decisions prematurely." (Section 1-Other Prerequisites-2)