Originally Posted by shagpal
I think I need to clarify to help move the discussion.
what mike is trying to describe, is how he would do nothing, which is silly. his description is trying to describe how he's really not advocating being frozen. what the do nothing camp is really saying is just do as you normally do, but don't say a word, since any uttering could result in something undesirable. it's like saying, "you have the right to remain silent", so stay silent, STFU, and call your safe & outs, and your balls & strikes.
my position isn't that doing nothing is wrong, on the contrary. my position is that if doing nothing appears to be causing more harm than good, staying with that approach is a cop-out, and I believe the umpires manuals suggest that to be the case as well.
the problem w/ the do nothing camp is their stubbornness, rigidity, and I think their arrogance. their answer lies in the umpire manuals. all they have to do is point out the difference between the NHFS umpires manual, and the CCA umpires manual. the CCA manual does a much better job of clarifying.
the mechanic to apply as I am reading this, is first, wait and pause, and do nothing. that is consistent w/ the do nothing camp. the reason being, this attempted appeal is an action-only appeal, attempted by a possibly wrong action (depending on what's being appealed). I am fully aware of this and am not oblivious to this as the do nothings continue to peddle.
second, if it is clearly obvious that the player on 1B with possession of the ball and touching the bag is attempting to invoke an appeal, the responsible umpire should ask what is being requested, and of what player. the reason for this is because perhaps player on 1B really wants to appeal a missed bag, and the umpire, doing nothing, thinks otherwise. it's the responsible umpires obligation to clarify the request, given the OP's scenario. there is nothing in the manual that indicates this can't be done while the ball is live.
the do nothing camp might insist it is verboten to even utter anything to clarify, even tho the umpire manuals clearly state it is appropriate to do so. after clarification, I would rule either on the missed bag, or if player on 1B requests a check of BR attempting second, I might reply w/ something like "I got nothing".
the point where the responsible umpire should clarify, is where I differ from the do nothing guys. the do nothing guys might insist that speaking during live play is verboten, but I can't find anything in the umpires manual that suggests such. the do nothings might say it's okay to clarify but afterwards to return back to doing nothing. I would disagree, because at that point it's already abundantly clear to everyone something is being requested. once it's gone that far, there is no turning back to doing nothing.
why "I have nothing"? well, it's partially compliant with the do nothing camp, so it makes them happy. it's got nothing in the sentence. if redirected by a partner, it's a simple, "partner, I have nothing". this might or might not work, but is equivalently close to saying nothing, without saying nothing. this is the best thing I could come up w/ and still not infuriate the do nothings.
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