[greymule]

Guess you have to handle each situation as it arises.

Last year, I worked with a BU who called the BR out on a double play on the grounds that he himself—the BU—had forced F4 to throw around him and thus miss the out. The defense immediately scurried off the field, while the offense stood dumbfounded. Naturally, they appealed to me as PU, and I conferred with the BU and we reversed the call. The defense did not put up much argument. It was a 40-and-over playoff game, fairly high level, with a couple of former pros participating. These guys pretty much let it go, but I could hear both teams joking among themselves about the BU.

Later in the game, BU called another double play on the same team when R1 slid slightly past 2B and lightly contacted F6, well after he had released a late throw to 1B. They appealed to me again, but I let that one stand. It was judgment (bad judgment, but judgment nevertheless), and I didn't want to have the guy shown up again. In a crucial spot, I would have had to talk to him, though.

After the game (won by the aggrieved team, luckily), I told BU that at this level, the contact call was not appropriate. I've seen this BU many times since then, and though he has a long way to go, he has improved.

I also worked a tournament game with a BU who called a runner stealing 2B out for a crash after the ball had bounded into right center field and F6 has been drawn into the runner's path. I was going to go out and talk to him, but within five seconds he had thrown two coaches out of the game and threatened to forfeit if anyone said anything more. It was a horrible call, but at that point it was tough to reverse. Later in the game, he thought that calling of the infield fly was tantamount to a catch, and that runners could tag and advance the moment the batter was called out.

They told me this guy had been some sort of college baseball hero, too.

Once, at a tournament, while I was watching a game during a break from my own, the director approached me and quietly said, "You guys are doing a good job, but these two guys are terrible." I didn't say anything, but he was absolutely right. They must have blown five calls in the ten minutes I was watching them.