Gotta tell 'ya, the only time I asked for help from my partner was when I was having a heart attack on the field.
- You get in position to see the play.
- You see the entire play from start to finish.
- You find the ball so you see if thee was control or not.
- You make the call.
It's called 1 play - 1 call. If you are doing your job correctly (it takes time to learn), when a coach approaches you to ask for help, you just tell him, "John, if I needed help to make the call, I would have asked for it
before I made the call. Let's play ball, John." and hustle into position.
I agree that umpires need to have the gonads to basically say "no" to the coach but the umpire needs to be
in position and properly trained. Going out there and expecting your partner to be "your backup" is not how you approach officiating. In the rare instance where you need to meet and discuss a ruling or call, that is acceptable (as noted previously from NCAA & MLBUM).