Quote:
Originally Posted by RichMSN
Why?
I work a bit in the tournaments on a small diamond and I treat it no differently than the big diamonds. I get an angle to see the foot / tag best I can and I make the call. It's my call. If I don't go into it thinking that the plate guy can bail me out, I'm more likely going to work harder to get the right look.
The coaches asking to "get help" on every close play isn't a real effort to "get more calls right." It's an effort to get more calls go their way. Most times, the coach himself has a worse view than the base umpire in the small diamond C position. He's in the 3rd base box. At least 95% of the pulled foot requests I hear involve plays where the fielder stretches, holds the bag, and comes off right after the catch. The umpire looks at the foot, the coach does not and only sees the foot away from the bag a second or two later. Why should I appease him when I *saw* the foot on the bag. And yet I'm "arrogant" if I don't "get help."
If I truly think I need help, I will get it without hesitation. I officiate basketball and I probably go to a partner on an out-of-bounds call on my line at least once a game (and that's with 3 officials). I just don't think that a coach asking is enough for me to go and ask. I truly need to think I may not have seen something, and frankly that doesn't happen very often.
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Had this happen over the weekend:
NFHS Rules. Im in B, R1, no outs. Double play ground ball to SS. 1B makes a modest stretch and catches the ball. There is no off-line throw or anything else. Call at 1B seems pretty straightforward and from where I am. On the way back to A, 1B coach asks for an appeal to my partner. What exactly do you say and how do you handle an assistant asking for an appeal? Hows something along the lines of "an appeal has to come from HC, if one is requested."