There is some amount of "stand by your partner" involved, but the rules of softball are set up to clearly delineate who is responsible for which call in order to prevent double calls. The LAST thing you want is to have one umpire calling safe while the other is calling out.
An umpire who is really worth his/her salt will go to his/her partner if they believe that there was an aspect of the play that they honestly missed. If I have a crappy angle on a possible pulled foot, I will definitely ask my partner. However, deciding whether or not to go to one's partner is completely up to the umpire whose call it is.
Regardless, in order for calls to be made properly, we must have some segregation of duties between umpires. There MUST be organization on the field, or else we end up with chaos.
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Dave
I haven't decided if I should call it from the dugout or the outfield. Apparently, both have really great views!
Screw green, it ain't easy being blue!
I won't be coming here that much anymore. I might check in now and again.
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