[REFANDUMP]

I haven't chimed in on this conversation until now, but I've taken a great interest in it as I had a similar play two seasons ago and got into a real mess with it. Similar situation, defensive coach comes out and asks if the first baseman missed the bag or not. I was in B and didn't get the look at first that I should have so I had no problem checking with my partner. I asked my partner "Did the first baseman hit the base" and my partner says that he did so I rang up the out. Now the offensive coach comes to me and I explain that I didn't see the foot hit the base so I checked with my partner and he told me that the first baseman did hit the base and therefore we had an out. The coach objects stating that he my have hit the base on the second swipe, but in no way did he hit it on the first. I confirmed again with my partner, and he told me that he did get the base on the second swipe and not the first. Now I had to come back with another reversal and again ruled the runner safe. I now managed to piss off both coaches with one call (which is a rare accomplishment) and look like a complete idiot on the play.

I learned a valuable lesson on this occasion in that I'm now asking a partner only "what did you see" and not a specific question if I confer with them and also that going to your partner sometimes creates more problems than it solves. I like the earlier point about owning your own calls, and I think I'm going to look moreso at using that philosophy in the future.