Quote:
Originally Posted by kylejt
Here's the deal on your play:
There's really no other factor playing in here besides safe or out. No boneheaded, or spectacular effort to be punished or rewarded. So you're left with reality. The reality is safe, so you've got to call that, and sell the daylights out of it.
Comparing it to pitches is fine. If a catcher sets up inside, but reaches over his shinguards for a pitch that might have got the outside corner, we're not rewarding that. Or, one that up and in, and he flat out missed, and it hits you in the arm, but may have caught the plate. Ball.
But, if a batter is peeking, and sees the catcher is inside, and the catcher sees that, changes the pitch to the outside edge, and they hit it. Yeah, the battery is getting that one, black included. Maybe even a little dirt, too.
But that's Umpiring 102. Second semester stuff. And that classroom doesn't exist on most campuses. It's hand me down stuff, from a guy you trust.
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You're job is not to "reward" pitches you like and "punish" pitches you don't. You're supposedly there to impartially apply the rules. Either you believe that a strike should always be called a strike and an out should always be called an out - or you don't.
This is where experience comes into play and was why I started this thread - to see what other ump's experience had to offer.
I think you have to be at least aware of how your call will be perceived and how it will effect game management. For what it's worth, in the initial sitch I called the B/R out. Not a peep from anyone (except for a questioning look from the B/R) and the game proceeded smoothly.