[Rog]

So many words covering what should be simple mechanics for any base umpire.

It has always been explained to me that in the two-man system the Base umpire should recognise when there may be multiple choices of a play, and never anticipate what the play will be.
Odds are that anticipating the play (or order of the subsequent play's) will only bring up Murphy's Law and more times than not you will choose poorly and be caught out of position.
Under such situations the base umpire needs to hold their position and follow the ball to the play(s) as quickly as they possibly.
If the play is late occuring due to the defensive players stalling, juggling or the ball, etc. the base umpire can only act according to what the defense does with the ball.
If any coach gets upset because you were not where you would have like to have been for such plays, then that coach needs to advised that you are not a magician and you will make the best call possible for such plays.
Okay, let's play......



"you can't always react to what you anticipate to be the expected play. It's not a matter of feet in cement, but rather not overcommitting on your expectation so you don't find yourself out of position trying to make the call on a close slide play at 3rd. It's also possible to float toward 1B only to find a snap throw going back to 2B on a diving runner.
..............
While the more experienced may be able to better read the plays, there are still many in the learning process. If they overcommit they may find themselves in far more difficulty than that pulled foot.........."