Quote:
Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
It is absurd because it is not necessary. I've seen umpires "go out" on a ball caught by an infielder that had time to camp simply because they were instructed to go out on any ball not in front of you. Same thing with a line drive leaving the IF at head level. I know where the outfielders are and if they are not going to be in a position to even come close to catching the ball. Why should I pivot, watch the ball hop three times and then have the OF pick it up and throw it in?
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Well, that's a bit different. I, too, agree that a base umpire has no business chasing under those circumstances.
I was really talking of those catchable fly balls where the umpires may not be that adept at judging if it's going to be trouble or not since, as others have said, they just haven't worked as 3- or 4-man crews for a while. By always chasing, the umpire should be moving right away. If you leave it up to him/her to decide when to/not to chase, the umpire may hesitate while trying to gauge if he/she should go or come into the diamond. And that hesitation suddenly puts him/her out of position to either make a call on the ball, or make a call on a runner in his/her area or responsibility. So he/she is moving instead of being set when the play happens.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
A good umpire knows how to handle this. There are UICs that don't trust all their umpires and will give a blanket command that, IMO, at a game at the national level, should never be necessary.
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At the national level, yeah, you may be blessed with good umpires. But in ASA and NFHS games at the local or even regional/state level, the UIC may not know the abilities of all the umpires he/she is working with. A blanket command is probably a safer bet.