Quote:
Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve
My answer:
ASA 10.3-B. "Under no circumstances will any umpire seek to reverse a decision made by an associate, nor shall any umpire criticize or interfere with the duties of their associate(s), unless asked to do so. Similar wording exists in every other ruleset and mechanics manuals.
I may be missing the part inferred by others, but this doesn't say or differentiate between a judgment call and a rule application. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES.
There is only one right way to deal with this. Stay out of it. If a coach asks, you refer him to the umpire that made the call. Only if/when your partner asks do you suggest in live time it may have been a wrong rule application. Interfere on your own, and your interference is not only inappropriate and illegal, but any call reversal is now protestable, since YOU violated a rule seeking the reversal.
Post-game, have at it.
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Coming from you, this carries quite a bit of weight ... but I have to add that we've been told more than once, at multiple levels, that umpires should act to rectify protestable situations before they arise. The example(s) I've brought up in this thread is usually the example given when this is discussed. A partner incorrectly calls a batter out in IFF with 2 outs (or with runners not on at least 1st and 2nd) - you don't wait for the coach to come out and argue, you fix it. Less often, the other example I mentioned - awarding of bases from TOT instead of TOP (or vice versa) should be fixed without waiting for a coach.
If this is not what ASA wants - it needs to be better deseminated through the clinic process.