Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich
I'm still trying to figure out softball mechanics (Coach Dad is 0-3 on the summer so far), but in baseball there'd *always* be an umpire in A on this play in a 3-umpire crew. Once we add a third umpire, we split a double play responsibility between the two base umpires.
I know it hasn't always been this way, but this change about 10-20 years ago (and getting away from the "umpire ahead of the runners" mentality) was smart, IMO.
Alabama / Kentucky ended on a double play last night and the base umpire responsible for both halves did a fantastic job and nailed the call on the back half. That said, making her call both halves with 3 umpires in place just seems silly to me -- it forces someone else to get any late interference at second base.
Serious question -- why never a 4 umpire crew in fastpitch?
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We did four-man for our high school playoffs a couple of years ago. It tended to crowd the field, just like it does in youth baseball (LL, etc.) So now we go with three-man.
As I continue to work both sports (with most of my emphasis now on softball because, quite frankly, the games take much less time to finish, I don't have to cover as much ground to get into position, the players don't bitch about calls, and trash-talk is virtually nonexistent), I admit that there are quite a few differences in philosophy when it comes to positioning. Some softball practices make sense and I wonder why they don't use them in baseball, and vice versa.
What gets me is when there are different mechanics in different softball organizations. NCAA will have base umpires stay out on clean base hits while ASA makes them button-hook in is just one example. I don't recall these drastic differences between organizations in baseball unless, of course, the field dimensions are different.