Screened on the line

[Kaliix]

R1 and BR hits a check swing hump back liner down the right field line. The ball is not up in the air very long, so I get out from behind the plate, clear the catcher and only get maybe three steps before I set up straddling the line for the call. At that point, the fielders cross in front of me and effectively screen me off from seeing the ball hit. It didn't have a lot of spin and I think it would have hit fair so I call it a fair ball.

1st base bench (defense) and coach go nuts shouting that the ball was foul by two feet. I tell the coach I was screened and called it where I thought it was going to land.

Since this was a one umpire game, did I do the right thing. How do you handle something like this?

[jumpmaster]

I think you made the right call. What are the odds that you would get blocked out. You were in the position that we are trained to be in, you couldn't maneuver to get a view of the line, there was only ONE umpire. My response to coach..."it's just me tonight"...and leave it at that

[DG]

If it appears players are going to block my view of the line I try to move a foot or two to whichever side will give me the angle. But if you had no chance to move then you call em like you see em or with whatever other information you have at hand. Just cause they said it was foul by 2 feet don't make it so. I find it hard to believe that you thought it would have landed fair, but actually landed 2 feet foul. After all, you could see the ball to within 6 feet of the ground. I don't think the explanation would be any different in a two man crew because that fair/foul call down the line is yours. Good call, sleep well.

[nickrego]

For a foul ball up line that is going to drop near or past the bag, I will stand with my infield foot on the line and my other foot in foul territory until I see the ball about to land and I’m sure I’m not going to be blocked out by F3/5 running up the line for the ball. Then I step over and straddle the line for the call. This way I can easily lean more foul if I need to, to get an angle.

Not textbook, but it works.

[DownTownTonyBrown]

The important things are: 1) you need to see the line and 2) you need to see the ball in relationship to that line....

Does that mean you must straddle the line ? NO!

Yes, straddling is a great position to be in ... And it is the best position if you can see the ball and see the line (1&2). If you can't then you're just straddlin' ... and guessin'

Get where you can see the ball as it comes down and you can see the line. Sometimes that means you are at an angle but it makes it a lot easier for you to sell your call because you saw the important things... rather than say well it's just me coach and I had to guess because your first baseman felt he needed to be on the line and make the call for me.

If you're out in foul territory, it still may be a guess but it can be sold with a greater confidence. JMHO

[WindyCityBlue]

I was taught that you can only call what you see.
You can't assume that the ball would have landed fair, just like you can't assume that just because the ball beat the runner to the bag on a steal, that he is out...you still have to see the tag.

I know this doesn't help, but the defense caused you to lose your line of sight, you can't reward them for making your job impossible. While it is true that the ball MAY HAVE BEEN FAIR, the recation from those present told you otherwise.

There is a lot of good advice here on how to put off the coach or handle the barbs, but the fact is, they were probably right. With one umpire this is a brutal call to have to make, but you still have to see it. Truth be told, calling the ball foul would have brought out the offensive coach, to which you reply, "I could not see the ball hit fair, coach." He'll go haywire, but in the end, you can't call what you can't see.

I got hung on a ground rule double a few years back. I didn't see the ball bounce and signaled for a home run. Thank god, my partner was there to bail me out. I learned a lesson, that day, and I hope you can see where I'm coming from. Good luck!

[Kaliix]

Originally posted by WindyCityBlue
I know this doesn't help, but the defense caused you to lose your line of sight, you can't reward them for making your job impossible. While it is true that the ball MAY HAVE BEEN FAIR, the recation from those present told you otherwise.

Isn't that what I did by calling the ball fair, not reward the defense for getting in my way.

The problem is that either way, I'm screwed unless I get lucky and get the call right. I really got out on it as far as possible and thought it was going to be fair until I lost sight of it.

I agree, I can't call what I can't see, the problem is that I have to call something?!?

It was just a weird play all around...

[nickrego]

This is not just a one man crew problem.

Lets say you have a two man crew with runners on.

The same blooper gets hit up the 1st base line. The BU is responsible for Tag-Ups, not Fair / Foul or Catch / No-Catch. He may not be able to see it depending on where the runners are. Just a runner at 1st, yeah, he will probably see it. Runners on 2nd and 3rd, he better have his back to it. Your still all alone.

Two many times I see umpires working in a multi-man crew expecting their partner to be able to make their call. More umpires means we each keep track of less, not that you now have more umpires looking at everything.

In a multi-man crew, we each have our own jobs to do, and events to watch. Sometimes we get lucky and our partner just happened to see more than he was responsible for and we can get help. But don’t rely on that.

Hey HHH, I think there is an idea for an article here. (private joke from McGriff’s forum)

[His High Holiness]

Originally posted by Kaliix
R1 and BR hits a check swing hump back liner down the right field line. The ball is not up in the air very long, so I get out from behind the plate, clear the catcher and only get maybe three steps before I set up straddling the line for the call. At that point, the fielders cross in front of me and effectively screen me off from seeing the ball hit.

1st base bench (defense) and coach go nuts shouting that the ball was foul by two feet. I tell the coach I was screened and called it where I thought it was going to land.

This reminds me of an NCAA game that I had a couple of years ago. A fly ball was hit down the left field line. As the PU, I moved 50 feet up the line to make the call. At the last minute, the third baseman, who was no where near the play, straddled the line to see for himself where it would land. I was completely blocked out.

Using the theory that I should not punish the offense for what the defense did wrong, I pointed the ball fair. The third baseman turned around and said. "It was at least 6 inches foul."

The BR ended up at second base.

At any level below college, the defensive coach would have gone crazy at this point. In my game, the defensive coach yelled at the third baseman "The ump would have seen it foul if you had been doing your job instead of trying to do his."

The third baseman sheepishly dropped the subject and no one said another word about it.

It helps to have coaches who understand your job. This is why NCAA baseball is easier in some respects that lower level ball.

Peter

[jumpmaster]

LOL!

[Cubbies87]

I had this dilemma a few days back in a 2-Man crew on a 13-year old game. No runners on so BU was behind first base on the first base line.

Pop up down the left field line. F5 and F7 both charge to it, and I half-expected to see a collision. At the last second, F7 calls F5 off and F5 hits the breaks straddling the line with his back to me. F7 was about a foot, maybe 2 feet, in fair territory and reaching slightly to his right to make the catch...completely misses it.

I call fair ball because the cues from the trajectory, the position of F7's glove, and the fact that the defense blocked me, made it a fair ball. The only reason I have reason to believe it may have been wrong is the 3rd base coach looked back with a little surprise when I didn't make a foul call and was pointing fair. But, then again, he could have just been checking to see what I ruled, because all in stride he was waving his runners on.

In the end, you aren't in a 6-man crew where having an umpire on top of every play with a better view is easier. I disagree with nickrego that more umpires ONLY means less to worry about. While it is true you each have responsibilities and that you shouldn't rely on a partner to bail you out, you have more umpires available so more often then not, you can have an umpire where he needs to be to make the most informed call.

So, in scenarios such as this, you take all the information you can gather about the play, you rule on it, and you rule on it confidently.