Did It effect the Play?

[Warren Willson]

Originally posted by Ump20
Would you agree than that when in doubt the call should favor the runner? I think Zeile was in a place he shouldn't have been i.e. the general area of the runner's basepath. Thanks again for the timely, thought-provoking response on what I think is a rare call in major league baseball but more common in lower level ball.

No. The premise, in this case, is that you have a suspicion the runner was NOT making legitimate attempt to advance. The strength of that suspicion should govern. There are those who equally believe "when in doubt, call them out"! I don't know that either tenet is more or less valid. I'd prefer to make a simple judgement at the time, and follow the dictum "you had to see it to call it"!

Cheers,