Please read and let me know if my facts are correct.

[Dave Hensley]

I subscribe to Pete Booth's school of thought on this issue.

First, there are plays that are so close I cannot discern which occurred first. On those plays, what Carl Childress coined as the "coin-flip calls," I do indeed take into consideration the circumstances of the play. What caused the play to be so close? Was it a batter-runner's extraordinary hustle, combined with an uninspired effort by the defense? Then the runner is safe. Was it a miraculous stab of the ball deep in the hole and then a Jeter-like throw from shallow left field right to F3's glove? Well, hell, in that case, make the execution call.

Apologies to my friend Rich, but "just call the freakin' play" is simplistic and therefore of little use in training umpires how to develop and refine that elusive characteristic all umpires desperately need - good judgment. Umpiring is not rocket science, but it's not as simple as ball/strike fair/foul safe/out, either. Otherwise why would we need all these clinics and manuals and authorities and pro schools and internet boards?

Use Childress's "Benefit of the Doubt" guidelines to resolve those too-close-to-call plays, and you will develop a self-confidence in your calls that was previously lacking, and you will, over time, gain a reputation for being a consistent, reliable umpire who understands the game and calls it the way it's supposed to be called.