Three Man Mechanics:

[Rich]

Originally posted by DG

This is the way I learned it. I call this "1st base preferred". I work one tournament a year with a group of umpires who learned it differently, and I call their method "3rd base preferred". They like to call it "keeping an umpire ahead of the runner".

No runners or R3 only -- A/D
R1 only -- A/deep C
R1+R2 -- B/D
R1+R2+R3 -- B/D
R2 only -- deep B/D
R2+R3 -- deep B/D

It's a subtle difference, but I adjust because it's easier for me to adjust than for them to do so (six of us working two fields over 4 days).

This is old-timer thinking and requires one umpire to call both halves of a DP while the other base umpire watches.

[DG]

Originally posted by Rich Fronheiser
[/B]

This is old-timer thinking and requires one umpire to call both halves of a DP while the other base umpire watches. [/B][/QUOTE]Yes, I know. But I play along.

They had another mechanic I did not like. I got crossed up the first day on a banger at 1B. I'm in A with R1, hit and run, ball goes to 3B man, who throws to 1b for the banger, R1 rounds 2B and heads for 3B during the play sine he was on the run already. I look up and PU is near 3B. Ball gets by 3B man, R1 heads for home, and there is nobody there, so I start for home. Luckily he scored easily. After the game we discussed. "That's the rotation, my PU says". I say "I can see you going to 3B and me going home on a base hit, but on this play you want me to call a banger at 1B, while you are making your way to 3B, and then you want me to hustle 120 feet or so to home, while U3 in C, has been made into a spectator after R1 rounds 2B."

[Sal Giaco]

Originally posted by DG
They had another mechanic I did not like. I got crossed up the first day on a banger at 1B. I'm in A with R1, hit and run, ball goes to 3B man, who throws to 1b for the banger, R1 rounds 2B and heads for 3B during the play sine he was on the run already. I look up and PU is near 3B. Ball gets by 3B man, R1 heads for home, and there is nobody there, so I start for home. Luckily he scored easily. After the game we discussed. "That's the rotation, my PU says". I say "I can see you going to 3B and me going home on a base hit, but on this play you want me to call a banger at 1B, while you are making your way to 3B, and then you want me to hustle 120 feet or so to home, while U3 in C, has been made into a spectator after R1 rounds 2B."

With R1 only and a ball hit in the infield, the PU does NOT rotate. U3 would take R1 into third base and PU stays home. This is a standard mechanic for both CCA and PRO 3 Man and 2 man as well.

[Tim C]

No official document says to rotate on balls that do not leave the infield.

[Sal Giaco]

Originally posted by Tim C
No official document says to rotate on balls that do not leave the infield.

Tim,
With R1 only (and R1 & R3 as well)We do NOT rotate on balls that do not leave the infield. Am I missing something here??

[jumpmaster]

Originally posted by Tim C
No official document says to rotate on balls that do not leave the infield.

huh, huh. rotate on balls...wouldn't that be painful?

***end my Beavis moment****

[LDUB]

Originally posted by Sal Giaco

Tim,
With R1 only (and R1 & R3 as well)We do NOT rotate on balls that do not leave the infield. Am I missing something here??

I think you are misreading what Tee wrote.

Tee is saying that it is not correct to rotate when the ball does not leave the infield.

[Tim C]

LDUB:

I was trying to post agreement with the non-rotation syndrom as defined in DG's post (which he also did not agree with the rotation) --

$hit, as I write this it gets worse and worse.

DON'T ROTATE IFFIN' THE BALL DOES NOT LEAVE THE INFIELD!

[DG]

Originally posted by Sal Giaco

With R1 only and a ball hit in the infield, the PU does NOT rotate. U3 would take R1 into third base and PU stays home. This is a standard mechanic for both CCA and PRO 3 Man and 2 man as well.

I said I did not like that rotation... We discussed afterwards and did not do this anymore for the rest of the tournament.

[mcrowder]

One thing that is certain - working 3-man, you MUST know what your partners are doing. I give it an extra 10 minutes pregame if working with ANYONE I've not worked with before. There are many things that people have learned over time that may differ from what you are used to, regardless of whether your way is "right" or "wrong".

3-man mechanics can look EXTREMELY beautiful to anyone who knows what they are seeing... if everyone's on the same page. They can also look EXTREMELY awful if anyone screws up.

The one thing that should never happen is for one of the 3 to get "crossed up". Pregame is imperative, and cover EVERYthing.

[DG]

Originally posted by mcrowder
One thing that is certain - working 3-man, you MUST know what your partners are doing. I give it an extra 10 minutes pregame if working with ANYONE I've not worked with before. There are many things that people have learned over time that may differ from what you are used to, regardless of whether your way is "right" or "wrong".

3-man mechanics can look EXTREMELY beautiful to anyone who knows what they are seeing... if everyone's on the same page. They can also look EXTREMELY awful if anyone screws up.

The one thing that should never happen is for one of the 3 to get "crossed up". Pregame is imperative, and cover EVERYthing.

Agreed. We had pregame, and this particular "rotation" was not discusssed, and it did not dawn on me that it needed to be because I have never rotated to the plate from 1B after a banger. Two weeks later I worked a state tournament with the same PU and 4 guys I had not worked with. I brought it up at the pre-tournament umpires meeting and we all got on the same page. U1 would not be expected to cover home after a play at 1B. PU has the plate, and U2 has 2nd and 3rd.