IBXL

[GarthB]

Originally posted by Sal Giaco

This picture does NOT show a swipe tag but rather a tag actually being applied on the inside shoulder of the runner - which is impossible to see if you are positioned 1BLX. That's probably why the instructor has his arms out to his side suggesting that he can't tell whether or not the tag has been applied. If you position yourself 3BLX (the same angle from which the picture was taken), you can clearly see that the runner was tagged.

Now, if the play developed further, perhaps into a swipe tag on the runner's back, then you would have to adjust a couple of steps towards fair territory (yes, like Bruce Froeming does) to see the tag. It's a ******* play but what else can you do??

Sal,

If what they are telling the umpire is that it is absolutely guaranteed that the only play that will be made on the runner by a catcher in fair territory is a tag on the side of the runner, and not to prepare for any other possibility, then yes, 3BLX is the place to be.

I never have been trained that way. In all the clinics I've attended, including the desert classic, we were taught to be positioned to see what ever could happen given the positions of the catcher, the runner and the quality of the throw. I am very poor at one dimensional questions. I'll refrain from joining in on them in the future.