Infield Fly Call

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by DG

BU belongs in the outfield between innings. PU belongs on one of the lines. If he has doing basebal for 30+ years he should know to be in the outfield where he belongs. Sounds like your partner made an extra effort to come in to "discuss" this with you. I think I would have had some words for him too.

Good point, and to expand on it I will say that there is a damn good reason we should take up our proper positions between half innings. In a two man crew especially, there are incurred responsibilities for each umpire.

The PU should make himself available for the coaches should a lineup change be made on the half inning. Then he has the responsibilty of standing on the foul line and ensuring the pitcher is getting his proper amount of warm ups within a reasonable amount of time. I also have no problem moving the players along if they're taking their own sweet time getting out onto the field. Usually a little verbal "lets hustle guys" gets the job done. If that doesn't work their pitcher just gets cut short on his warm ups.

The BU needs to get out into short right field as soon as the last out is recorded. Initially he needs to be watching the two teams as they switch positons, taking extra care after a heated play to watch for any nonsense that might occur in the heat of the moment. Then it's his responsibility to see to it that all 9 defensive players are on the field, all warm up balls have been thrown back in, and look to see that there is a base coach in each box before the ball is put in play. It ticks me off when I work with someone who thinks that he deserves a three minute break on every half inning.


Tim.