Tough call at 1st...Say Goodbye to another Asst. Coach

[nickrego]

Pick play at 1st, on at throw-down from the catcher.

F3 does a perfect job of blocking the front part of the bag with his foot as the throw is coming in (seeing a lot of more of this, this year).

F3 catches a high throw just before R1 comes back to the base (so he has the ball as he is blocking the base).

R1 comes in standing up, and puts his foot on top of F3's foot.

F3 applies the tag, while R1 is still in contact with his foot, and not the base.

R1's momentum takes him into F3, bumping him into foul territory. This causes F3's foot to slip out from under R1's foot. R1 is now standing on the base.

I call R1 OUT, and say F3 legally blocked him off the bag.

ASSistant coach at 1st goes ballistic. And tells the runner to stay put. I repeat that the runner is out, and start to head back to A. I see the manager coming out to talk, so I stop and wait for him. Blah, Blah, Blah. Then I tell him to get his, still griping, ASSistant coach under control.

I head back over to A, coach keeps nipping at my heals, so I dump him.

Replacement ASSistant coach comes out, and immediately starts talking to me. Asking why I dumped the other coach, what did he say. I told him that unless he wanted to join him, coach your base. He shuts up after saying, "OK, OK. It's cool we're all friends here." (yeah right)

After the game, as I am walking off the field with my partner, the head coach of the team (that lost by 8 runs, and was down 6 -1 at the time of the call) is telling me that my call cost him the game, and that is was a mistake that effected the game.

I just smiled and kept walking. My partner and I had a good laugh about it at the car.