Three Man Crew Positioning

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by orioles35

Most of us are comfortable with two man, but rarely do three man enough to get "good" at it. I had the following discussion with one of our senior guys at the last tournament of the year.

No runners on, outs don't matter...SURE DOUBLE to the outfield. Never any question whether the ball is going to be caught, and easily makes it to the fence. My opinion was U1 was to move into the cutout, pivot, watch R1 touch 1st, then move to 2nd, while U2 stayed in D in case R1 tried to stretch it to a triple and of course U3 stayed at home.

U1 insisted that even on a SURE DOUBLE, U2 was to move to C, U3 was to move up the line towards third for a play there and U1 would cover home. My argument was why have all that rotation when U1 could move once, especially since the only thing going on at 1st was R1 touching it (no possible play).

Comments?

Comment: I am confused as to the position designations you are using. I believe that U1 is normally the PU, U2 is the 1st base umpire and U3 is referred to as the 3rd base umpire. In Canada, it's PU, U1, and U3, respectively. What is the correct designation for each position, because now I am unsure?

The way we handle this type of play is the same way your 1st base umpire suggests. U3 (3rd base) comes into the infield and heads for 2nd base. U1 (the PU) comes up the line in case of a play at 3rd. If it then appears there will be a play at 3rd base, U2 (first base umpire) heads to home plate.