My thought exactly. For a moment I thought he was calling 'time' :p

Your partner pulled a calf muscle and couldn't cover third from C?

I didn't find you that you were too far from the play at the plate, and all the other eagle eye's caught the other upgrades.

Don't anticipate needing to cover third unless the ball and runner are there at the same time. What is the definition of a play????

Considering the swipe tag on the play at the plate, I thought you had GREAT position, whether accidentally or not. You ended up with the look right between F2 and the runner.

Your head height and position seem fine to me, but what do I know?

Also, you have good timing and the confidence to ring em up. Good stuff.

I'll let everyone else be picky about the rest.

BTW, you aren't too far away, just like SAump below me (thanks to the editing feature) pointed out. You have perfect distance as far as I'm concerned. If you hadn't told me you thought you were out of position I would've congratulated you for reading the play so well.

Don't let it blow UP
 

Note: Deleted parts from original post above.

Close is not where you want to be. I say this from a POV that you never really want to be too close. The action tends to "blow up" when you're up close to it. I saw that you were on the lip of the circle and made the call in the dirt area. Looks like you were closer to the action than you seem to believe and you don't appear to have moved much closer to sell the SAFE call. I really would have never known that you "hustled back to position" and failed to be there on time. I see nothing wrong with that position.

I beg to differ with you goal of being too close and in a terrible position. I also beg to differ on the call. I looked at the video as many times as I could and couldn't tell if the catcher swiped the top foot. That was from my angle. You had a much better angle than the camera lense. It wouldn't have been any better on 3BLX. {Remember you said you couldn't get there.} You made the safe call so I assume you didn't see a swipe tag on the top foot. Those are the FACTS presented in the play in question.

Now I saw a diving catcher come UP angry as if he applied the tag. I also saw a runner slap hands in a self-congratulatory gesture for getting there first. Well, if the tag was applied, I am sure you would have seen it and come UP with the OUT call. Because you didn't, it appears that the catcher tried to tag the runner by the time the runner was over the plate. It was that close. Then the catcher appeared to be disgusted with your call. What could he know diving back at a sliding runner? This may have created some doubt in your mind.

GET RID of the DOUBT.

Definition of bang-bang play! You sold your call and looked confident. Good job.

I personally would be at 3BLX because of the swipe tag. Did you call safe because the runner beat the tag or because the catcher missed the tag?

Looked like a good call to me.

just a couple of comments.

1). Did the first runner touch home? Poor camera angle, but it looked like you were tracking the ball as the runner crossed in.

2). Where were the runners at TOP? I'm presuming 3rd and 2nd, or else that's one hell of a fast runner scoring on a single from 1st. It looked like your partner would have been able to fade over to third for a play there if need be. As others have suggested there is no reason he shouldn't be able to cover 3rd from C, sore calf or otherwise. I'm presuming the 2nd runner coming home was on 2nd. If this is the case stay home. On a single that's where the plays going to be.

3). To me this is 3BX situation. It would have opened the play up more, and you would have an unobstructed view of the tag.

4). I thought it was a good sell job on the 'safe' call. Maybe add a point afterwards with a quick explanation such as 'he missed him'...just a side thought.

As SAump said: "GET RID of the DOUBT."

Just my two cents worth.

Looked good to me!
 

You asked about the play at the plate and it looked good to me. Good positioning with a perfect angle to see the tag attempt.

Some have suggested 3BLX, but from there on this play you will actually be blocked from the tag attempt by the runners body since the tag is actually behind the runner.

If the runner would have made a good slide (away from F2) it would have really not even been close, but kids today aren't taught the basics anymore.

Keep up the good work!

Just wondering... what happened to one team wearing the home uniform and the other a contrasting color? Kind of looks wierd on video. Also, the shortstop on one team was terrible.


thanks
David

No need to add to what others have already said other than:

I know you want to "cheat" at third to aid your partner but if there is a pretty good chance that there could be a close play at the plate, then your partner is going to have to take those calls the best he can. He was in "C" so it should not have been that difficult.

In your play you ended up in good position because of where the throw was (F2 having to make a swipe tag), however, if the throw had been towards the right side (first base side) of the plate and the player slid into home you would have been out of position and not had a very good angle of the play because you were cheating towards third.

Your prime responsibility even if your partner is "hurting" is home plate, therefore, in the future if there is any play that could be imminent concerning home plate simply tell your partner he is on his own. Your partner if "ailing" is the one who should be "cheating" not you.


Also, if you new about the injury at pre-game perhaps your partner should have the dish since he couldn't move to cover the base responsibilities.

My second point is:

Who taped this game?
IMO, this is an excellent way to evaluate umpires if your association is the one who taped it or
Is this game on some local cable channel and you get a copy

Pete Booth

Thanks for all the input guys.

I actually think my head position is pretty good here, especially for a newbie. :D I've never really had someone help me with that... just done what I've read in the umpires manual and done what I've seen on TV. I'd really like to go to a good umpires camp. I'm only 23... I'll be doing this for a while, like to see how far I can go with it.

For those that asked, the tape is from the local cable station here. I agree, it'd be great if we could tape games. I'm getting my fiance to come to my next game behind the plate with our video camera so I can study the video tape to see what I need to work on. For instance, I haven't heard much griping about it, but I'd like to know what I'm calling stikes down at the bottom of the zone. I think it'd help me out a lot. Kind of my own Queztec system. ;)

I personally think 3BLX would have been the best. I think I would have had a good angle at a tag. I called the runner safe because I couldn't tell for sure if there was a tag, and even if there was there was doubt in my mind that it was in time.

Bang bang play, I did the best I could with the situation. I'm definately not beating myself up over it. Overall, I was pleased with my effort that day.

STEP 1
Stop right there. When you're in this position, you only go to step 2 after you've difinitively seen a tag.
Don't muddy your mind with insignificant details, they can only get you in trouble


Step 2

1. First, your mechanics on the play in question looked good...good strong safe call. You did what you had to do with an injured partner. Normally, start at the point of the plate and adjust left or right (Third base line or first base line extended) to take the play.

Even without an injured umpire, sometimes in a two man, the plate umpire will head toward third, only to realize the play is going to be at home. Additionally, this sometimes happens with a pretty fast runner, and there is no way the umpire is going to be able to get back home to the ideal position, but rather they'll have to call it from about where you were, or somewhere else.

2. The only other thing I would comment on is this...you have some head movement when you are tracking pitches. Its not horrendous, but you consistently do it (at least in that video). You want to strive to have NO head movement...and, thus, only track the ball with your eyes. Your only movement should be with your eyes, not your head.

And yes, loose the brown belt, move the ball bag back and buy a ticket for the ride because your partner looked like he was about to take off!