What do you say to the coach?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by GrizzlyUmp14

Pre-season high school scrimmage last week. I'm at the plate and there is a ground ball to the shortstop. There's a play at first, but F3 drops the ball, so the runner is safe. The coach asks my partner - "Would he have been safe or out if he had caught the ball?" I don't think my partner heard him, so he didn't answer. What would you say? The ball was clearly there before the runner, so if you say he is out, the coach says - "My player had possession." If you say he was safe, the coach has a right to complain. It seems that he's trying to bait us into saying something stupid. What do you do?

Personally, I don't get into such hypothetical situations if I can help it.

Batters from time to time ask about pitches they swung at. I quite honestly tell them I stop tracking a pitch once I'm relieved of the responsibility of calling the pitch. Sometimes, it's obvious whether the pitch was a ball or a strike, but other times I really don't know. He swung, so who cares?

In this situation, I'd probably tell the coach. Who cares what he says afterwards? It's judgment and the call wouldn't change even if he did think the player had possession.