What do you say to the coach?
 

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?

Did the coach (head coach) call "Time" to question the call?

If "Time" was granted to the head coach and he asked me that question as BU, most likely I would have said something like "I call what I see based on the play - I have no answer to the "what if" question you asked".

Sam

We always seem to think of better things to say after the fact, but the first thing that came to my mind was, "unfortunately we'll never know coach".

Sorry coach, that's not how I saw it.

You don't speculate on might-have-beens....don't answer it.

"Sorry coach, I left my crystal ball in the car."

I just would have said "But coach, he dropped the ball". :) Really, that is what I would have said.

I would answer his question and then deal with him if he wanted to be a jerk about it.

I would say he should ask my partner, boyinblue.

"Sorry coach! Would be, could be, might be means nothing. The call is over - let's move on!"

"Yes Coach, he would have been either safe or out if he caught the ball."

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.

Somewhat interesting that of the 11 comments so far, most seem to be a little flippant toward the coach's question (safe or out, IF HE CAUGHT THE BALL). The coach just implied that F3 didnt catch it, plus its only a scrimmage, so why not just answer the Q in a civil way (if the Q was asked that way).
I agree with durham, so why make more out of it then it is, ego maybe?
Yes, we all know that coaches try to pull tricks, gain an edge at our expense, but I certainly have no problem with being civil , if treated the same way, and will immedialely deal with coaches who arent...

This hypothetical reminds me of the batter who swings at a pitch then asks, "Would that have been a strike if I didn't swing?" I answer "yes" every time, regardless of where the pitch was, just to get them to swing the frickin' bat and stop asking me such questions. :D

If the ball was 'clearly there before the runner,' as the OP states, why is the coach asking? Can he not see? Is he implying you can't see?

That's like me asking him why he's batting his .195 guy in the 4-hole. Nunmybizness.

Sorry, but if a coach is asking this kind of question on an obvious call, I'm thinking he has a motive. Why give him ammo? I didn't say be rude about it, I'm saying 'decline to enter' into such a discussion during the game. Civilly.