Critique Please - Topic 2: Out to the bases

[UmpJM]

Gentlemen,

I found the first one of these I posted to be quite helpful to me, so I thought I'd try another one. These pictures are from the same game (14U Travel, 90' diamond, working solo.)

There are two plays, with a sequence of five photos each. The first play was a basehit to RCF with an R1 and 2 outs. The R1 attempted to advance to 3B on the play, and the defense played on him at 3B. In the first shot, the tag has not yet been applied and the runner is about 6' shy of 3B. The second shot is after the tag was applied.




The second play is a grounder hit to the hole between 1B & 2B that was fielded by the F3, with the F1 (#23) coming over to cover the bag. I thought this play was going to be a routine out but it turned into a very close play as the F1 had some difficulty locating the bag with his foot after receiving the throw from the F3. The tag of the base occurred between photos 4 and 5 in the sequence.




Again, feel free to comment on any and all aspects. I've seen a few things I would like to be doing differently, and I'm guessing you will see others that I didn't even notice.

Thanks.

JM

[RPatrino]

John, in the play at 3b, where did the player get tagged? It looks to me, from the pictures, that you got 'straight lined' on the play. Good timing, good set position. I probably would have sold the call a bit more, perhaps an over hand out call??

The second set, you cleared the catcher well. Took that thing off your head well... got set to make the call. Again, on the close plays...you might try using that overhand out call. SELL IT!!

[lawump]

I don't want to comment on the second play too much, because, frankly I have no idea what the proper mechanics are for working a "1 man".

With that said, I can comment on the first play, because a "first-to-third" rotation happens all the time in a "two-man". So here goes:

(1) In the very first picture, F5 is applying the tag...but you appear not to be set. (Your left leg is bent, but your right leg is straight out). You need to be set at the time of the tag attempt.

(2) You need to be a little bit further right (more toward the center of the cutout and away from the foul line). To do this, you may have to run a step or two LESS up the line, before you break in to get your angle. (In otherwords you'll be a step or two further away from the base, but you'll have a much better angle. Remember, angle over distance!)

(3) Your set position (pictures 2/3) looks very good.

(4) (I'll probably get ripped on this board for saying this, but...) your out mechanic looks too "mechanical". It looks "amateurish" (saying that is what will probably lead to me being ripped). But anyways...it appears that your fist is even with your right ear when you are signalling "out". This is way too far back. It needs to be out in front of you more (but not in front of your eyes!).

I almost always tell students NOT to watch MLB umpires (for any number of reasons). But this is one specific thing that you CAN watch. Watch some games and look at their "out" mechanic (especially the first base umpire on ground outs). Their out mechanic is almost always projected strongly and decisively...something your mechanic is lacking.

Also, you need a "whacker" out mechanic. That is an out mechanic used only to sell a really close play that is different from the out mechanic you use for 95% of the plays. (And you may have one, and just not used it here because the play wasn't close...I can't tell from the pictures.)

Here's a picture of MLB Reserve umpire Dusty Dellinger. While this picture caught him on the tail end of his out mechanic (his right arm is on its way back down to his side) you can clearly tell that he had his right arm and fist out in front of him.

http://www.umpirepictures.com/Pictur...6_15%20030.htm

Here's another routine out mechanic by a AAA guy:

http://www.umpirepictures.com/Pictur..._3-4%20178.htm

And one more (notice how late (TIMING!!!) he calls it). The runner is out of the picture, and the first baseman has come up with the ball and is out of the frame tossing it around the diamond.:

http://www.umpirepictures.com/Pictur..._3-4%20222.htm

[3appleshigh]

Just for referance and ease of use, with a helmet, just grab it in the cage as thought you are trying to grab your nose, then lift it off. No hat to worry about so the chin side grab is not needed. also on most HSM that is a bit uncomfortable as the plastic can be a bit large.

I to agree on selling the call, specifically on the 1st one, Bang that kid out.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by lawump

(4) (I'll probably get ripped on this board for saying this, but...) your out mechanic looks too "mechanical". It looks "amateurish" (saying that is what will probably lead to me being ripped). But anyways...it appears that your fist is even with your right ear when you are signalling "out". This is way too far back. It needs to be out in front of you more (but not in front of your eyes!).

I don't see where you could get ripped on this, as you are right. I was going to mention this, as well as the position at third base, but you beat me to it.

[ozzy6900]

Geez Coach, you are an old fart like Tim C and me!

[JRutledge]

If anyone is complaining on what you are doing in a one man system, they need to be shot. If baseball was meant for one umpire, then the pros would do this.

Peace

[BigUmp56]

Hey John,


It's not very often that I work a big diamond game solo, so I'm by no means an expert on the "one man system." I will tell you that when I have to work solo I don't get anywhere near as far out as you do with multiple runners. I would have taken that play at third from the working area just to the left of and near the front of the mound. By getting all the way up the line near the cutout on this play you're setting yourself up for trouble, in my opinion.

Suppose the ball had squirted away from F5 on the play leaving R1 to attempt to advance to the plate. You're going to have to turn tail and head back to the plate to take the play from the inside. In and of itself that's not so bad, but to do it you'll have to turn your back to the BR who's at least at second by now, or further. There's too much to miss by doing that. Now, had you stayed closer to the mound, if the ball was mishandled at third leaving a play to develop at the plate you could have begun to cheat back to the plate ahead of the runner keeping the BR in your peripheral vision as soon as the ball got away. I understand wanting to focus most of your attention on the runner closest to the plate, but in a one man I think you should keep the field in front of you with trailing runners on base.



Tim.

[bossman72]

i would have used a "punch out" mechanic at third.

PS- who takes these pics for you?

First play, first picture - the only thing I saw regarding the call was that you appeared to still be moving and not set. I'm not going to comment on your technique for your "out" signal - selling it or not. There are many opinions on this aspect of umpiring. Use your own style - the one you feel comfortable with. You don't NEED to watch videos on this one. If you want to develop a style after some particular ump, fine - but it's not necessary. This is a 14U game, not MLB. It's a one man show and you appear to be doing everything to get yourself in position. I say good job.

[LMan]

Originally Posted by lawump

buncha great, great info snipped

Funny thing about those pics is, if I were to bring my left arm up like that ('half-salute'), I'd get dinged on evals. They want the left arm kept down at the side.


Just shows how things differ all over.

[PeteBooth]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

Gentlemen,

I found the first one of these I posted to be quite helpful to me, so I thought I'd try another one. These pictures are from the same game (14U Travel, 90' diamond, working solo.)

There are two plays, with a sequence of five photos each. The first play was a basehit to RCF with an R1 and 2 outs. The R1 attempted to advance to 3B on the play, and the defense played on him at 3B. In the first shot, the tag has not yet been applied and the runner is about 6' shy of 3B. The second shot is after the tag was applied.

In the first play IMO, you were too close to third base.

Granted when working SOLO you cannot be everywhere, but suppose the throw was cut-off or the runner was clearly safe at 3rd and F5 threw to F4/F6 to get the BR who was trying to advance. From the pictures you would have been way out of position to make a possible call at second base.

When working SOLO and dealing with multiple runners, IMO it's best to simply get to the "working area" which is right around the pitchers mound. From there you can simply turn in either direction (depending upon where the play is) and make the call without committing yourself one way or another.

The ONE exception is R3. In that case, you have to be at the plate area.

Also, when working SOLO, for the most part you cannot possibly see the ACTUAL TAG/NO TAG of the runner. Therefore, IMO use "givens" meaning Fielder where they are supposed to be, the throw is good and the tag where it should be = OUT. No need to look for a tag. Same is true on the flip-side. It's the same for both teams so one team is not gaining an advantage over another.

From the picture it appears that F5 was not in the proper fielding position. He was behind the runner so the tag attempt became more difficult than it should have been if F5 were playing the position properly.

In Summary: when working SOLO I would stay more towards the middle of the diamond (working area) when there are multiple runners. Also, it's a seven inning game and you want to conserve as much energy as you can, so know need to get close to every play.

Pete Booth

[UmpJM]

Gentlemen,

Once again, thanks for your feedback. The biggest thing I noticed from the photos was that on the play at 3B I wasn't set at the time of the tag as lawump and BigGuy observed. Looking at these and other pics, it appears that I'm setting "late" on tag plays, but setting in enough time on "force" plays. Something for me to work on. If you had asked me before I saw the pictures, I would have said I was set before the tag on the play at 3B - because until I saw the pictures, I really thought I was.

A number of you mentioned my positioning on the play at 3B. The pictures were shot with a "long" lens from outside the fence on the 1B side, and I believe the foreshortening effect makes it look like I'm a lot closer to the base and to the 3B line than I actually was. I'm pretty sure I was about 2/3rds of the way up the line and roughly halfway between the 3B line and the pitcher's mound - probably a little to the 3B side of center.

There was another play at 3B in this game where I was more or less in the same position. The ball got away from the F5 and the runner took off for home. There was a subsequent play at the plate, and I was able to get back to the plate area in time to make the call (OUT!), got a good look at the tag, and didn't hear a peep from anybody on the offense about the call.

Bob P.,

The runner was tagged on his right hip (tag came down from up high rather than from behind the runner) so I was able to see the tag clearly; if F5 had tagged the runner anywhere on his back, I would have been blocked from seeing it by the runner's body. Don't know what I could have done about that.

As far as my out mechanic, I think I try to "sell" close calls more with the "sharpness" of my hammer motion and with my voice rather than with a "bigger" motion. But that's something I can work on. In this case, the base coach actually said to me as he was heading to the dugout, "That was an excellent call." And he was being sincere, not sarcastic. Caught me a little off guard. Anyway, he seemed to buy what I was selling on that call.

Bossman,

I would have "double-bagged it".

The pictures were taken by my little sister. She's an amateur photgrapher, has one of those fancy digital SLR cameras that can shoot continuous frames (hence the "sequence" shots), and has started doing sports photography as her kids started playing. I talked to her ahead of time about getting different angles and that I wanted to see where I was setting up behind the plate, how I was doing getting out on the bases, what my mechanics look like, etc. I thought she did a great job - gave me about 200 pix on a CD. If any of you can get somebody to do the same for you, I'd recommend it. I know I was doing things I had no idea I was doing until I saw the photos.

3apples,

After considerable practice, I have become adept at removing my "dunce cap" with elan, and I'm not going to go messing with my technique on that one at this point. Plus, I'm considering getting a mask like the big boys use and feel the technique would be largely the same.

Ozzy,

Hey, who you callin' an old....

Oh, wait a minute. Is that old, bald guy in the blue shirt with the grey hair ME?!?!

Hmmm, I guess it must be. I'm not quite as old as Tim C., but I'm not that far behind, neither. Somehow, it makes me feel younger to be out on the diamond and involved in the game.

Anyway, I appreciate everybody's comments. Thanks.

John