Crazy Play
 

Had a situation the other day in a FED game. BR hits grounder to SS and is running to first when firstbasemen pulls foot off first. My partner does not sell it and does not make it clear that the call is safe. The BR thinks he is out so he just rounds into fair territory. Well no one knows whats going on and by the time the BR gets to the pitchers mound, both the runner and the defense realize he was safe at first. So the BR runs directly from the mound to 2nd where is slides in safe. The defensive team goes nuts saying he gave himself up and/or he was out of baseline. We ruled he is safe at second under the same thought process as the "skunk in the outfield play."

Did I screw that up?

By rule you didn't screw up - this runner was not out, and the baseline is irrelevant (as is the basePATH unless there is a tag attempt).

But the lack of the umpire's call was an umpire error that should have been corrected. The umpire put the defense at a disadvantage - fix it. I'd have put the runner back on 1st.

Well, your partner's mechanics (or lack there of) defiantly caused a problem here. In FED, his actions put the defense at a disadvantage. In OBR, the players are supposed to know the situation.

Umpires are there to enforce the rules and make calls as to fair/foul, ball/strike and safe/out. A play requires that the umpire make the outcome known to the players involved. If he does not do this, he is not doing his job correctly. The lack of correct mechanics ("SAFE! OFF THE BAG! SAFE") did in fact cause the defense to relax.

As far as the runner goes, as others stated, he can try for second base until he reaches the dugout or other dead ball area. He is not considered abandoning his effort until then - even though there are those on this board who insist that if a runner moves away 10 feet from anywhere he is abandoning. Those people have a "hard on" to make a call that many of us with over 25 years in this business have yet to even see!

Regards