Asking for help???

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Cub42

1) When you are in C, if you are not 100% sure if he held the bag, or on a swipe tag, go to your partner BEFORE you make a call and ask him exactly what you want to know. " Did he hold the bag ". Your partner should answer either yes or no, then you make the call. This should be discussed in your pregame conference.

Absolutely. And under no circumstances should you ever ask your partner, "Whaddya got?" Like Cub42 said, ask him exactly what you want to know. I had a partner ask me whaddya got, I told him "the plate."

[LMan]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

I had a partner ask me whaddya got, I told him "the plate."

HA! .........

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by btdt

The road to hell is littered with chaos in the image of “getting it right”. It is not unusual to create more problems than you had. Be in position, know the situation and read the play accordingly, announce your judgment with confidence.
Limit “getting it right” conferences to a pre-determined set of criteria that you have decided are acceptable situations.
The theory of “Getting it right” is a double edged sword.

I have to agree with this. I am not a big "get it right" kind of guy. I think if I cannot get most calls right that I am responsible for, find someone else to be in that position or hire more umpires to allow us to be all over the play. I have seen a number of plays this year where every time the coach thinks a play is close, they want me to have a discussion with a partner or me when I am not in any better position to see the play as my partner (if not worse situation).

I even had a play this year in a 2 man system when I was in the A position the coach wanted me to get help on a pulled foot which I clearly saw. I think we need to stop asking for help on every single play. Even plays that might require asking for help, we do not need to give help on all of those plays. Seeing a tag or if someone is touching the bag is not that hard to call. It just seems like this attitude is infecting the game to the point of no return. Not to say that there are not appropriate times to give help on these plays, but not every single time.

Peace

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Steven Tyler

Is that the approved Little League mechanic? I can't imagine anyone working a Freshman or higher game saying anything this foolish on the field.

You mean what my partner said, as in "whaddya got?," I presume.

This was a Varsity game 3 years ago with a veteran partner who knows the right questions to ask on an appeal, but chose to be lazy and put the call on my shoulders. And this guy was in "A position" when he asked. No excuse. I had no idea what he wanted as far as information from me. He could have chosen "Did he tag him?" or "Did he pull his foot?" or any specific question.

My assignor (who has more experience umpiring than you, me, and Garth put together) told me he would have told him that he had "heartburn" if asked "whaddya got?"

[bisonpitcher]

In hindsight, yes I agree that I shouldnt have even granted the appeal. And I understand what everyone is saying about positioning, but I also find it hard to believe that it seem no one here has ever got obscured on this type of play from C position. People are saying adjust to the throw and I completely understand that, however what was so weird about this play was the fact that the first baseman lunged at the last instant to his left which obscured my view. At the time of the call, I was on the edge of the mound dirt ( I had moved about 30-40 feet toward the 45 foot line from my C position, just about 2 steps from the grass cut.) Like I said, I have never had this issue before. And for the record, I did go to my partner and ask him if he had a foot on the bag, and while standing close to me (within conversational speaking distance), thats when he yelled that he couldnt see that. I definitely agree that I shouldnt have granted the appeal to the asst., and the only reason i didnt ask for help on the play before the call was that i could see no seperation; and then after the call nothing was said by the coaches or fans until i trotted back to A when the Asst. coach asked for the appeal.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by bisonpitcher

At the time of the call, I was on the edge of the mound dirt ( I had moved about 30-40 feet toward the 45 foot line from my C position, just about 2 steps from the grass cut.)

With a throw coming from F6, you moved into a "straightline" position. Move somewhat perpenicular to the throw, not parallel. That will give you a view of any space between F3's foot and the bag.