Ouch, tough night for a Brother

[Steven Tyler]

Originally Posted by jkumpire

You're half right. It's not so much timing as a distance and angle issue. He also might have fogotten a basic mechanic of umpiring on plays like this. But, he also needs a small benefit of a doubt, the Out of Play area at this park is much bigger than other venues and he might have lost some perspective. More about this later.

The part you are missing deals with his equipment.

I always pivot and follow catcher, but not this close. If I see he is going to make a play, the mask comes off. If F2 goes back towards the net, I try to get back next to the net to see if ball touches before a possible catch.