Who Awards Bases?

[Marty Rogers]

This one came up at our association
meeting last night, of course with
various opinions:

After an overthrow into dead ball
territory, who awards bases, with
1) BU in A, 2) BU in B, 3) BU in C?

Answer: A (BU)
B (PU)
C (Either)
D (None of the above)

[llump34]

Generally, the plate umpire will always be responsible for observing the overthrown ball, and determining whether or not it goes into dead ball territory, while the base umpire tracks the runners (in case it doesn't).

Once a dead ball is declared, it's really a joint responsibility to make sure the runners get where they're supposed to be. If this takes a "huddle," so be it. Otherwise, if I *had* to pick one of the two umpires, I'd probably pick the plate umpire, since he's probably better positioned to see the throw, and thus determine where the runners were at the time of the throw. This is particularly true of balls thrown in from the outfield on a 60-foot diamond, where the base umpire may be in the process of breaking inside.

In the pro-run schools, I understand they typically want *both* umpires to be doing it in unison.