"Clearly" beat the throw?

[Emperor Ump]

Originally Posted by bobbybanaduck

it's likely along the lines of the collegiate "strike" zone. the assignors/evaluators want a huge zone. they want strikes, which lead to outs, which leads to game over. close play at first? he wasn't CLEARLY safe? nevermind that closeness, just go ahead and bang him out. it'll get you off the field faster. super philosophy.

This was my take too after reading the OP. Get the outs where you can.