What would you call?

[jdmara]

Maybe I'm just taking an approach from basketball and misapplying it to baseball but if the following situation occurs, this is how I would handle it:

Originally Posted by jdmara

Two outs, 1-1 count. R2 stealing on the pitch, B3 swings at the pitch and misses. F2 attempts to throw out R3 and is interfered with by B2. When it was obvious R2 was safe, PU declares R2 out on the interference by B3. I approach PU (aka Randy):

Me: "Randy, what did you see?"
PU: "F2 caught the pitch and attempted to throw out R2 at 3B. F2's hand hit the bat of B3, who had both feet out of the box"
Me: "Who did you call out on the interference?"
Randy: "R3"
Me: "Randy, I believe you've misapplied the interference rule. Shouldn't B3 be called out on the interference?"
Randy: "You are right"

Randy then declared B3 out on the play instead of R2.

I didn't undermine the PU by yelling across the field at the PU. I calmly approached him (would have stepped away from players if they were in the area) and asked him what he saw. If I something that he needed to know (for instance, on a tag play the ball was dropped but he was blocked from seeing it), I would approach him, ask him what he saw, and then tell him what I saw. The calling umpire will make the final decision on what to call. I'm just providing what I saw and then s/he makes the decision.

-Josh