Correct Mechanics?
 

I was at a high school game recently and this play happened:

Man on first, two outs. Batter hits a gapper to right-center. Batter is going for three and is thrown out. Home plate umpire says run does not score before the out at third. He signals this by making the "safe" signal. Defense's manager is confused, thinking umpire counted the run.

Was this the correct mechanic?

No, he should have had his hands in front of his face waving them emphatically, almost like a football referee signaling Time Out, while loudly proclaiming "No run, no run!"

Technically he's correct, but the signal should be overhead and not a "safe" signal at shoulder height.

The guy on first needs to unhitch the cart.

Why would an umpire signal safe at the plate when there's no play there?

He wasn't signaling safe, it seems that he was using the safe signal to wipe off the run.

Exactly. Same way I'd wipe off a basket in basketball. He should signal 2-3 times and turn and vocalize "no run, no run."

A long time ago, at a proschool far, far away, the mechanic that was taught was to cross your forearms in front and about head heighth, and say, "the run does not score."

When the run did score, we would point at the plate and say, "score the run."

But again, that was a long time ago.

But in basketball, it's easy to interpret that signal. In baseball, that signal is used to indicate "the runner made it to the base safely" so I can see where the coach got confused.

Agreed

So the mechanic was wrong, but the call was correct...doesn't make any difference in the play..."coach, the run doesn't count." End of discussion.

Okay, that's a simple way of conveniently closing the discussion, but the OP was about the mechanic itself, not the call or the explanation to the coach. So, the discussion is not necessarily closed at your request.:rolleyes:

If we went by when the discussion should have ended, it would have ended after post #2, where I gave the correct mechanic.

Waving your hands in front of your face is the correct mechanic? Most everyone else is describing waving off the run by moving the hands/arms back and forth while extending them over one's head.

Yeah, I guess I was referring to the "on the field" discussion.

No thread stops after only two posts! :)

I meant to say arms, but said hands. I originally had it like a football ref signaling time out, but realized the arms shouldn't be that extended and quickly changed my post, because it could easily be confused with a time out signal. That's why the hands should be just above the head, not arms fully extended. In my haste to change my post, I inadvertently said hands.