How to "Call" a ball not caught
 

I had this problem last night:

One out, R1 and R2. Rec ball, but the guys kind of take it seriously.

Batter hits a line drive to the shortstop. The ball hits the ground briefly (for a millisecond), and then goes into the SS's glove. No question in my mind, but it was a question in the mind of many of the fielders and runners.

I didn't call anything, didn't say the batter is out, didn't say "hey guys, run", or anything like that. Just kind of looked at the SS, and waited for things to happen.

They did. After a couple of moments, the SS figured out what was going on, and tagged R2, who had come off of the base, but was confused as to whether to run or not. SS then took two steps to second base, stepped on it, and I called R1 out. He had not run (he was confused, too).

I felt sorry for all of the confusion, and it would have been nice to make some sort of call that made everything clear right away, but I don't know what I should have done? Point to the ground? Call "fair ball" (OK, that was a joke, I'm not really asking that), or something else?

Well,
 

I guess I am confused:

Why didn't you give a safe sign and voice, "No Catch."

Maybe others here will correct me.

hmmmm . . . good idea. Rats I didn't think of it on the field.

Agreed.

Yes, I agree. Signal "safe," and verbalize "no catch."

If F6 tried to, and is, selling that he caught the ball on the fly, it can be appropriate to point to the ground to further sell your call. But use this sparingly, I had a partner do this on every call, and when he had a close one, he never "another level" to take it to.

You didn't........ Groan!
Never mind!

Typically I don't even say catch. I give the safe sign and say "No!...No!" Although occasionally I do say "No Catch"

-Josh

Go with Tim's suggestion and say "No Catch" it removes any doubt. Similar to potential interference/obstruction calls on a runner/fielder. It you don't have anything, go ahead and signal safe and say "That's nothing" so everyone knows. It saves you from having the players stop or delay their next action wondering if you were going to call something, and then the coaches go nuts because your silence contributed to the problem.

Better "safe" than sorry.

I thought the safe signal combined with the call of "no catch" was pretty basic Umpiring 101 for any close catch/no catch situation.

:confused:

Are you saying to give the "safe" signal when you DON'T have obstruction/interference?

I've never heard of this.

It tells the teams that you saw it and it's nothing.

My, My! It seems that what some of us take for granted as the "basic teachings" of umpiring seem to have eluded many of the posters here. I am amazed because these signals (catch/no catch, action seen but no interference or obstruction) are taught in our clinics and must be mastered by our students. I know because I am the one that teaches these!

Same here. I quit using the word 'catch' a few years ago because it sometimes caused confusion. I do not think I have anyone confused by a big safe sign and "NO!"

Why do you have to explain how long it hit the ground are you trying to convince us that maybe it just could of not, hit the ground. Is there a chance that everyone except you saw it differently. Not trying to be a wise guy here, I have just found that some people tend to explain things with a little more detail, when they are trying to convince others of what they saw.

Besides that, I agree with the crowd here, verbalize "no catch" and take the worry out of being close.

That's my take. If I don't have to say catch, then I don't. "No!..No!" gets the idea across.

-Josh