Phil Cuzzi's Vision

[kylejt]

He hustled out, got in a great set position, paused and made the call. The trouble was, again in my opinion, that he was too close to the play take in the whole scene. I think his timing was okay.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by kylejt

He hustled out, got in a great set position, paused and made the call. The trouble was, again in my opinion, that he was too close to the play take in the whole scene. I think his timing was okay.

I think this is exactly what happened. The ball came down virtually right on top of him and he barely saw it before it hit F7's glove/the ground.

Whoever said an umpire calling this from 100 feet away would have seen it better is exactly right.

[Cub42]

The reason that a 6 man crew is used in the P/O's is to improve outfield coverage on catch no catch calls, and for improved F/F coverage. The only thing I can come up with regarding Cuzzi's call is he either didn't pick up the ball until after it hit fair, or he called it too soon.

[BigGref]

Just plain missed it, it happens...
So what is the common process in determining Fair/Foul, do you look at the ground and wait for the ball to hit, or do you try and track the ball into the ground and make the determination then?

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by BigGref

Just plain missed it, it happens...
So what is the common process in determining Fair/Foul, do you look at the ground and wait for the ball to hit, or do you try and track the ball into the ground and make the determination then?

You keep your eye everlastingly on the ball. If you look at the ground you can miss the ball touching the fielder, which it did in this case. You have to see the whole play. Cuzzi needed to judge where the fielder's glove was when it touched the baseball, which was in fair territory.

[mrm21711]

Originally Posted by Cub42

The reason that a 6 man crew is used in the P/O's is to improve outfield coverage on catch no catch calls, and for improved F/F coverage. The only thing I can come up with regarding Cuzzi's call is he either didn't pick up the ball until after it hit fair, or he called it too soon.

Which is why Evans has recommended putting umpires around the warning track between LF & CF and RF & CF - IMO, especially with replay now, having 2 umpires on the lines is just pointless. I mean at times they are literally 20-30 feet behind the 1B & 3B umpire.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by mrm21711

Which is why Evans has recommended putting umpires around the warning track between LF & CF and RF & CF - IMO, especially with replay now, having 2 umpires on the lines is just pointless. I mean at times they are literally 20-30 feet behind the 1B & 3B umpire.

Some players and coaches were standing around the parking area before my games yesterday and were discussing this call. I joined in the conversation while getting dressed and one guy was saying that in the Mexican League playoffs that there were 6 umpires, and two of them were on the warning track in left center and right center. The guy then said one of the players collided with the umpire in left center while running down a fly ball. He said it was funny as hell, and wondered why there were umpires in the outfield. I've heard of angels in the outfield, but never umpires (except U2 w/no runners, of course). Now I know where the idea came from.

[gordon30307]

This was a gross miss. Doesn't mean he sucks as an umpire. However it makes it easier for me to get over a "gross miss" (Haven't had one for awhile) knowing that it can happen to the best of the best.

[JRutledge]

I do not see how he missed this call. This was about as bad of a miss as I have ever seen and he was in much better position than most umpires at most levels ever get to make that call. And many people are right about this does not make him a bad umpire, but how you miss something like this really is beyond belief.

Peace