Oh, like he was never the beneficiary of such a call during his career.:rolleyes:

It's all because Layne and others don't want to be made to look bad on replay, which IMO has done more harm than good for umpires in recent days.

Wow, for someone who wasn't trying to offend anyone, or say anything derogatory, you sure did a good job of both. Please name a lazy looking umpire that I like.

Really? I thought the point of the neighborhood play was not requiring a touch.

He may have benefitted, but since he said he did not believe in it I expect he did not expect it. Go to the truck and review the video and tell us of a case where he argued because he did not get it when he really did not come close to touching the base.

As long as ML baseball allows a runner to maliciously steam roll the catcher the argument for the neighborhood call, to protect middle infielders is weak. They are big boys too, and unlike the catcher, they can get out of the way after making the touch.

I don't think any of them want to be proven wrong on slo-mo, that is an excellent point and excellent reason not to call the neighborhood play on national TV during an ALCS.

I will admit I have made the neighborhood call and never been questioned on it. But I believe my neighborhood is a bit closer than this one. Touch the bag, sometime during the play, drag a foot, do something to make it appear you touched the bag and you have a better chance of getting the call. Straddle it, with good distance between your feet and the bag and you get what you get.

Two man has to sort of sacrifice this play, too much to look at and still respect the play at first.

I agree with Kevin, he's gotta touch the base at some point. If he catches as he's pivoting off the base, or already shifted off the base, fine, not splitting hairs there. But its hard to split the hairs when he never ever touched the base.

Exactly, and in two man, you probably still get the out. But in 3 (if U3 is on inside), 4, or 6, its alot easier to have safe. But if you don't touch, and you don't get the call, nobody to blame but yourself.

I was a middle infielder when I played long ago, mostly F4 but played some F6
also. Both of my sons were catchers. It is a real mystery to me why some think the neighborhood call is necessary to protect middle infielders from sliding runners and catchers are still subject to crashing base runners in MLB.

Touch the base sometime during the play...:mad:

You touch the bag on the way to stepping toward your throw. You receive the ball while actually no longer in contact with the bag, and then make the throw in a continuous rhythm, giving the appearance of having been on the bag when the feed was caught. That's the neighborhood play, Mr. Umpire. Call the others whatever you want, but the neighborhood play is granted when you have left a bag you've touched at some point during the play.

Interesting. My understanding has been similar to San Diego Steve's on this. But, having an open mind, I'll look into it to see if I've been mistaken for 30 years. Anything's possible.

your best Friend Tim McCelland...LOL I know he is your favorite umpire...:)

My understanding is more like Kevin's -- you might not need to be touching the base at exactly the time you've caught the ball, but touch (or make it look like you touched) the base at some point during the pivot. And, the amount of scrutiny I can give it as an umpire depends on the number of umpires and the quality of the throw.

My understanding parallels the part of your post I bolded. And, according to some pro instructors, the debate often is to whom they make it look like they touched the base. Actual touching, is not required.

Call whatever you like.

If the infielder glides through it smoothly and well-timed and catches the ball after scraping or tapping the bag, I have an out. If he's merely near the bag with each foot or either foot, and at no time during the play touches the bag, or if he touched the bag and the rhythm of the play is disturbed by a bad throw, which becomes the reason he is taken off the bag, then I don't have an out.

That's the way I learned it from some of its pioneers way before I ever even imagined I'd someday be an umpire.

No worries. I was just interested in your interpretation, having never heard it before.

It matters not. We stopped giving the neighborhood play about five years ago.

Who were they, Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett?:)