Asking for Help

[ozzy6900]

Gotta tell 'ya, the only time I asked for help from my partner was when I was having a heart attack on the field.

1. You get in position to see the play.
2. You see the entire play from start to finish.
3. You find the ball so you see if thee was control or not.
4. You make the call.

It's called 1 play - 1 call. If you are doing your job correctly (it takes time to learn), when a coach approaches you to ask for help, you just tell him, "John, if I needed help to make the call, I would have asked for it before I made the call. Let's play ball, John." and hustle into position.

I agree that umpires need to have the gonads to basically say "no" to the coach but the umpire needs to be in position and properly trained. Going out there and expecting your partner to be "your backup" is not how you approach officiating. In the rare instance where you need to meet and discuss a ruling or call, that is acceptable (as noted previously from NCAA & MLBUM).

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

Gotta tell 'ya, the only time I asked for help from my partner was when I was having a heart attack on the field.

Pussy.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

Pussy.

OK, that's twice now I've had to scold you for not using a smilie. You're going to give him another heart attack.

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900
Gotta tell 'ya, the only time I asked for help from my partner was when I was having a heart attack on the field.

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

Pussy.

Yeah, I was weak that time, but the first time, I was able to call 911 myself! He, he, he!

[dash_riprock]

Way to stay out there Oz.

[Eastshire]

I almost never ask for help, not because I'm philosophically opposed to it, but because I'm never sure if the PU is even looking at my play. I have my responsibilities and he has his, why do I assume he's looking at my responsibility.

If I kick it, I just need to work harder.

[bigda65]

Ive had two, one on a DP ball. First game of the season, diving stop by F4, and a throw to 2B, F6 calmly shuffles over to 2B slides across the base with his pivot foot, plants it about 2' off , catches the ball, then fires to 1B.
In processing what I had just saw, I emphatically gave the safe sign with an off the base move, I never once followed the throw to first, actually I never even thought about it, I was reprocessing what I had just seen on my first call of the year. So in that case I had to ask.

The other was a bunt. Left handed batter bunts up the 1B line, ball took a high hop off of the plate, hits the ground and bounces again probably 6' up the line, runner runs into the ball. Where I made a mistake was, that I assumed it hit him in fair territory, because at the instant he contacted the ball (with his chest) i simply lined up the direction of the ball in relation with the line. I called time and called the runner out. O-manager calls time comes out and asks if I will go for help, he thinks it was foul when the runner contacted the ball. no problem, go to 1B ump "charles where was the ball when the runner contacted it" foul he says, "are you 100% sure" no 110% he says.

So the moral of the story is "dont put yourself in a situation to have to go for help"
I put myself in both situations and had to go for help!