Forgive me, for I have sinned
 

Single-umpire (me) 9th grade game last night.

Bases empty, 2 outs. Pitch is swung on and hit. BR takes off for 1st. I didn't immediately see where the ball went, but I "thought" it was fouled back behind me. I put my arms up and call out "Foul ball", only to then see the ball bouncing slowly up the first-base line in fair territory. The players continue running the play out as if they hadn't heard me (but I know I said it loud enough for at least the coaches to hear in the dugouts).

BR reaches first safely.

I DON'T SAY A WORD, AND LET PLAY CONTINUE FROM THERE, WITH BR AT FIRST.

Luckily (if you can call it that) for me, the next batter struck out for the 3rd out of the inning.

I've been beating myself up over this ever since, because I IMMEDIATELY KNEW what I should've done, and I didn't do it. And the reason I didn't do it is because I didn't want to go over to Team A's coach and say "Coach, I screwed this one up and I'm sorry".

I have learned three things:
1) I need to improve on watching the ball all the way to the catcher's mitt.
2) I must ALWAYS make sure I know where the ball is before I yell out "Foul". Better to call it late then to call too early.
3) When I screw up and I know I screwed up, don't try to ignore it. Swallow my pride, fix the mistake as much as the rules allow, and move on.

If the ball is fouled back behind you, there is no need to say anything. When everyone in the park knows it is a foul ball, you don't have to tell them also.

Try not calling any fouls behind you at all.

Here's how:

(1) Batter fouls ball back to the screen.
(2) Reach into ball bag and grab baseball
(3) Hand ball to catcher

+1. I may call 3-4 foul balls *per game* when I work the plate. On the bases, it's even less, if any at all.

I'll echo what you've heard here. Call the close ones - the ones where your decision needs to be heard to stop play. 90% or more of all fouls don't need to be called at all.

One of my (many) pet peeves is the newby or the 1-year of experience repeated 20 times veteran umpires who have to yell foul ball the millisecond that they see the ball hit foul. Had this happen to one of those guys. Ball swung at hard and barely hit - rolling foul down the line with lots of spin but staying straight. Partner yells foul, ball hits the grass lip and the spin propels it immediately back foul.

Foul is an action that can't be taken back. Avoid it, call it when and if you HAVE to.

Lesson learned. Henceforth, I shall only call foul when absolutely necessary, starting with my game tonight.

For what it's worth, you can wait until the ball is touched or comes to rest before making your 'Foul' call. That'll prevent most mistakes and make you disappear a bit out there. Good luck with the rest of your season.

Your only mistake was rushing your call. Slow down, learn from it.

3 words to live by. Pause, read, react. We all were in your shoes at one time. Learn from your mistakes.

Well, I think it's more than that. He had no idea where the ball was and made a call based on a guess on where the ball was.

If he adopts the philosophy above, this won't ever happen. A call on an obvious foul ball is unnecessary.

Pause, read, and react is for deciding whether to go out on batted balls to the outfield, not calling obvious foul balls around home plate.

Yep. There shouldn't have even been a call to make in the first place, much less a call that had to be rushed.

I disagree. Pause, Read, React is a mantra for all calls. Stop moving, read the play, react to the play.

What are you "reading" on a dribbler up the first base line that ends up 10 feet foul? The "read" part is you reading the outfielders to decide whether or not to go out.

Proper use of the eyes and good timing are different than the "PRR" concept, IMO.