How would you call it?

[DownTownTonyBrown]

Thumpferee, yours is a different situation. Time was not of the essence in the original play at 3rd. Your play makes timing important.

I likely would emphatically sell the SAFE call at 2nd. And if the fielder was smart enough to tag the runner out that is 2 feet away from him at 2nd rather than throwing home, I would ADD TO MY CALL, "Yeah, now he's out!" Hopefully my partener would recoginze the importance of timing and call the run good, or not, at home based upon the time of the tagout at 2nd.

In your scenario, you suggested that if the runner was out at 2nd, the out call would be immediate. In this case there is no reason to hurry or to sell the call. It would be at my own pace and a matter-of-fact call. JMHO

Generally, I have found the defense is EXPECTING the out call at 2nd and when I call the runner safe, the defense is lost and unsure whether they should tag, throw, take a pee, ask their coach for advice, etc.... and by then the slide through is back on base and the run has scored.

To call a runner safe when he has slid through and is off-base is a gray area that calls for HTBT - it is not an everytime deal.

[Edited by DownTownTonyBrown on Apr 23rd, 2003 at 12:34 PM]