Running Lane - Whose Call?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by tcarilli

It can't be joint responsibility and it could be a very bad thing if they both call it.

Imagine the a play that could or could not be RLI and the plate guy makes the mechanic and says that's nothing at the same time the base guy signals and calls interference....Now what? This is why mechanics manuals have it as the responsibility of the PU.

Not everyone subscribes to the same mechanics manuals or has the same philosophy about what to call and not what to call. So we will just have to disagree on this one for that reason alone. Mechanics books are guides to positioning, they do not often share what is actually done in many situations that are not perfectly listed in those manuals. And being a multi-sport official, primary does not mean another official does not have secondary coverage and can call things to help out on a situation or give a different angle. And if the goal is to "get the play right" which I seem to read all over this board, then it would only make sense that both umpires would have an angle to get this play right.

Originally Posted by tcarilli

That procedure I described for taking plays at first is pretty standard: Read a true throw, take your eyes from the ball to the base and listen for the sound of the ball in the glove and watch for the foot touching the base. Read a non-true throw, make an adjustment depending upon how the ball will be received, how the tag will be made, whether F3 will remain on the bag etc.

Read the throw to me does not mean I need to follow the ball all over the field. Honestly all I ever do is watch the fielder play the ball and when they come up throwing I take my eyes off of them and focus on first base area. The first baseman is going to take you to the ball and you will hear when it hits their glove. And if there is a bad throw it will be obvious to you based on the movement of the first baseman. You do not have to follow the ball or "read" the ball to figure that out. A play at first is not going to take much adjustment as my positioning is going to be pretty much the same, at least with a throw from inside the diamond and with the 3rd, short and 2nd basemen. So my look at the runner is pretty much the same. I can tell you with confidence I am not going to go where that MLB umpire did and not see a first baseman off the bag by 3 feet. That is never going to be my position so I think I am confident if I a runner is out of that lane I will be on top of it. Once again it is usually a pre-gamed thing too and never had anyone make that big of a deal out of this. And in three person especially the BU is not always has only responsibility with the runner as they might have to be up the 3rd base line on a batted ball. They might be pulled away from only looking at the runner in the running lane.

Peace