Running Lane - Whose Call?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Carl Childress

I've read the full thread. At the risk of offensing some people, there's a great deal of misinformation in these posts. Running lane rules are essentially the same everywhere.

1. It's always the plate umpire's call. 2-man,l 3-man, 4-man. If he's gets screened, he should move from high school to junior high. Especially in 2-man, the base umpire will never have the correct angle.

At what level? What mechanics? It is one thing to make such a claim; it is another to find some evidence. Sorry, I am not seeing any statement that says “always” on this issues in any mechanics I use.

I just looked up in the CCA Manual and there is no such statement about who has or who does not have this call. Not a single line as of the 2011 book for sure. If there is something different in the 2012 book, please reference the wording if it is different. It is not even explicit as to who can or who cannot call this play, proving original my point.

Then I looked at our mechanics from my state (They do not use NF Mechanics BTW) and it does have the PU (they call U1) states that they should be prepared to rule on runner's interference with no one on base. In 3 Person with a runner on 1st base there is no reference to runner's interference as the PU is going up the 3rd base line and gets prepared to rule on a play going to 3rd base.

This is why always makes no sense when in simple rotations we might not be in a position to view other plays. It is of course more common in 2 person for the PU to be in that position and they are the only one in many cases because there is no one else that can see this play (BU is in the middle of the diamond after all).

I would agree with most of the time and even 9 out of 10 times in a 2 Person system, but not always and certainly not always when you add an umpire or two. Let us get real when other umpires are doing nothing but watch a runner down the line and the PU has to rule on other things. I would not expect them to get back and then rule on something they were not watching at all at the last minute.

Peace