Running Lane - Whose Call?

[tcarilli]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

This was a shot fly ball in short center and the SS made a great play to dive at the ball. I had no idea if the SS caught the ball or not and immediately looked to my partner at first base (3 person game) and he gave me a signal of "out" without me using my voice or asking any other way but giving him a look of "help." My partner knew what I wanted instinctively and we made the call and it took probably a second to complete.

That's exactly how it is supposed to work, it was your responsibility, you got blocked you looked to him he helped! He helped you, you made the call. That is awesome when it works. Hurray! That is infinitely better than getting together after the fact especially on a catch/no catch. This is what good umpires do! Note, however, that this is not the same as U1 making the call that belongs to you, while you at the same time keep responsibility for a call.

Originally Posted by JRutledge

people on this site are...just some people on the site that talks about what they think... I do not work for any of them and never will.

Why, then, engage any of us? I wrote earlier about the principal of charity. I am assuming you don't want us to read your thoughts on certain things and conclude: I don't work or will never work for him, so what he writes has no merit. Yet, I submit that is exactly what you are doing to those of us who differ in opinion from you, even slightly.

I have learned some things from this thread in terms of the way I think about that play in particular and mechanics in general. Writing them out and considering them has had the effect of softening some of my positions and hardening others. That is why, I participate in this forum and in the principle of charity is why I assume others do the same. Any day, I can learn something new or reconsider something I have learned before is a good day.