HP umpire positioning on bunt

[Steven Tyler]

Working two man which is often the case with most, I doubt I would have been following the ball down that far.

Runner never really had a chance to really get out of the box because the bunted ball was high and inside. Batter was mostly trying to protect himself.

[Manny A]

So, if the BR stays in the box because he feels the ball will stay foul, as we sometimes see in amateur play, we're supposed to also stay at home plate and possibly have to make a long-distance call?

I agree we should do our best never to affect play. But when a player gets lazy on us, why should we also become lazy? If a coach gets upset at me, I'll tell him I can't wait for his player to finally wake up.

[MD Longhorn]

Well, 2 things really.
1) You should be able to see this from home plate - you call 90% of your foul/fair balls from either your initial position behind the plate (no time to move at all) or the 1BL or 3BL extended (minimal time to move) - no reason you can't make this call from there.
2) If you DO feel the need to move down the line for a better look, the closer you get the more you can accurately make this call without being exactly on the foul line. 1 yard foul would not have hindered his judgement on this.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Well, 2 things really.
1) You should be able to see this from home plate - you call 90% of your foul/fair balls from either your initial position behind the plate (no time to move at all) or the 1BL or 3BL extended (minimal time to move) - no reason you can't make this call from there.

Until BR blocks your view...

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

2) If you DO feel the need to move down the line for a better look, the closer you get the more you can accurately make this call without being exactly on the foul line. 1 yard foul would not have hindered his judgement on this.

Unless the ball was touched on the edge of the line...

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by Matt

Until BR blocks your view...

Or, as was the case in this play, F1 blocks it. F1 trailed the ball up the line, and that would have caused the PU some problems if he's on 1BLX.