Bailed out by a Class Manager

[Robert E. Harrison]

No player is that fast, to get to 1st at the same time as a sinking liner in front of F7. U2 would be in B or C position (depending upon where and when you were trained) and be able to watch the trap and still be able to get a good look at the touch at 1st and third. Problem solved.

[Robert E. Harrison]

Mark,

Top of the last, 2 outs, home up by one, R3. Grounder to F6's right and throw pulls F3 up the line and the swipe by F3 is close on BR. Do you watch R3 touch home or help your partner on the tag/no tag down the first base line.
I tossed Coach Mikulik for the Asheville Tourists (A Ball Sally League) at Greenville Drive a week before his famous meltdown on this play when my partner told me he was watching R3 touch home and had nothing for me at first.

[DG]

Originally Posted by REFANDUMP

This is one of those situations that I hate to bring up as I have to admit that I screwed up !!! I do however feel that I can learn from this, and am looking for suggestions on how to deal with this situation.

2 person crew, I have the dish. We have sun coming in from over the left field fence. Fly ball hit to the right of the left fielder (towards the LF foul line) who dives for a catch. It appears to me that the ball bounces, but I can honestly say I didn't get a good look at it as I was looking towards the sun. I look at my partner and he isn't giving me anything as he's watching the batter-runner touch first and go towards second. Since I haven't called an out, the batter continues on to second base where he ends up after the ball comes back to the infield.

Time is called and the visiting team coach comes out to talk to me (to his credit, very calmly and professionally) and asks what I had on that play. I told him that it appeared to me that the ball skipped but agreed to check with my partner as the sun was a factor and I wasn't 100% sure. My partner was unable to help and I was prepared to go with my call when the other coach comes in to tell me that the ball was caught. This was a great game and he didn't want to win this way. I called the out, no one complained and I promised the coach (only half jokingly) that I'd send him flowers !!!

I learned two things from this play.
1) Get your sometimes lazy arse out further than a couple of steps behind the plate on flyballs.
2) This is a situation we don't think about and should make sure we pregame with our partners.

How do you deal with potential sunfields, and would you have handled this play the same way that I did ??

I will offer the suggestion you asked for instead of micro-analyze who should do what on the play.

Your lesson learned #1 is spot on, get up the line, shield your eyes with your hands from the sun and make the call. If I were the BU in this situation I probably would not be much help, although I will give you what I have and it only takes a second to watch BR touch 1b.

As for #2, you can't pregame every possibility, unless you know beforehand at this field that the sun is not a problem until 7th inning on the LF line.

[jicecone]

What I don't understand here is how you can ask all players to step out of their mechanics when you need help. Certainly they can not know when you can or can not see something clearly.

The poster clearly implied that had he hustled more from behind the plate, he probably would have been able to make the correct call. At what point and how, do you communicate to your partner that you can't see something, so please adjust your mechanics so you can cover my butt? Is your partner supposed to help you out the whole game, or just when he receives the signal by osmosis that your eyes are blinded?

Listen, shit happens on the field especially in a two man system. Get out there and hustle and take care of your responsibilities. If by chance you can assist you partner, fine but make sure you get your job done correctly first. If you can't see a clear out then it is NOT an out.

I had a game where the ball was hit directly into the sun and when I next saw it, it was at the base of the outfield fence. My partner was watching the touch at first. OC said the ball hit the pole outside the field and bounced back. The runner made it to second and that's were he stayed until the next batter drove him in.

If life was perfect, they wouldn't need umpires!

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Robert E. Harrison

Mark,

Top of the last, 2 outs, home up by one, R3. Grounder to F6's right and throw pulls F3 up the line and the swipe by F3 is close on BR. Do you watch R3 touch home or help your partner on the tag/no tag down the first base line.
I tossed Coach Mikulik for the Asheville Tourists (A Ball Sally League) at Greenville Drive a week before his famous meltdown on this play when my partner told me he was watching R3 touch home and had nothing for me at first.

Good for you. Your partner did his job, and you did yours.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by jicecone

What I don't understand here is how you can ask all players to step out of their mechanics when you need help. Certainly they can not know when you can or can not see something clearly.

The poster clearly implied that had he hustled more from behind the plate, he probably would have been able to make the correct call. At what point and how, do you communicate to your partner that you can't see something, so please adjust your mechanics so you can cover my butt? Is your partner supposed to help you out the whole game, or just when he receives the signal by osmosis that your eyes are blinded?

Listen, shit happens on the field especially in a two man system. Get out there and hustle and take care of your responsibilities. If by chance you can assist you partner, fine but make sure you get your job done correctly first. If you can't see a clear out then it is NOT an out.

Exactly. Mechanics are like policy--deviate from them at your own risk. I just would love to see the fireworks when BU misses F3 cold-cocking R1 (or even just obstruction or a missed base) because he's digging in PU's garden. At least if PU misses the call, you both were doing what you were supposed to be. If you miss your call, you weren't.

[Adam]

Moderator note:

Play nice and act like professionals.

[dougprob]

The post seems to indicate that the BU was in A position at the start of the at bat. I really don't know how much help he would be able to provide even if he was staring the play down. The fielder would have blocked his view and it appears to me that the BU would have had a bit of a sun issue also.

Get out from behind the plate. Make the best call you can make. Do your job, don't rely on some one with their own responsibilities and possibly an even worse view than you had.


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