Check with partner
 

Almost too quiet in here lately.

For discussion:

Close force play with an out call (pick a base). No pulled foot, swipe tag, etc. Just purely judgment on a bang-bang play.

Offense coach asks calling umpire if s/he would check with partner.

Do you always check w/ partner? Never? What do you tell the coach?

I will let the coach know that I saw everything I needed to see to make a call, and I don't need any help from my partner.

As a side, I get irritated when a partner makes a call, then comes to me after a coach talks to him/her, and he/she tells me, "I'm damn sure I blew that one, so I'm going to change my call." Why the hell come to me then? You're going to give everyone the impression that you're changing the call because of what I saw. And if it was that obvious and you eat the call, then I catch hell for missing it just as badly as you did! Own it when you make it and don't come my way.

We had this happen at our state tournament last weekend. Only problem was, video showed (after the game) it wasn't nearly as close as the calling official thought it was. Calling official said he had all the facts.

This is where we need to redefine facts. Whether or not the runner touches the base before the fielder is a FACT not a JUDGEMENT. When you look to higher levels of softball/baseball those are reviewable because they are facts not judgements.

The only person in the complex who thought that play was correct was the one being paid to gather the facts. Maybe if he was willing to check his facts with a partner the crew would have ruled the play correctly. Instead, the crew failed the game.