Detecting OBS on steal attempts

[Dakota]

How can I tell from just in front of the plate whether the fielder is blocking the basepath.

That is not where you should be. You should be moving up the base line and out into the infield for a better view.

Remember, angle is more important than distance, and right in front of the plate is a rotten angle.

[WestMichBlue]

You should be moving up the base line and out into the infield for a better view

Hey superman, how you gonna do that?

You are in the slot; your nose following that pitch all the way into the catcher's glove. In a blink of the eye the catcher has bounced up and fired a bullet to 2B. The ball reaches 2B in one second. (Being a good engineer, you know that catcher is about 88' from 2B and a ball at 60mph is traveling at 88 ft/sec.)

You leave the slot and go around the batter and now you have used up half of your one second and you are 6' into foul territority. And you are going to get how far into the infield?

WMB

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by WestMichBlue

You should be moving up the base line and out into the infield for a better view

Hey superman, how you gonna do that?

You are in the slot; your nose following that pitch all the way into the catcher's glove. In a blink of the eye the catcher has bounced up and fired a bullet to 2B. The ball reaches 2B in one second. (Being a good engineer, you know that catcher is about 88' from 2B and a ball at 60mph is traveling at 88 ft/sec.)

You leave the slot and go around the batter and now you have used up half of your one second and you are 6' into foul territority. And you are going to get how far into the infield?

WMB

If this 1-umpire game is an NCAA game, then yeah, you're right.
If this 1-umpire game is 12U, you have time to get some angle, and a little distance, to be able to call this play.
But I have not had the experience of very many high-level 1-umpire games - hopefully the two are mutually exclusive.

If you're stuck in a game with a catcher with a rocket arm (whatever age), and working alone, the best you can do is 1 or 2 steps to the side to get some angle on the play.

All that said... your 1st response was best. If the runner didn't slow or deviate (and they usually don't on a steal), and was not contacted before the ball got there, you have no OBS. If the runner DID deviate, then just look at the fielder's feet to see where she is. Not the best way to call it, but from 85 feet, what are you gonna do?

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by WestMichBlue

You should be moving up the base line and out into the infield for a better view

Hey superman, how you gonna do that?

You are in the slot; your nose following that pitch all the way into the catcher's glove. In a blink of the eye the catcher has bounced up and fired a bullet to 2B. The ball reaches 2B in one second. (Being a good engineer, you know that catcher is about 88' from 2B and a ball at 60mph is traveling at 88 ft/sec.)

You leave the slot and go around the batter and now you have used up half of your one second and you are 6' into foul territority. And you are going to get how far into the infield?

WMB

I do it all the time. As mccrowder points out, the 1 umpire game does not have the catcher that can pop up firing (usually).