Force Play

[BretMan]

One umpire can "instruct" the other all he wants, but if they're following standard procedures the call belongs to the umpire that made it. It is his alone to change or stick with and he can either listen to his partner's advice or ignore it. One umpire can't overrule another.

Any cooperation between the two for the rest of the tournament should be guided by these exact same procedures.

Have I ever had something like this come up? Yes, a few times. How did I handle it? Exactly like I described above.

We huddle, I tell him what I saw, he tells me what he saw, and then the umpire that made the call either changes it or he doesn't. If it's the wrong call, leave it to the coaches to file their protests and let the protest committee sort it out.

And we definitely talk it over after the game, far away from the maddening crowd.