This pic is pretty close to the view the umpire had. Not much to complain about.

http://www.eteamz.com/softballumpire...lipboard03.jpg

I'm no mechanics zealot; all I was saying was on this one play, they way it happened, a critical piece of information was the line up of Morneau's foot and F2's glove at the leading edge of the plate. Clearly, the PU had a very good look from where he was.

Dakota, I thought we were disagreeing about his positioning?

No, I never said he was in a bad position, only that 1BLX would have been better. Here is my OP:

Great position.

If there was a superior position, the mlb umpires would be in it.

and obviously looking over this play from behind it would be an inferior position.

Short end of of 3BLE exposed in LAA-NYY game

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | LAA@NYY: Granderson triples twice, throws out Matsui - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

:eek:

Looks to me like 1B extended would have given the umpire a better angle on this particular call. The catcher's body blocked the umpire's view of much of the play, and 1BE would have, in this case, given the umpire a good 90 to the tag.

This was part of the debate before. 3BLE isn't a "bad" position if the runner cooperates and approaches the plate from an outside path. However, if the runner comes straight into a catcher attempting to block the plate, instead of catching a making a swipe tag, the position sucks.

This umpire moved to his position at the behind the LHBB and never adjusted. This is why we tell umpires the prescribed postion offered in our mechanics is a starting point and you have to allow the developing play take you into the proper position.

Some MLB crews changed up last year and had the PU moving toward the front of the LHBB on a play like this to give them a better angle. Apparently, this guy's crew was not one of them.

I usually start 1BLE, then start swiveling counter-clockwise as the runner comes as I see how the throw is coming. Kinda like taking a string, attaching it to home plate, and moving to 3BLE while keeping the string tight.

Often, it's not just the runner's path that dictates where the umpire should be to get the best view of the play, but where the throw is coming in, where the fielder is, and where the tag is going to be.

For instance, if the catcher moves up into the field towards 1B a little too much, that tag is likely going to come from the 1B side of the plate. Staying 1BLE gives you little to no angle on the play, as the runner's body will block your view of the tag. 3BLE may afford you a better view.

Actually, it was the ideal position. It allowed the umpire to make the expected call favoring the Yankee$ while maintaining his integrity.

With whom? They roasted him on TV. Don't know whether it was ESPN or some other cable channel, but they went to the demonstration field to point out that there was no way the umpire could see the play

Is there a smilie for sarcasm? ;)

Sorry, you threw me by using the word integrity in the same sentence as "Yankee$". :rolleyes:

You need to remember I live in an area where the NCAA, NFL, NBA & MLB sent lawyers to argue in court that gambling would bring their sports integrity into question.:eek: :cool:

And I'm sure that one call cost them the game, right? :rolleyes:

What was the score? 6 to 1? Something like that?

Not defending the Yanks (they've got enough money to do that on their own), just sayin'. :D

No, sir. One call never costs any team any game in any sport. But that isn't the point if the conversation is it? :p