Working Alone.. one of those plays
 

So working alone modified game. Bases loaded, no outs. Girl hits s sharp single up the middle. Runner from second is coming home to score. So I am holding up the third baseline waiting for a throw to home. Well the girl going to second is not the swiftest runner. The center fielder throws to second to get he force.

OK, my problem.... The short stop, then the second baseman, standing on second, and the center fielder are in PERFECT alignment. I can not even see the second baseman take the throw. Never mind when the throw got there.

Since I had no knowledge of the ball beating the runner, I had to call her safe. Of course place goes nuts, unless u were behind me..lol

I know not it sucks..my question???

Would anyone call the runner out just going on fielders reaction? be the way the runner stayed on base.

P.S. I know I am not leaving the runners coming home, so I am never going to get any closer to second.

I don't think distance from the play is your issue.

Agreed. Whoever is sending just one umpire to cover a modified game is n-v-t-s, NUTS!

Look, you do the best you can. While I don't normally advocate "guessing an out," sometimes, you have to use timing to kind of fill in the blanks when, at the last moment, you get blocked.

And hey, who's to say it was a bad call? Sure, the place went nuts, but there have been PLENTY of times when I KNOW I made the right call, only to have the entire crowd go nuts. They have their angle, you have yours. Are they right? Sometimes, but not always.

Agree with both above, but this is a conceptual question. No, we can't call runners out "just going on fielders reaction", especially with the runner staying.
Angle is more important than distance as Mike implied. Personally, working alone tend to get into infield part way to PP, regardless of where runners are. In the OP, R1 will score. A throw home from center to get R2 can be covered from inside as that will be the ball side. And might have an angle on the play at 2nd. If not, then still safe as above.

When I worked alone on slow-pitch or modified, at the plate meeting I would inform the coaches that certain "umpire" rules were in effect.
1) I always cover home first
2) I call what I see
3) I will eject anyone who charges me
4) I will discuss any call with the Head Coach only
5) The Head Coach is responsible for removing anyone ejected
6) the game is suspended until the ejected person is out of sight

Almost all of my solo games were on time limits.

It was surprising how both teams would "help" the ejected person leave! :D

I was getting so many ejections that I finally stopped doing solo games.:rolleyes:

Yeah, single-umpire games are just setting you up for failure. Doesn't matter the level, doesn't matter the umpire, failure is ALWAYS an option if given enough time.

I agree with moving up closer to the PP. You'll have an easier time getting to the angles on the field at the different bases. The book wants us outside and halfway up 3BL when covering tag-up plays on a runner at 3B, but that's about it. Get inside as best you can (without getting in the way), and try to work the angles from inside the diamond.

Regardless, in your sitch, you had to make a call. No different from any other call you'll make on the field: some will love it, some will hate it, and they can just get over it. Single umpire games will inevitably have some plays like this, and the players and fans just need to suck it up and accept it...


...or stop being so damn cheap and pay for a second umpire.

I guess I'm having a hard time imagining this happening. There's no way F8 should be blocking your view, but I also have a hard time seeing how F6 would be blocking you since normally they would be out acting as a cut-off or relay.

Not as a criticism, but from that distance it seems like if you are keeping your eyes on the ball that you should have been able to recognize that a play was being made at 2B and that you could have taken even just a couple of steps to get an unobstructed view, assuming that you didn't have a confused F6 step into your view at the last second. Even if that were the case, if it's not a bang-bang play there's nothing stopping you from improving your angle after she steps in front of you. As Mike says, it's not your distance from second that was the issue.

Don't forget "any call you don't like was my partner's".

I can visualize the alignment, with F4 covering 2nd, F6 trying to cutoff the throw to home, and F8 just happening to be aligned with the imaginary line between them. Again, being part way to PP, 1st base side puts you off that sight line.
Of course, there will be blocked plays no matter how many umps there are, but one has always been nonsense.

Solo
 

I was working a Slow-pitch tourney, the 4th of July Firecracker in Middletown Ohio, one year and I had to eject a player. The player wanted to argue. I informed the HC that he had one minute to have the player out of the dugout or it was a forfeit. As the team had paid a lot of money to be there, THEY ALL helped him leave.

I called three strikes on him and he did not like any of the pitches. He got argumentative on the third call. I called for the next batter and he refused to leave the batters box. I ejected him and informed the Head Coach the player had to leave.:eek:

The HC walked him to the dugout and the player started throwing things out onto the field.:confused: He came back out of the dugout. At this point I told the coach he had 60 second to remove the player.:( The coach and two other players "helped" him leave.

The Tourney director was standing outside of the fense with his phone in his hand ready to call the PD.

I think he mentioned where F8 was only to explain that the throw was coming straight towards him from F8 to F4.

F6 is apparently in the infield, he described it as a "sharp single up the middle", so no time or need for F6 to go out to cutoff, if there had been time for that, R2 would have been camped on 2B, I don't care how slow she is. So F6 is blocking his view of F4 and 2B in general. F6 probably should have been moving to cutoff the throw home, but apparently did not.

I know it seems like I'm picking on you ... trust me, that's not my intent...

But I strongly believe even saying the word ejection at the plate conference is extremely confrontational. I cringe when I have a partner do this. You can get your point across without talking about ejections.

One other thing I was taught early on - coaches are not responsible for the number of umpires / officials at their games. Bringing up the fact that they are going to get subpar officiating because we (the officials) are shorthanded is not really fair to them.

Also - if you're getting that many ejections - perhaps there's something else wrong here. Just 1 or 2 a year is a lot.

Working alone sucks, but I would question heading up the third base line on a ball to the OF. Your better angle is going to be up the first base line MOST of the time. Especially for watching multiple bases. From up the 3BL, your peripheral angle to see home and 3rd at the same time is huge. From up the 1BL, it's tiny and you're still in a great spot for a call at home.

That said, you can get straightlined from ANYWHERE. The key is to see it coming and move. You should try to never be in the same line as the throw, first off.

And then ... with THAT said - you could still be straightlined. So to answer that part of your question, I believe you need to take everything you can into account and give it proper weight. I would have been relying on sound on this play if possible - you can usually hear the ball hit the glove and see the runner - and make a call from that. I would heavily discount the reaction of the fielder unless they react as if the runner was safe... and I would discount the reaction of the runner unless they react as if they were out.

Game over. And leave through the VC's dugout.

This is one of the main reasons I quit doing adults ... but from this and other comments, you have a league that's WAY out of bounds regarding what it expects from it's players.

Mike,

In southwest Ohio except for the finals in tourney games we all do solo for Sow-pitch at all ages.

I have worked more than 5000 slow-pitch ASA/USSSA/NSA games over the years and ejections were only mentioned in men's games.

I still do youth and church league slow-pitch games but have stopped doing any local men/co-ed leagues. I primarily do ASA/USSA/NFHS fast-pitch now.:D