Fly Ball Coverage SNAFU

[BretMan]

It was almost a year ago to the day, in a fall tournament, that a similar breakdown in fly ball coverage bit me in the butt. This one got pretty exciting...

I'm on the plate. My base umpire was a fairly new guy with terrible mechanics. His usual move on fly balls to the outfield was to just stand there and watch the ball, completely ignoring the batter-runner or any other runners he was responsible for.

As horrible as that is, it might not get you in trouble 99% of the time. It's that 1 in a 100 that's going to kill you!

We have a runner on second, one out, base umpire is in "C". Batter hits a sinking line drive to straightaway center. F8 comes running in to try a shoestring catch.

I get into the infield just short of the pitcher's plate. Base umpire just stands there in "C", watching the ball...like he's been doing the entire game.

To me, it looks like a trap and I immediately give a safe signal and loudly shout, "No catch!".

Simultaneousy, the base umpire signals a catch and yells, "Out!". The runner was in between second and third. F8 throws it to second, second base is tagged, the BU calls another out and the runner begins walking off the field. Somebody yells for her to get back on base and she does, never having been tagged herself.

Defensive coach is quickly out of the dugout asking me what happened. I told him that I had a trapped ball, no catch. He's complaining- rightfully so- that the base umpire signalled an out. I told him that it was the plate umpire's call, I did not have a catch and that the runner was safe at second.

He's climbing me bad, and his assistant is now chiming in (along with the entire bench and all of their fans). I figure that I'm going to let them vent a little bit, within reason, since an umpire error was at the heart of the confusion. But I finally get them settled down and we're about to get the next batter going.

That's when my partner jogs in tells me that this was his call because "he was closer to the play". I was probably still a little amped up, since I had just taken all of the heat for his double call, so I was a little short with him. What I basically said was, "Fly balls to the outfield are the plate umpire's call, unless you go out. Standing still in "C" position is not going out! If you want to go out, then get out to the outfield. That ball was hit all the way to the centerfielder and if you were going out you should have at least made it to the outfield grass! And, if you did go out, then you shouldn't have been calling the tag play at second, because once you go out, you stay out, and the infield reverts to one-man mechanics".

The guy gets all offended and won't speak to me the rest of the game. After the game, I tried to smooth things over. Before mentioning this play, I pointed out some of the good calls he made and talked about those. He's still acting pissed. Then, before getting into the fly ball play, I apologized to him if I seemed a little ticked when I talked to him during the game, but said that he had to realize I just had two coaches giving me hell because he made a call that wasn't his to make. I really didn't want any hard feelings, so I apologized again for my tone. He just grumbled something like, "Whatever", and walked away.

As the next game is getting started, off in the distance, I can see him talking with the UIC, who was stationed just beyond the outfield fence.

My next game ends, and the UIC comes over to me. He tells me that my partner was pretty mad! Then he tells me that he was watching the play and that he told the base umpire he had no business making that call while standing in the "C" position and that it was the plate umpire's call all the way. And, he also told me that from his angle on the play he thinks it was a catch!

I told him that I can handle that. I moved out where I was supposed to be, got the best view of the play I could get and made the best call that I could. But what I couldn't handle was another umpire poaching the call he had no business making.