Errant throw / Safety base

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by NSABill

I guess some of the biggest issues I have had is with all the misinterpretations that have gone on in different codes by different coaches and umpires. Have had coaches scream at me that "Don't I understand that either player can go to either one anytime. That is what their UIC told them in a clinic". I sort of think I have seen more collisions with it than without. I have not done an actual study though. Just a perception. Some codes try and tell you that if the errant throw pulls the defensive player to the orange, the offensive player is supposed to switch. Now that is what I am told. That would seem like you are giving the defense a bonus for a bad throw and the onus on an offensive player to decide when to switch. Some places or locals have butchered this safety issue. That is why it is a nightmare to me. Probably because of place Ive been or UIC's giving me bogus interps.

Probably if everyone knows the right way it is supposed to be, it would be a good thing.

I think you hit the nail on the head: if things functioned like a well-oiled machine, we wouldn't have any problems.

But when you have a loose screw giving out bad advice to coaches and umpires, you're bound to have problems. This is why we have procedures available to teams so that they may have bad interpretations such as these corrected: protest! Get the real answer (hopefully) from people who (presumably) know for certain what the rules actually say.