To bail out or not to bail out?
 

As PU, runner on 2nd leaves so early noone can miss it. BU doesn't call it. Next pitch same thing, do you bail him out or let him twist in the wind?

You're in the best position to see it. If the runner left so early it caught your attention, call the infraction.

One code that specifically grants permission to the plate umpire to make that call is PONY.

"grants permission"? Are you kidding me?

One of the few times I am going to disagree...


To call it... you almost have to assume that he's not looking, or has no idea what he's looking at.

It sounds like a between innings chat to me..

and Yes sir, I AM aware that both fed mechanics and ASA mechanics dont forbid it. :)

grants permission. Must be another reason to Protect Our Nation's Youth.

I've done it ... had a guy who was a great slow pitch umpire, decided he wanted a taste of school ball. It was 20-0, he was living in "C" all night, ever other half inning. Had runners at first and third. Runner at first was darn near on top of 2nd before the pitch was out of the circle.

No, I'm not kidding you. The manual specifically says the plate umpire can call it. What's your problem with that?

My problem is that someone feels the need to "grant permission" to an umpire to call an observed infraction, especially one which is directly in the umpire's line of vision.

And remember, we are not talking about a "gotta think about it", but an obvious infraction.

What happened to our no quoting trolls policy?

You see it, you call it. You can discuss between innings if you need to, but leaving early is not a proprietary call - whoever sees it should call it, especially when it's obvious.

Agreed

For those of you that do, WHY do you do it?

(other than because you can)

How often do you do it?

Is it something you do with a seasoned partner or do you only do it with a rookie?

It's still something I would never do, and I would take great exception if it was called by the plate umpire while I was on the bases.

It's also one of those things that gets brought up at schools, and the consensus has always been that it's one of those things thats better left to the base umpire. (credibility).

Perhaps it's a regional thing. How often do I do it? As often as I see it. Seasoned partner or rookie? Probably more for the rookie, but not because of his rookiedom... but rather because the seasoned partner is more likely to have called it already.

I would call it EVERY time I see it - granting that unless it's at 2nd base I'm not likely to KNOW she left early. I would also not be offended in the least if my partner called one from PU while I was BU. Heck, I'll even go so far as to say that leaving early from 2nd base is more EASILY called by PU than BU, especially with a runner on 3rd base.

Gonna be in the minority here, but I'm with Darrell....

If I'm BU and my PU partner called that, I'm going to ask if he wants my opinion on balls and strikes.....to me, it makes both umpires look bad.

The PU looks bad for calling something happening 80 feet away and the BU looks bad because he is not calling something that is very close to him.

This call belongs to the BU, period!

What was your point, again?

Ill put it like this then, since you missed my point. He's twisting until the half inning when I can chat with him and figure out what is going on.