Getting Help From Player
 

Had an 18U rec game last week, and on the very first pitch of the game, the batter tried to jump over a low pitch in her batter's box. The catcher moved into my slot to try and field the pitch, which ended up going to the backstop, and I couldn't see it. However, I clearly heard the ball hit something, and I thought it was the catcher's mitt, so I called the pitch a Ball.

The batter then looked at me and said, "Blue, the ball hit my foot." I responded, "I thought it hit the catcher's mitt." Then, the catcher, after retrieving the ball, replied, "No, the ball didn't hit my mitt."

Since this was a rec game, I went ahead and sent the batter to first base. The only one who complained, and that was done rather mildly, was the batter's coach. He wanted his batter to stay up there in hopes of getting a pitch to hit.

So, what do you typically do in a situation like this? If a defensive player tells you she dropped the ball on a tag, or an offensive player tells you she failed to touch a base, do you stick with the call you made? Or do you go ahead and change it to acknowledge a player's honesty?

Is everyone taught to get all the info we can from reasonable sources?

In the OP, probably would agree, but my perception of the distance/angle to the batter's foot would affect that probability.

I think you deal with this on a case-by-case basis.

In the given situation, I don't have an issue with what you did. Both the offense and the defense were in agreement that the pitch hit the batter.

You need to consider the level of the game, the importance of the game, etc., very carefully when choosing to accept this type of "help". If in doubt, I would go with what you saw or what information you can get from your partner.

SHOE POLISH! Look for the damn shoe polish on the ball. Yeah, that would work if all the shoes were black and players actually polished them :)

polish

As I recall, the only word in the English language that changes how you pronounce it depending on the case [upper or lower] of the first letter.

When it's used at the start of a sentence, all kinds of strange things could happen. :D

I had a different play to the OP - but similar in terms of help being offered.

Tag play at 3rd base, ball coming in from left field and I got straight lined with the runners body (sliding) in between me and the low tag. I couldn't see contact and called safe.

F5 is less than impressed asks me to go for help - my partner doesn't have clear contact either and so the call stands.

Then the runner fesses up and says "he got me". At which point I said "well if you want to give yourself up ...." and so he abandoned the base and I called him out crossing into dead ball territory.

So I have a similar question - should I reverse a call on basis of runner admitting contact?

august?

I wouldn't ... would you reverse a call on the basis of a runner admitting he was safe?

Well I have seen the situation where a tag play was called and the fielder admitted to not making contact.

Runners tend to swear they were safe rather than admit it ;)

The way I see it, you didn't reverse anything. I kind of liked how you left it up to the runner....and he chose to abandon his baserunning duties and be out.

As I said in Manny's OP...I think you handle these situations on a case-by-case basis...the default would be to stick with what you saw and called.

Thanks. Indeed in this case I didn't reverse the call, but wondered after if I should have - hence my adding to the thread when I saw it. I decided I was taking the firm route, explaining what I had and why but not changing. In my mind I wondered if I was being a bit of a hard-a$$, but this was a relatively serious tournament so I didn't want to seem wishy washy.

As background, this was in the UK Adult Co-ed Nationals tournament, so for this side of the pond a fairly serious tournament.

I thought it was classy of the runner to both admit he was tagged and give up the base and I complimented him on his sporting behaviour.

Hmmph. If he was so sporting, why didn't he admit he was tagged as soon as you made the Safe call? He didn't fess up until after F5 asked you to get help, you went to your partner, and your partner said he saw nothing different.

Also, I assume that since you went to your partner for help, you called Time first, and play was not resumed when the runner left the base. Can you make an abandonment call on a dead ball?

Slow pitch co-ed, so yes time had long since been called.

Speaking ASA, 8.7.U talks about a runner abandoning base and entering team area without qualifying if ball is live or not - so I think we're OK there.

I see this more as which syllable to stress as opposed to a different sound.

[aw-guhst] v [aw-guhst]

[poh-lish] v [pol-ish]

Really? So if I call Time because the coach wants to make a pitching change, and a runner goes into the dugout to get a drink of water during the break, I can call her out for abandonment?