Minor Quandaries

[CecilOne]

What do you think/do with these situations?

1)Pickoff play at first, outfield side tag. As BU, I called the runner safe because it looked like there was still space between the glove and leg when the foot hit the base. The fielding team coach asks me to appeal to my partner, so I do. He's sure the runner was out. I'm not convinced, but in the back of my mind is "always go with the change if your partner is sure".

2)After a caught line drive and throw back to 1st, it's a bang-bang play. The BU was in B, is way over toward 2nd, points to me as PU to make the call. I had made about 2 steps out before the catch and saw the play but I couldn't tell either, so I go with "never guess an out".

3)I notice that another umpire is completely ignoring the pitcher, who is occasionally crow-hopping. If that pitcher appears on my field later, calling it is my reaction, but calling it makes us inconsistent.

4)Bats were checked before the game by a different umpire because I was moving from another field at the last minute. I happen to pick up a bat from under my feet after the batter flied out and realized it was on the banned list. I take it over to the coach and inform him it can't be used. Do I penalize the player who used it? Possible reasons not to are she assumed it was legal after the other umpire's inspection (their 3rd game of the day) or because I didn't notice it in her hands, only on the ground.

[Edited by CecilOne on Jul 13th, 2003 at 06:17 PM]