A simple yes or no......

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by chapmaja

From what I was told, yes they pre-gamed the situation of the umpire being in the C position and a pick off play at first. What was not pre-gamed was a yell across the infield "Bad angle". That is not how it should be handled in any way, shape or form at any level, let alone a pair of solid varsity programs. That was why he went blank, simply because the shock of how he was asked if she saw something different, not because he didn't see the play.

Well, if I were to go blank for every unexpected thing a partner of mine said or did, I would be catatonic practically every other game. C'mon, yelling "Bad angle" isn't something to get shocked about to the point that you can't help with a call!

Originally Posted by chapmaja

Also, umpire to umpire communications across the diamond should be limited to signals and not verbal communications (in regards to calls). These include appeals on a checked swing (safe or out signal)...

Well, you're wrong on that one. On a checked swing appeal, the PU verbally asks his/her partner, "Did she go?" and the BU responds with a verbal "Yes" or "No" along with the out/safe mechanic. Are you telling me you don't do that in your games? There's also verbal communications and not just signals when one partner asks the other for the correct count or number of outs. Partner-to-partner communications uses both signals and verbal requests. And in times when a verbal is not expected, a good umpire won't go into fugue state when it happens.