Throw your hands up

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by dlsumpntx

What do you think about, at the pre-game conference, telling coaches to have their players throw their hands up if/when a batted ball goes out of play and we will place the runners accordingly? Personally I don't like it because I can tell if the ball goes out of play.

I think it depends on the situation. A lot of umpires in my area do say this at the plate conference. I generally won't say it for a multiple umpire system, but will for a single umpire system. This is normally an issue on outfield fence issues rather than infield fence issues. The reason. Many fields aren't high quality fences and the ball can get under a fence and look like it is still in play on some fields. On an infield fence, the umpire should be able to determine if it is or is not in play.

Now, how do I handle a situation when the hands go up? If it is an outfield fence I let play continue then go check the status of the ball. If the ball has in fact gone under a fence or into an out of play area I will make rulings as indicated by the rule book. I do this because if I kill the play as soon as the hands go up, now I have potentially deprived the offense of bases they may attain because I killed the play. If I let play continue I can always apply the rulebook retroactively.

This also stops a situation I had a couple years ago. A player raised his hands saying the ball was out of play. It was at the base of the fence in play. I saw the hands up and killed it. After the game another umpire walked up and told me I had been duped by the player. The guy even climbed over the fence and kicked the ball "back under the fence" (actually kicked the fence so the ball rolled away). By letting play continue I force the defense to play the ball if it really in play. Again, I only do this on the 1 umpire system. On a two umpire system we should be able to see the ball at all times even if it means going out on a fly ball, something that really can't happen on a 1 umpire system.