LaskoFan

I will give location if asked by pitcher/catcher or coach if it was close. I will honor the request much more so early in the game to establish my strike zone. I will not provide the location if I feel they are looking to argue balls all strikes. I know it is a fine line.

The part that is missing for me is was he in fact correct and if so, what was done to address his concern? Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Kind of a crazy situation at the plate last night. I am PU, R3 with one out. Squeeze play is in progress. However, R3 gets a great jump as pitcher is not pitching from the stretch. Everything pretty much meets at the same time at the plate - ball, batter squaring to bunt, and R3. Pitch was a bit high and catcher elevates to get the pitch and at the same time start moving to make a tag. I get blocked by his actions. Next thing I know ball is behind me as it was deflected. I assumed catcher did not come up with it clean and thought I heard it deflect off his glove. R3, scores and I call nothing as I feel that all have the right to their space. DC wants batter interference as he feels batter should get out of the way as all merged at the same time. BU helps me out as he saw a foul ball. Rule foul and send R3 back and strike on batter. OC complains and states that really what happen is that catcher interfered with batter when trying to bunt and thus R3 should be awarded home. Again, I was blocked by the catcher. BU did not see it this way and thus we keep it as a dead ball foul. As this is my first year umping (5th time behind the plate), I would like some of your thoughts on a few things and anything that you can provide in order to get better. First, is my thought correct in that the batter has every right to stay in place try and complete his task which is to put down the bunt? The weird thing about this situation was how far R3 got to the plate during the squeeze action. It was pretty much a straight steal of home. Does this matter at all in terms of what the batter must do and his location requirements? I assume that you in fact can have catcher interference on this play. If correct, what is the correct call? Does the batter get first and R3 get home. Thanks in advance for your review and reply.

If a runner who is declared out on appeal for failing to touch a base is the third out, following runners may not score.

Bought myself a Father's day gift in order to support the cause. Looking forward to the great read.

Thanks Maven, that makes total sense and clears thing up for me. Got to keep perusing these great boards, re-reading all the rules to have them down pat and continue to get some games for experience. Thanks again.

Yes pretty hard to believe that he got caught in this position. There is no way he saw the tag. I guess the good news is that when I saw it live, I realized he made an error and was not in position to make the call. Prior to umpiring this year I probably would not have been as observant.

I see what you are saying. 3BLX for the throw and then a couple of steps towards the point of the plate to see the tag. One question I have, what would be the harm of just sitting back behind the point of the plate and watching the throw and play develop in front of you? You could step up and get a good view of the tag when required. Should we always get to a point to see the catch and then ensuing plate action?

Thanks for the link Kevin_K, If I understand it correctly, the wedge, you try and get 90 degrees to the throw and mirror the inside hip of the catcher in order to get the best angle for the call. I don't know if I have that correct. With the above play, where the throw came from foul territory, 1st base line, you would want to be near the 3BX line for the call. Does that make sense?

New to umpiring this year and was watching Texas Tech and East Carolina game yesterday. Texas Tech up, Top of 9th with 2-outs, 1-1 game with R1 and R2. Hit down the first base line off F3's glove. Ball is fair and bounces into foul territory up the first base line. R2 tries to score. Ball arrives before runner but catcher has to pivot to put the tag down. Runner gets in prior to the tag, reply shows it better than attached. Sorry, could not find reply online to share. Really my question is why would the U1 be in the position he is in? He is totally blocked by the catcher in this position and there is no way he saw the play. I have been doing a lot or reading regarding U1 positioning for calls at the plate and there is a lot of different thoughts. No doubt he would have been in much better position to see the action in 1st base extended. As a plate ump, how do you know where to position yourself for the best position for the call? What goes through your head to determine the best angle?

This seems to dovetail with noumpere preferred method - With a steal of second possible (i.e., R1 and no R2; with or without R3) be in B, otherwise C (this is what I prefer). Seems easy to remember as well. Looks like I will be spending a bit more time in "C".

First and foremost, after many years of playing and coaching, I have decided to continue my love of baseball through umpiring. So this is my first year and have two games under my belt - both as base ump. I have been doing a lot of reading here (great site) and on the web and have a question regarding the correct positioning of a base ump. We run two ump crews and I am umping teener baseball. Nonetheless, any insight is greatly appreciated. I asked my partner for their thoughts and they were different. To be honest though, my first game I was going 100 MPH and really was not able to absorb much besides slowing down and proper angle and such. The second game slowed down quite a bit and I started thinking a bit more about the these type of things. Finally, is there an out component for the below scenarios? Meaning, for two outs, move to "B" versus "C". Runners... None - Position "A" R1 - Position "B" R1, R2 - Position "C" R1, R3 - Position "B" R1, R2, R3 - Position "B" R2 - Position "C" R2, R3 - Position "B" R3 - Position "B"