potential run positioning

[dleavitt39]

Guys,

Had a situation come up the other day. I've used this positioning and rationale in many games and plays, but it finally came back to bite me the other day. I was working a game alone, as is usual for my league. It was an 11u travel team.

2 outs, R3, ground ball to F6, R3 breaks for home. Seeing this happen, I don't want to move into fair territory as that would put me directly in the firing line of F6 if he were to try and throw out R3. I mean after all, these are 11 Y.O and you can't trust them to make the "smart" play, evidenced by the half inning before, same situation, player threw home. So what I do is move down the 3rd base line in foul territory to get my angle at 1b, while still being in position to see a play at the plate. F6 makes the smart play and goes to first. 99 times out of 100, I see the play, make the call, move on. Today was that 1 time. I set myself up to make the call at 1st, watch F6 throw to first, but as the ball is about to arrive, R3 comes directly into my line of vision, and blocks me out of the play. Of course it was a banger. I had to go with an "educated guess" of predicting when ball would get to base compared to runner based on what I last saw, and also try and listen to the pop of the mitt vs. the thud of the runner hitting the bag. Unfortunately, the sounds were predominantly R3's footsteps in front of me. I made the call...one team was happy, the other wasn't.

That's the situation, the question is this: What can I do to prevent this from happening again? I don't want to go into fair territory and get hit in the head by a bone head fielder who decides to throw home. I've thought about trying to go down the 1st base line, but that seems like I'd be out of position for a play at the plate, as well as not being able to see a foot pull by F3. Do I just go with what I've been doing and accept that a rarity like this could/will occur?

Thanks,

Dan

[yawetag]

That's the situation, the question is this: What can I do to prevent this from happening again? I don't want to go into fair territory and get hit in the head by a bone head fielder who decides to throw home. I've thought about trying to go down the 1st base line, but that seems like I'd be out of position for a play at the plate, as well as not being able to see a foot pull by F3. Do I just go with what I've been doing and accept that a rarity like this could/will occur?

Dan,

There's nothing you can do in this situation. The league gets what they get when they only pay for one umpire. In a 2-umpire system, this is routine.

That said, you did exactly what I would have done. Making the call from that distance at 1B will always be difficult, but it's the best you can do. Making one team happy and one team mad is part of any bang-bang play.

[kristoffae]

Dan,

There's nothing you can do in this situation. The league gets what they get when they only pay for one umpire. In a 2-umpire system, this is routine.

That said, you did exactly what I would have done. Making the call from that distance at 1B will always be difficult, but it's the best you can do. Making one team happy and one team mad is part of any bang-bang play.

I second this. When I used to work one man games, and especially on the big diamond, I would let the coaches know "What I see is what you get."

[mstaylor]

You could do two things, move up the first baseline in foul to get an angle or move to fair up the 1BL some. The foul side is less than ideal because it's hard to get to and farther to get back if the trow comes home. The fair side is best, it gives you an angle to first and the same look at the play at home is they go there. It also puts you up the line enough not to get hit by the SS.

[noumpere]

You could do two things, move up the first baseline in foul to get an angle or move to fair up the 1BL some. The foul side is less than ideal because it's hard to get to and farther to get back if the trow comes home. The fair side is best, it gives you an angle to first and the same look at the play at home is they go there. It also puts you up the line enough not to get hit by the SS.

Agreed. And / or move up the third base line as the OP did and then move toward first when he sees the throw is going to first. He can get a couple of steps and avoid being blocked out.

[Big Red]

Agreed. And / or move up the third base line as the OP did and then move toward first when he sees the throw is going to first. He can get a couple of steps and avoid being blocked out.

I'd leave it as Mike states...move up the 1BL, move fair/foul as necessary. If you do the above, rather than getting blocked out, you run the risk of getting plowed over by R3...saw it happen to an ASA ump in a game I played in. Both R3 and umpire suffered knee injuries (knee on knee contact). :Horse:

[dleavitt39]

Thanks guys!!! I'll give it a try at my next game. It'll just be weird to be so close to the foul line on a play at 1b. I guess that's better than being blocked out

DL

[yawetag]

Looks like my Freshman game on Thursday is a one-man crew. I enjoy them for the lower levels.

[Dragon29]

While I mostly agree w/Mike, I'd still be thinking "angle over distance" in this situation and be a farther away from the foul line.

Head for the 1B side of the mound with chest to ball - Whether F6 throws to 1B or to Home, you have a good (not great) angle for either.

The biggest drawback here is if R3 is safe and the BR decides to head for 2B, you could end up behind the BR - but, what do they want with only one umpire?

[mstaylor]

I never meant you had to hug the line in fair, definitely move to get an angle. From there you get a look at first or back at the plate depending on where the throw goes. Just make you get far enough up the line to clear the SS's throwing lane.