Fly ball coverage in 2 Man

[DevildogUmp]

Sit: R1/R2 1 out. I'm in C.

 

Fly ball to the short left center - basically about 20 ft behind SS. Center fielder sprinting in and dives for the catch does a roll and ends up on his back with his glove on the outfield side of his body. At this point, all I have is the ball in the glove as he is going down, I never saw the ball on the ground as he rolled. Immediately reaches towards his glove and pulls up the ball. I bang the out on the catch and verbally call the catch a couple of times. 3rd base coach had the runners going the whole way so easy appeal at second for leaving early.

 

No gripes on the call, but I was thinking about it and is there any acceptable mechanic for BU to go out for this? With the runner not holding up, I had a clear path to the outfield in this situation and could have been at least even with the fielder when he made the catch which would have allowed me to see if the ball squirted out while he was rolling.

[guyinaredhat]

No , it's unconventional and puts you in a SH*# position if te fielder misplays the ball.

[afaber12]

Likewise if the ball is caught and you wind up with a close play at either 1st or 2nd on the returning runners. Maybe not in the particular situation you had, but if they'd realised it was likely to be a catch before it was actually caught, you could wind up with really close plays on those returning runners.

[semper_fi_72]

One Word.

NEVER

[maven]

No, not with 2 umpires. 3 umpires, and if they know what they're doing, and if they're working those mechanics, then yes. Never with 2.

[noumpere]

I'm going to add one wrinkle to the "never" part above.  Tie game, two outs, bottom of the last.  If the ball is dropped, the game is over.  If the ball is caught, extra innings.  Here, you *might* think about going out.

[maven]

I'm going to add one wrinkle to the "never" part above.  Tie game, two outs, bottom of the last.  If the ball is dropped, the game is over.  If the ball is caught, extra innings.  Here, you *might* think about going out.

 

Only if you mean, for a beer...

[MikeSafari]

Consider that you might also interfere with a runner whilst crossing the baseline to get out to make the catch/no-catch call.

 

I'm with @maven that the only time you should be going out on that sort of ball is in three- or four-man system. And even then each umpire has to know where he needs to be. I've worked a couple three-man games this year already and the first one was a shambles because U3 didn't know where he had to be half the time. The second one was much better.

[millerforrest]

How could it be "bottom of the last" if its a catch and we go to extra innings?

[noumpere]

How could it be "bottom of the last" if its a catch and we go to extra innings?

Tie game, two outs.  If the ball is caught, the inning ends with a tie score still.  If the ball drops, the winning run scores.

[Jayumpref19]

Jim Evans book tells you to stay right were you are to make that call

[semper_fi_72]

I'm going to add one wrinkle to the "never" part above.  Tie game, two outs, bottom of the last.  If the ball is dropped, the game is over.  If the ball is caught, extra innings.  Here, you *might* think about going out.

Please pull out your Dictionary and review the definition of the word " NEVER".

The only wrinkles that would occur are the ones on my forehead while I tore you a new one during our post game conversations.

Please do not ask for advice and then throw wrinkles into it.

Take the advice of those who have told you what should be done and move on.

Unless, you are one of those umpires who have so many years of experience but are forever stuck working on your first year.   

[ALStripes17]

I'm going to add one wrinkle to the "never" part above. Tie game, two outs, bottom of the last. If the ball is dropped, the game is over. If the ball is caught, extra innings. Here, you *might* think about going out.

Please pull out your Dictionary and review the definition of the word " NEVER".

The only wrinkles that would occur are the ones on my forehead while I tore you a new one during our post game conversations.

Please do not ask for advice and then throw wrinkles into it.

Take the advice of those who have told you what should be done and move on.

Unless, you are one of those umpires who have so many years of experience but are forever stuck working on your first year.

Whoa .. noumpere wasnt the one asking for advice?

[noumpere]

 

 

I'm going to add one wrinkle to the "never" part above. Tie game, two outs, bottom of the last. If the ball is dropped, the game is over. If the ball is caught, extra innings. Here, you *might* think about going out.

Please pull out your Dictionary and review the definition of the word " NEVER".

The only wrinkles that would occur are the ones on my forehead while I tore you a new one during our post game conversations.

Please do not ask for advice and then throw wrinkles into it.

Take the advice of those who have told you what should be done and move on.

Unless, you are one of those umpires who have so many years of experience but are forever stuck working on your first year.

 

Whoa .. noumpere wasnt the one asking for advice?

 

Correct -- I was just providing a possible exception that proves the rule.  And, it's happened to me once in the more than two score years I've been umpiring.  And, while I might not have two score years of experience, I have a lot more than one year two score times.

[maineump]

The only thing that can be done is try to get an angle INSIDE the diamond to see the tag and that short fly. Don't just stand there in the C, adjust to the hit. You may get a look at it near 3B or even 2B if PU is covering the tag up into 3B (pre-gamed and signaled prior to the batter)

[Requiem97]

One Word.

NEVER

THIS