Stolen Base?

[Bailey8]

Had this situation last night at a freshman game. R1 on first, pitcher on the plate taking sign, batter in the box. R1 breaks for second, 5/8 the way to 2nd, UIC calls time. Runner standing on 2nd. DC inquires to UIC if runner has to go back to 1st, UIC says no.

Was this the correct call or should the runner return to 1st since UIC killed the play before the runner reached 2nd?

[AllanA]

I am just curious. Why did he call time while a play was in progress?

Allan

[mstaylor]

Yes, the runner has to go back. He took the defense's ability to make an out away. I'm not saying they would have got the out but the PU took away any chance.

What the heck was he thinking?

[widac]

Had this situation last night at a freshman game. R1 on first, pitcher on the plate taking sign, batter in the box. R1 breaks for second, 5/8 the way to 2nd, UIC calls time. Runner standing on 2nd. DC inquires to UIC if runner has to go back to 1st, UIC says no.

Was this the correct call or should the runner return to 1st since UIC killed the play before the runner reached 2nd?

Did the Batter ask for time? This is a strange sounding sitch.

[Bailey8]

The batter did step out of the box asking for time. The UIC did not see the runner until after he called time. I was in B position, I turned to send runner back, when he said he could stay. DC questioned it once, with no rebuttal to the UIC answer, and the UIC didn't come to me for help.

[Umpire in Chief]

Yeah put him back, the umpire should deny the time request if there is a play in progress.

[mstaylor]

Absolutely send him back if it was the batter asking for time. He has to go back anyway but it makes it a no brainer when it was his teammate the created the problem.

[PeteBooth]

Had this situation last night at a freshman game. R1 on first, pitcher on the plate taking sign, batter in the box. R1 breaks for second, 5/8 the way to 2nd, UIC calls time. Runner standing on 2nd. DC inquires to UIC if runner has to go back to 1st, UIC says no.

Was this the correct call or should the runner return to 1st since UIC killed the play before the runner reached 2nd?

The ONLY thing I can think of is:

TIME was already out meaning the PU had NOT yet put the ball back in play.

I know based upon the literal reading of the OP that's a stretch but that would be a reason why the UIC called time.

In any event I agree with the others - R1 goes back to first base.

Pete Booth

[someoneinca]

He has to return because the umpire denied the defense the chance to throw the runner out at second.

[Tyennie]

Now here is a fun idea: Let's see the batter by his actions prohibited the catcher from making a play on a runner. Wow! batter int., BR is out. Just kidding, send R1 back, and then develop a hand sign for WTF? for your partner. ty

[willv28]

Not only should he of gone back, it was YOUR job to make that call as the BU, not the PU. He was incorrect in this regard too. I wonder why he did that. This reminded me of a moment last year that cheesed me off so much, I didn't even greet the umpires after the game, I said bye to other ones and then just left because I needed a beer.

I always support everything my partner(s) do on the field and we always make sure we respect and help each other. There's one thing I don't like, is having my toes stepped on by people that think because they have a position they're in complete control. Last year when I was still only going as a BU. We had a LL majors softball tournament game in a nearby town. I was asked to do this game because they wanted a full crew. I was only with one of my regular crew members. We had this guy who was the tournament director, so I wasn't even sure he was even eligible to umpire to begin with. But he was PU for the game, did nothing but do stupid dirty dances on the side to the music between innings and call balls and strikes before the ball was even close to the plate. He was dressed in regular uniform and number, but it made me wonder if he even had any training at all or that by his behavior there was something else going on.

Here's what happened, ball batted to SS, R2 going to 3B, I call R2 out being hit by the batted ball. The angle was difficult to see, so whether I was right or wrong isn't important. Anyway, the coach comes out and goes to the PU to argue. He calls me and the rest of the crew over. I say to myself "He's supposed to come to me to argue". But I go anyway without a word. PU pretty much says he disagreed with my call and pretty much said if I didn't change it he would. I said, "It's up to me to make that determination." To save face I then changed the call because I wasn't going to argue with my fellow umpires. I will never umpire in that town again unless it's with my regular crew. The guy was least to say, unbalanced. Thin line between having fun and being totally unprofessional, he was well over that line.