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Infield playing in


Thatsnotyou
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34 minutes ago, HokieUmp said:

I usually go back to the edge of the grass, and closer to 2B.  That way, I don't run the risk of being in the way of a fielder trying to make a play.

I’ve heard that the valve cover behind the mound is also being taught. I haven’t tried it. 

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21 minutes ago, Jimurray said:

I’ve heard that the valve cover behind the mound is also being taught. I haven’t tried it. 

Yup. A former-MLBU here in Phoenix has heavily advised it. I nicknamed it C-hatch cover. You put your left foot close to the centerline, about 6 feet back from that valve hatch cover. The Umpire’s point is that you are still in front of the fielders, such that you can see a line drive enter the glove, if that happens. A sharp grounder that is fielded by the F6, for example, is either going to: A) go to the plate (thus, you’re out of the way), B) go to 3B having frozen R3 (thus, you’re at a much better angle by staying in; also, especially helpful on backpicks from F2 to F5), or C) go to 1B, after looking back R3, wherein you have time to react accordingly.

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6 hours ago, MadMax said:

Yup. A former-MLBU here in Phoenix has heavily advised it. I nicknamed it C-hatch cover. You put your left foot close to the centerline, about 6 feet back from that valve hatch cover. The Umpire’s point is that you are still in front of the fielders, such that you can see a line drive enter the glove, if that happens. A sharp grounder that is fielded by the F6, for example, is either going to: A) go to the plate (thus, you’re out of the way), B) go to 3B having frozen R3 (thus, you’re at a much better angle by staying in; also, especially helpful on backpicks from F2 to F5), or C) go to 1B, after looking back R3, wherein you have time to react accordingly.

I would not recommend this mechanic for amateur ball. Reason #1: the average age in my association is probably close to 65 at this point. Reason #2: about 2% of them have pro training that would make feasible this mechanic and the adjustments it requires.

2-umpire mechanics is a series of tradeoffs, and I'll trade off the line drive look for better play coverage in amateur ball and put the BU back on the edge of the grass in this scenario.

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1 hour ago, maven said:

I would not recommend this mechanic for amateur ball. Reason #1: the average age in my association is probably close to 65 at this point. Reason #2: about 2% of them have pro training that would make feasible this mechanic and the adjustments it requires.

2-umpire mechanics is a series of tradeoffs, and I'll trade off the line drive look for better play coverage in amateur ball and put the BU back on the edge of the grass in this scenario.

Yes -- as long as the umpire isn't so deep he can't see the ball into the glove.  So, saying "edge of the grass" isn't sufficient -- because it depends on how far in the infielders are and how far back the grass line is.

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8 hours ago, MadMax said:

Yup. A former-MLBU here in Phoenix has heavily advised it. I nicknamed it C-hatch cover. You put your left foot close to the centerline, about 6 feet back from that valve hatch cover. The Umpire’s point is that you are still in front of the fielders, such that you can see a line drive enter the glove, if that happens. A sharp grounder that is fielded by the F6, for example, is either going to: A) go to the plate (thus, you’re out of the way), B) go to 3B having frozen R3 (thus, you’re at a much better angle by staying in; also, especially helpful on backpicks from F2 to F5), or C) go to 1B, after looking back R3, wherein you have time to react accordingly.

This is precisely what I do (I don't remember if I've been taught it or I came up with it on my own.) I realized about 6-7 years ago that BU behind the infielders was as useless as tits on a boar. The key is pre-pitch preparation and remembering what your first step will be for each place in the infield the ball is hit.

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This is precisely what I do (I don't remember if I've been taught it or I came up with it on my own.) I realized about 6-7 years ago that BU behind the infielders was as useless as tits on a boar. The key is pre-pitch preparation and remembering what your first step will be for each place in the infield the ball is hit.

Agreed, I go left, not back. You’re completely out of most plays. Not a time to miss a pick @ the corners.
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2 hours ago, Matt said:

This is precisely what I do (I don't remember if I've been taught it or I came up with it on my own.) I realized about 6-7 years ago that BU behind the infielders was as useless as tits on a boar. The key is pre-pitch preparation and remembering what your first step will be for each place in the infield the ball is hit.

I'm with you two here.  I just move more towards the center of the infield and closer to getting behind the pitcher''s circle. And you have to be ready to move any direction depending on where the ball is hit to avoid being in a throwing lane.

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  • 2 months later...
On 4/26/2022 at 7:46 PM, Thatsnotyou said:

When the infield is playing in, where do YOU position yourself and why? Stay in regular B/C, almost next to fielders toward 2B bag (can be considered behind at that point), X feet behind the infielders, etc. 

I'll wave my hand behind my head (like a coach telling his outfielders to move back) to tell PU I'm moving back and he now has all the catches in the infield. Then I move back, closer to the edge of the outfield grass (so I'm not in the base path)

I pre-game it, but I have to be the one to bring it up. How prevalent is this pre-gamed?

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On 7/11/2022 at 3:25 PM, 834k3r said:

I'll wave my hand behind my head (like a coach telling his outfielders to move back) to tell PU I'm moving back and he now has all the catches in the infield. Then I move back, closer to the edge of the outfield grass (so I'm not in the base path)

I pre-game it, but I have to be the one to bring it up. How prevalent is this pre-gamed?

First, what is your association's accepted mechanic for BU's positioning when the infield is playing in? If you're not going to do the accepted mechanic, be prepared to explain why you aren't...

Second, if you are working with someone you have never worked with before or someone whose performance you have concerns about? You should have a complete list of items to pre-game and go over all of them. Each year, we all pick up things or situations or adjustments to a complete pre-game checklist. For a partner I have worked with recently, I go with a slightly abridged version. High leverage game even with familiar partners? Full pre-game. For what it's worth, I pre-game BU positioning with the infield in and many of my partners have, too. It's important to know where the crew is going to be on each play and who has which responsibilities.

~Dawg

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12 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

First, what is your association's accepted mechanic for BU's positioning when the infield is playing in? If you're not going to do the accepted mechanic, be prepared to explain why you aren't...

Second, if you are working with someone you have never worked with before or someone whose performance you have concerns about? You should have a complete list of items to pre-game and go over all of them. Each year, we all pick up things or situations or adjustments to a complete pre-game checklist. For a partner I have worked with recently, I go with a slightly abridged version. High leverage game even with familiar partners? Full pre-game. For what it's worth, I pre-game BU positioning with the infield in and many of my partners have, too. It's important to know where the crew is going to be on each play and who has which responsibilities.

~Dawg

First, thanks for making the new guy feel like an idiot.

Second, there's no accepted mechanic for the association, so I researched this: https://www.umpirebible.com/index.php/2-rules/53-umpire-signs-signals

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1 hour ago, 834k3r said:
14 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

First, what is your association's accepted mechanic for BU's positioning when the infield is playing in? If you're not going to do the accepted mechanic, be prepared to explain why you aren't...

Second, if you are working with someone you have never worked with before or someone whose performance you have concerns about? You should have a complete list of items to pre-game and go over all of them. Each year, we all pick up things or situations or adjustments to a complete pre-game checklist. For a partner I have worked with recently, I go with a slightly abridged version. High leverage game even with familiar partners? Full pre-game. For what it's worth, I pre-game BU positioning with the infield in and many of my partners have, too. It's important to know where the crew is going to be on each play and who has which responsibilities.

~Dawg

Expand  

First, thanks for making the new guy feel like an idiot.

fwiw, I didn't take @SeeingEyeDog post as derogatory. I took it as him walking through his approach & thought process for anyone to hear (and that you may or may not have already done yourself).

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I'm not sure if this is the proper way of doing it, but this is what I've been doing recently when play the infield is playing in. In two men with runners on 2nd or 2nd and 3rd, I'm actually lined up about 5 ft from the bag between 1st and 2nd.  With a runner on first, I'm actually in a deep B, closer in to the line between second base and the pitching mound.

If I'm doing this wrong, please let me know.

See images: red= 2 man umpire, blue= runners

 

 

Screenshot_20220713-210618_WhiteScreen.jpg

Screenshot_20220713-210812_WhiteScreen.jpg

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10 hours ago, 834k3r said:

First, thanks for making the new guy feel like an idiot.

Second, there's no accepted mechanic for the association, so I researched this: https://www.umpirebible.com/index.php/2-rules/53-umpire-signs-signals

@834k3r, welcome to the forum and the brotherhood. Great avatar, btw...

I apologize for making you feel like an idiot. I can assure you that was absolutely NOT my intention. This forum sees a lot of content from baseball and softball umpires from all over the globe. Different associations have different practices, policies, procedures, mechanics, etc...

It can be tricky for users here to post a "What do you think?" or "What would you do?" because what one umpire association or league wants their umpires to do is not necessarily what another one wants their umpires to do. In life, we all serve a master of some kind.

Your question is a good one and for my association? A very timely question...

I was trained that when the infield is in, U1 extends his arms out with palms facing forward signaling to the PU that the PU now has all catch/no catch in the infield and U1 drops back to the rear of the working area (deep C or deep B). (An exception MIGHT be...F1 turning, running towards 2B and taking a fly ball over their head or shoulder. U1 might have a better angle and should LOUDLY call off PU here and take the call.) I digress...

Last fall, I worked a game with my association's director of training. I used the "Infield Is In" signal and dropped back in the working area several times during the game. During post-game, he very clearly explained to me that what I was doing was absolutely NOT an accepted mechanic in our association and what he wanted to see was what has been described above in this thread...stay even with the B or C position and move inwards to the middle of the field and be ready to move to get out of the throwing lane and...get the angle on the play and close distance as we normally do.

Could I make a case that dropping back in the working area is a better choice? Yes...personally, I don't move well. But, again...I serve my master so I accepted his direction and have executed it. If someone in a position of authority tells me to do something, I do my best to do as I'm told. Bruce Springsteen famously said, "Blind faith in your leaders can get you killed..." I don't think he was talking about life in an umpire association.

Umpiring is a constantly evolving craft. It's a knife that has been sharpened for over 100 years and yet, still finds a way to not always cut as cleanly as we would all like. So, we all continue to sharpen the knife and evolve the knife. In auto racing, it's been said the fastest lap around a circuit is theoretical. No matter how quick your time...there are always more seconds to be shaved...more speed to be discovered. Umpiring a ball game is very similar. There is no perfectly umpired ball game and there never will be. That's a big reason why this forum exists.

@Velho, thank you for your remarks...

~Dawg  

 

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