Wedge-- reverse rotating

[Jackrabbitslims]

You are umpiring a play at the plate. You are set up in the wedge, you know where you need to set up to have a good view, the play quickly breaks down. How do you know when you are supposed to reverse rotate to basically be looking at the catchers front?

[noumpere]

Experience

[SeeingEyeDog]

This is why we train. This is why we attend camps. I might go a month and not have a play that needs to be wedged up. Then I will have 4 in one inning. This is baseball. Umpires have to be ready.

At training and or camps, we can setup a station at the plate and run wedge plays with say 10 umpires and everyone might get 20-30 reps or more on that. Ideally, we are using video so, we can both look at our work with an instructor later in the classroom and or receive immediate feedback from an instructor right then and there.

The essence of The Wedge is...we work slightly behind and slightly off of the fielder's glove-hand side hip and there's an imaginary rubber band between us once we (the umpire) gets locked in. And then, like all tag plays wedge or not, we let the fielder take us to the play. We are reading the throw on the way in. What level of baseball is this? What if anything have we gleaned from the throwing fielder previously? Is it a perfect throw? Is it going to bounce? As the catcher moves, the umpire moves maintaining that rubber band.

As @noumpere indicated, there is no "moment" when we are "supposed" to rotate around and take the reverse angle. Have we maintained the rubber band? Are we in the right place to look through the "keyhole" and into The Wedge and get a look at the tag and or the touch of the base? No? That's when we start to "consider other options". Going reverse can also occur when the fielder is NOT making the tag on the glove-hand side of their body.

~Dawg 

[Kevin_K]

19 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

The essence of The Wedge is...we work slightly behind and slightly off of the fielder's glove-hand side hip and there's an imaginary rubber band between us once we (the umpire) gets locked in. And then, like all tag plays wedge or not, we let the fielder take us to the play.

It's important to note that an umpire may also find themselves on the throwing hand side hip if the play dictates. A play where a fielder is pulled away from the base that requires a tag inside the baseline may be best judged when the umpire is also inside as this clip shows at the 6:12 mark:

 

[Jackrabbitslims]

Thank you for the help

[SeeingEyeDog]

Thanks, @Kevin_K...video is always optimal.

~Dawg

[834k3r]

22 hours ago, Kevin_K said:

It's important to note that an umpire may also find themselves on the throwing hand side hip if the play dictates. A play where a fielder is pulled away from the base that requires a tag inside the baseline may be best judged when the umpire is also inside as this clip shows at the 6:12 mark:

 

Great video. Some will critique the PU:  "He WaS mOvInG wHeN hE mAdE tHe CaLl!!!111!"

[JSam21]

We don't "set-up" in the wedge. The wedge isn't a position or a spot, it is the space between the glove and the runner. You set up point of plate and then move into position to see the wedge. Where you move depends on the type of play you are going to have. Behind the catcher's left hip for swipe tags and almost a 90 degree look off the hip for collision/block tags. 

By "reverse rotate" I'm assuming you mean moving to your left instead of to your right?