Could PU Have Done Anything Different?

[johnnyg08]

I feel like abandoning home plate was not ideal. There wasn't a play, but there could have been. Do they just fall back on replay on something like this? What about in a non-replay game? 

 

[TheLovejoy]

If I recall PU is supposed to stay home if it isn't 'behind/beside' him. PU has it up to the dugout basically. U1 comes in and takes the dugout/fence/dbt since it's a foul ball, and there is no possibility of a play at 1st base.
 

[MadMax]

On 3/14/2026 at 5:38 PM, johnnyg08 said:

I feel like abandoning home plate was not ideal.

This is a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" (potential) play. With this as D1 (ACC), it's 4-man. At first blush, I'd be prodding the U1 to react much, much more expediently than he did. Nearly the entire right side of the infield heads towards the dugout to chase that pop fly, there is ZERO chance of it becoming fair, and U1 has no R1 to watch for potential tag-up/play-on. So, he needs to haul ass, even if PU is supposed to be primary AOC responsibility. This is where manual doctrine fails or undermines us. 

If this had been R3, then I could excuse the PU from not going all the way to the dugout rail, but with R2 (only), there's nothing that trips in one's head that says an advance from R2 to plate is going to happen. Nothing. Pundits and casual observers can opine that "The pitcher should have been covering the plate!", but alas, pitchers are morons, and even if his follow-through takes him dramatically to the 3B side, F1 typically is not going to chase after a foul ball to the dugout. This one did. I can only envision a really savvy F6 realizing what's happening, and hauling ass to the plate to cover. 

And that brings us to our umpires... with PU and U1 in Foul Territory, that far off the plate, and U3 watching the touch of 3B by R2, then I could see a really aware and experienced U2 hauling ass to the plate across the infield and "saving the crew" on a play at the plate. 🤷‍♂️ However, with no players – other than the R2 running to and thru the plate – present at the plate, then the PU staying physically with the ball (in the fielder's glove) will have to suffice. 

[concertman1971]

Had a similar play this past weekend. 3 man, R2, R3 1 out, so U1 was inside. Fly ball down the RF line, clearly in foul territory and a chance to be caught at the fence, with the potential of the fielder going over. I couldn't completely vacate home and get as close to the wall as I would have liked, but got as much as I felt I could, saw the catch, U3 got the tag, and R3 scored without a play. 

Just one of those, have to trust your instincts and only take what the play gives you.