Home run or......

[urout17]

Last night, American Legion Senior game. For those of you not familiar with American Legion, most players are Jr/Sr HS age although they allow players born after Jan 1, 2007, which puts some at 19 yrs old.

 

We’re playing at a HS field which I’ve worked tons of games. The field is large, 340 down the lines, 375 gaps, 404 to center. During the HS season, they install a tarp on the chain link fence that raps the entire outfield wall in the school color of dark green. After the season they take it down. 

 

Two very good teams, 2-man crew, I’m on the plate. No score B6 right around dusk. LH batter hits a deep fly ball to RC. I move out from behind the plate and get out as far as possible towards the mound in the direction of the ball. My partner moves in watching the BR touches. From my view, I saw the ball bounce and go over the fence. The BR was hustling and was around 2B when this happened, my partner following him the whole way. As soon as I saw the ball bounce over, I killed it and had the BR go back to 2B.

 

The HC asks for time, comes out, and said the ball clearly went over for a HR. My God’s honest truth I did not see that and of course he wants me to get help. I explained to him my partner had no idea where the ball was since he’s on the runner the whole way (which is what he told me afterwards). He was hot but goes back to the dugout. Next pitch is thrown in the dirt and gets by the catcher putting the runner on 3B. Next ball is hit to the right side for an out scoring the run.

 

After the inning was over, I’m on the 1B line as the players are switching and I noticed the CF jogging in.  I asked him to honestly tell me if it went out and he said it did.  I really felt terrible and still do. I know I'm not perfect but I work very hard to do the best job I can.

 

That turned out to be the only run in a 1-0 game. I’ve been umpiring for 30 years and haven’t had something I couldn’t see.  I’m wondering if anybody else has had something similar happen and/or is there anything that could have been done differently based on the circumstances? Maybe I’m just getting old.

 

Thanks

[Velho]

2 hours ago, urout17 said:

I’ve been umpiring for 30 years and haven’t had something I couldn’t see.  I’m wondering if anybody else has had something similar happen

Absolutely. And it didn't take me 30 years to have it happen 😂

[JonnyCat]

In that particular situation, there is not much more you can do. We often don't work in the pristine conditions of MLB umpires. The lighting, field conditions, weather conditions, often affect our games. That's a long way for a human to see the flight of a small off white ball.

The only thing I can see that could have been done differently is that your partner could have gone out on that ball. IMO, it's a good idea in that situation for your partner to read this as a trouble ball and go out. I'm in no way faulting you or your partner. I'm not even sure you could have got a better angle on a ball hit like that, either.

We just have to do the best we can. It's really hard to see a ball hit over a chain link fence, especially at that distance. Maybe wait a tick before calling a 2 base award? See the actions of the fielders first? If they don't throw their hands up, then use that information to your advantage.

And yes, I've had trouble with balls hit over chain link fences. Don't beat yourself up.

 

 

 

 

 

[scubabob34]

Here is what we do when working 2-man:  We pre-game that in any time where it's less than ideal baseball conditions, any ball attacking the fence has 2 sets of eyes on it, and we give up other, less important responsibilities (i.e. base umpires watches ball and glances at br when he can).  If defense decides to appeal br missing 1st, we tell them to pay for a third umpire.  Note that plate umpire still has to watch the tag up at 3rd, so that mechanic doesn't change.  

2-man is a series of compromises - it puts us in the best possible position for the most likely play.  And we have to prioritize - possible home run is a lot more important than touch at first...

[jimurrayalterego]

4 hours ago, urout17 said:

I explained to him my partner had no idea where the ball was since he’s on the runner the whole way (which is what he told me afterwards).

 

 

Timing wise in your OP it probably wouldn't matter but I see a lot of BUs come in looking at the B-R all the way up the line. They should be reading the ball until the B-R nears 1B. Develop a feel for when to pick up the B-R. 

Yes, I've had coaches nod in unison when we mention visibility issues for HR/GRD at the plate meeting for a certain field.

[TheLovejoy]

 

Unrelated: American Legion FTL!!

 We're right in the middle of American Legion country here. High school baseball isn't nearly as popular. While the rest of the country finishes their high school season and moves on to the more casual, "mess around/not serious/travel" summer ball, we're just getting into the heat of things where American Legion is the only baseball that really matters.

It's a dying breed.

Related:

We aggressively train our umpires to go out on nearly any fly ball where the center fielder moves in, back, or toward right field, or when the left fielder moves at all. We do this for several reasons:
     1. With nobody on base, what does it hurt? (As long as your plate umpire can move a little.)
    2. We train for three-man mechanics, where we always go out with nobody on. Since we work three-man crews for all in-state sanctioned games and all postseason games, it's good to build that habit.
    3. We have a couple of white billboards beyond the fence, a flashy scoreboard, and other background distractions that can make the ball difficult to pick up from a distance.

   I'm definitely not blaming your homie, but on a deep ball to right-center, I'd absolutely go out on it. He's going to be 150+ feet closer to that ball than you are.

As Scuba said, from the field, when we have a ball that could potentially leave the park, we try to get a feel for where the ball is so we can glance at the touch, then get as many eyes on the ball as possible.

Then, when the offensive coach comes out, we can get together and be confident in what we collectively saw.

Likewise, when the defensive team says, "He didn't touch first base," our response is: "I did not have him missing first base." Not, "He touched first," or, "He didn't miss first." We intentionally say, "I did not have him missing first base," (or "I did not have him leaving the base early," etc.).

You're not saying it didn't happen. You're simply saying you did not have it that way.