Odd play this past weekend.
There was a play at the plate, and runner was called safe.
Our coach (defense) thought she observed that the Runner failed to touch HP on the slide/play.
So she (incorrectly) prompted our pitcher, who had the ball, to walk up and touch home plate.
The HP Umpire asked "what are you implying?" and our coach replied "I'm appealing that the runner did not touch home plate."
The HP umpire then immediately called the Runner out, and the inning ended (that was out #3).
Of course, the opposing bench when a little ballistic, but after a short conference between coaches HP and field ump, the reversed play stood.
My question: What is the duty of the HP umpire on a play at the plate? Is he/she required to verify HP is touched by the Runner?
I sure thought so, but given the events described above, I'm not so sure.
I see only two explanations here.
either,
a) the ump isn't required to verify a touch of HP?
or
b) the immediate reversal was the ump, in a roundabout way, correcting a bad call on his part?
There was a play at the plate, and runner was called safe.
Our coach (defense) thought she observed that the Runner failed to touch HP on the slide/play.
So she (incorrectly) prompted our pitcher, who had the ball, to walk up and touch home plate.
The HP Umpire asked "what are you implying?" and our coach replied "I'm appealing that the runner did not touch home plate."
The HP umpire then immediately called the Runner out, and the inning ended (that was out #3).
Of course, the opposing bench when a little ballistic, but after a short conference between coaches HP and field ump, the reversed play stood.
My question: What is the duty of the HP umpire on a play at the plate? Is he/she required to verify HP is touched by the Runner?
I sure thought so, but given the events described above, I'm not so sure.
I see only two explanations here.
either,
a) the ump isn't required to verify a touch of HP?
or
b) the immediate reversal was the ump, in a roundabout way, correcting a bad call on his part?