Play from LL WS -- 6 man umpiring crew (overkill) - runner at 3rd and 1 out ......... foul pop fly toward 3rd base dugout - a lot of foul territory on this diamond - 3B is sprinting toward pop up and umpire is headed the same direction to make a catch / no catch call ----- 3B dives and catches the ball and ends up sprawled out face down on the ground - umpire rules the out - runner at 3rd tags and heads home - 3B throws to home and the HP ump is totally blocked out on the call - HP ump calls safe, I assume because he couldn't possibly see an out ( don't see an out, don't call an out ) --- MY QUESTION IS " should the 1B ump have covered the plate when the HP ump left the plate area ??
Umpiring Question
- Thread starter llfriedel
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Since I'm strictly a fastpitch softball umpire, I'm not sure what the prevailing mechanic would be here for 4-man or 6-man on the small baseball diamond. I do know that under 4-man softball (NCAA used it this past post-season), the PU is still responsible for returning to home to take the runner attempting to score under the standard mechanic. U1 could come in to take the plate, but that would be a deviation from the standard that would require U1 to communicate to the PU, "I'VE GOT HOME!"
BTW, what did U3 do on this one? He/she should've also gone into foul territory to bracket the play with the PU so that he/she can make the catch/no-catch should the PU be blocked by F5. In that case, U2 would slide over to watch the runner's tag-up at third base.
BTW, what did U3 do on this one? He/she should've also gone into foul territory to bracket the play with the PU so that he/she can make the catch/no-catch should the PU be blocked by F5. In that case, U2 would slide over to watch the runner's tag-up at third base.
P3 was nowhere to be seen in the TV picture.........so if he came in at all, he didn't come in very far toward HP to also view the catch/no catch....I worked FP for 25 years and never had this situation ....... thought mechanic might be similar to 3 man crew, where one ump goes out on a fly ball, and HP rotates up to 3B and 1B comes to HP when he leaves ..................
Again, it's been a very long time since I did 4-man on a LL Baseball diamond, so I'm not sure if they do bracket on the foul ball between home and the base. That is a standard mechanic under softball 3-man and 4-man.
I hear what you're saying about the 3-man rotation in softball. But that only happens when there are no runners, a runner on first only, or a runner on third only, and nobody chases. When a base umpire chases, the other two umpires revert to 2-man, and under 2-man, the BU never rotates home. Under straight 3-man with those scenarios and no chase, U3 takes plays at second, the PU moves up to take third base, and U1 rotates home.
But this is a unique situation where the PU "chases" and leaves the plate area vacant with a runner at third base. U1 coming to take home then is a nonstandard deviation which requires communication so that the PU and U1 aren't at the plate making simultaneous calls.
Thanks for the input - agree that this was a unique situation -
