Curious as to who makes the call, as in plate umpire v. base umpire, in certain situations. I know it's not concrete, but I believe you guys have certain "rules" or "responsibilites" based on certain situations.

The two I encounter most frequently are:

1. Double play ball. Who has the out call at 2b? Who has the out call at 1b? And most importantly, who's watching the runner going into 2b for interference?

2. Fly ball, runner tags. Who has the catch? Who has the tag?

These are HS games played under Fed rules, normally two-man crews until the play-offs, if that matters.

If there are any other situations similar to these y'all cover I'd love to hear about them as well.

1. Base ump has the call at both 1st & 2nd. Both umps watch for Force Play Slide Rule violation (if you see it, call it).

2. It depends on where the ball is hit. PU has catch/no catch on fly balls with F7 and F9 moving toward the lines, BU has all others.

Generally, PU has tags at 3rd, BU has others, but things can change. For example, with R1 & R2, the BU has both tags and all plays at 1st & 2nd, PU has the play at 3rd when the runner at 2nd tags, UNLESS the ball is hit down the RF line and PU has to stay with the ball for fair/foul, catch/no catch, overthrow. PU will yell "I'M ON THE LINE" telling BU that BU has the play at 3rd (BU still has all tags & plays at 1st & 2nd).

This should all be part of a thorough pre-game.

quote:

Originally posted by dash_riprock:
2. It depends on where the ball is hit. PU has catch/no catch on fly balls with F7 and F9 moving toward the lines, BU has all others.

That kinda what I'd heard. Some guys had described it as a "V" that extends from home plate as opposed to down the lines, but I get the concept.

quote:

For example, with R1 & R2, the BU has both tags and all plays at 1st & 2nd,

So in this situation with a ball hit to center field, the BU has catch/no-catch and tag/leave early?

Yes.

Isn't that kinda screwy? What's the PU doing on a routine fly ball to CF with runners at 1b and 2b? And how can the BU see the catch in CF and the runner at first who may tag?

PU has the the play at 3rd on the runner tagging from 2nd, and all plays at the plate.

BU does his best to line up R2 with the catch. The tag at 1st is an afterthought. When the catch is over, you glance at R1. If he's 20 feet off the base, he left early.

That is one of the limits of the 2-man system. When there's something happening or about to happen at all bases and center field, no 2 sets of eyes are going to see it all. You watch the important stuff.