Whats the call??

I completely disagree with your "if the tables were turned" view of the situation. There are hundreds of rules in baseball, some as simple as touching every base. It's the enforcement of all the rules, no matter how simplistic, that keeps the integrity of the game. There are always big plays or situations that are magnified by the playoffs. That being said, the umpires job is to make the RIGHT call, not the popular call.

A great example of this was in 05, when West Forsyth hit a go ahead home-run in the Western Regional Final. The runner clearly missed first base and upon appeal was called out. I have never heard a crowd get so loud or seen a coach lose his cool to this extent. The entire time the coach argued, he never questioned that the player missed the base. He went on and on about "how do you make that call in this situation." Point being, even though making that call made that umpire the most unpopular person in Forsyth County that night, he made the RIGHT call and all ties aside, he deserves a tip of the cap for that.

I did not see this game in question so I, like many others, have no idea if the runner reached second or if the umpire saw one way or the other. I just hope that he made the best call he could make, and not just the popular call.

 

100% agree. Rules are rules and they shouldn't be ignored at any time because of a certain situation. I understand umps miss calls but it should never intentionally happen.

 

...that would never happen, right Catamount?

 

I remember that season very well.... We were knocked out by WF the round before... LOL!

 

more weird calls

I've heard of a similar play happening 5-6 years ago in a regular season finale that affected either playoff berths or seeding....on what should have been a bases loaded walk off walk in the bottom of 7th...On Ball 4, the baserunners from each base are in the process of advancing but the batter never goes to touch first, despite the first base coach's pleading to no avail; batter running around to celebrate never makes it to the bag and is called out, home team eventually loses in extra innings

I've also seen at least three times over the years a home run be taken away on a technicality, twice for taking helmet off before touching the plate, and once for missing first base. One explanation i heard was the 'safety hazard' aspect about the helmet

Saw a different weird call recently...not a homerun but simply a run scoring play...runners coming in to score from 2nd and 3rd on a hit, the first runner is safe, the second one starts to trip about 10-15 feet up the line from the plate...as Chris Berman would say he was rumbling and bumbling and stumbling his way across, MIGHT have missed the plate; the lead runner is in position to tell him whether or not to slide but reaches out to catch him so he won't fall, then after catching him urges him to touch the plate again just incase he missed it while he was off balance, umpire says he is out because of runner assistance...I just wonder what the call would have been if he wouldn't have gone back to touch the plate after being caught...IF he did touch the plate before being assisted (who knows if he really did or not?), is it still assisting a runner if he has all ready scored?

 

I bet the umpire did see it. This is not on the umpire, this is on the COACH. It has to be appealed.

 

If he missed HP and player assisted in touching plate, then he was out. If he missed HP and had left the field with no appeal....SAFE. If he touched HP and player assisted after...safe. It is all determined if the umpire signaled out-safe or made no signal waiting for the play to end.

 

In the FV-HS game the ball was always in play. A Fuquay player picked up the ball and touched second base. No appeals needed as it was a force out. The umpires where leaving the field in a hurry as it was an intense game between two rivals in the playoffs. (Can't say I blame them for being in a hurry, but let the game end first.) He never saw if the runner touched second base or not.