Who’s got third?
he longest topic for discussion in any pregame I have these days revolves around the coverage of third base. Let’s look at a number of play situations and discuss alternative ways of handling these plays.
Play 1: R1 only, base hit to the outfield, play at third base. I intentionally started out with a situation where there is little discussion. In a two-umpire system, the plate umpire must come up and cover third, freeing the base umpire so that he can pick up the batter-runner in case there is a subsequent play.
Current teaching has the plate umpire come up in foul ground, about 3/4 of the way to third base. Once runner AND ball are both heading to third, the plate umpire will come fair and close distance to make the call at third base. If there is no play, the umpire will not come up to third and the base umpire is responsible for (the new) R1 and R3.
Play 2: R2 only. Ground ball to the left side of the infield where R2 holds until a throw is made to first base. Once the throw is released, R2 breaks for third. There are two ways to handle this play, and either is considered proper, depending on which expert you ask.
Continued...
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