hen I first read Carl's new idea for umpiring in a two-man system, some things made sense. Many of those things surrounded positioning when runners are on base. With a runner on third, being in B makes sense, rather than the conventional position at C. How often are you going to see that pick-off at third? The out is more often going to be at first.

That is great logic. That is why his idea of starting at B with no runners makes absolutely no sense.

Numbers please

Before we look at the other things that BU needs to do out there, I want to look at the #1 reason why A is the place to be. Carl himself has endorsed B with a runner on third because the umpire is closer to the most likely out.

Here is exactly what Carl said in his 1999 article:

Except with runners on first and third, anytime a runner reaches third, the umpire's most likely play will be at first. The closer he can get to first, the better.

That logic alone is a ringing endorsement for starting in A.

Continued...