quote:Originally posted by Rob Kremer:
Dash -
Yes, the PU sold it well, at least after he called it, which was a bit late. The catcher (my son) told me later that he saw that his direct path to the ball would involve running through the runner, so he did it expecting to get the call. After he threw the ball, he turned around looking for the call, and it was then that the ump called it.
It was actually a critical play. In a one run game, the difference between one out and a guy on second, and one out guy on first is a big difference.
When I saw it I thought it was just a no call. But kinda gotta give my son props for seeing an opportunity and being the salesman a bit himself.
It could also be that the umpire was just using good timing, and was not influenced by your son's salesmanship. Generally, coaches, players and fans tend to make "calls" much more quickly than the umpire does (causing umpires to frequently be blamed for letting a coach make the call). But lightning quick timing (beating the coach to the call) is one of the best ways for an umpire to get it wrong.