Would you have called Ichiro safe?

I don't think he was more than 3' at the initial attempt. It is where he is when the tag attempt is made. Not where he lands after it. IMO, he was well within 3' and not even close to a base path violation. Good non-call on it. And, good call on the play while sticking with it.

Painfully I agree he was ok. I am an O's fan since about 1965 but according to the rules and course of play, safe.

Now that I look at it frame by frame, Wieters didn’t make a very good play either. No need for him to go to his knees that far up the line. Maybe he lost his bearings. I think he had time to get to the plate and cover it.

On my DVR, from his starting point at the beginning of the play on him he easily went beyond 3' from his basepath to the plate. However. Traditionally, that has been allowed, to an extent, at the plate without complaint by the defense.

quote:

Traditionally, that has been allowed, to an extent, at the plate without complaint by the defense.

What does or should it matter whether or not the defense complains? Isn't the umpire's job to enforce the rule?

This is where judgement, intent, timing, and advantage type words enter the conversation. You don't have a yardstick with you at the plate or on the base paths, but you have a good idea of what 3' is. You know that 3' is more than 1-2" of arm length unless you have a really lanky catcher - he missed the initial tag by inches not a foot. The width of the dirt down each baseline is usually 3' wide, right? The catcher is kneeling on the baseline and the runner is running down the first stripe/cut of grass - so his baseline when the play starts is probably 4' from the catcher. The catcher's distance from waist to his glove is not 7'. Ichiro makes one juke right to "avoid" the tag as the catcher lunges at him. If you draw a straight line through the back left corner of the RH batters box and the first stripe of grass it seems that you're well within 3' of the baseline established when the play started. Perhaps if he makes 2 steps, then you've got an easy out of the baseline call.

At this point Ichiro realizes he overran the plate and then has to try and get back to it. Again drawing that imaginary line from his base path when a play was being made on him through the batters and catchers box, he still appears to be on the same trajectory albeit more than 3' from the base. He goes directly back toward the plate and doesn't try to "run around" avoiding the 2nd tag.

Now make this call with the speed of the game, without using your DVR to slow things down frame by frame, without using any measuring device... It seems the intent of the runner is to avoid the tag and stay within 1 step of the boundaries of his baseline. He's not running around the circle at home plate.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Kremer:

quote:

Traditionally, that has been allowed, to an extent, at the plate without complaint by the defense.

What does or should it matter whether or not the defense complains? Isn't the umpire's job to enforce the rule?

Interesting. Fans and coaches decry any attempt to strictly enforce rules regarding contact during plays at home because it is "part of the game." But apparently this isn't. I suggest you take it up with MLB management and evaluators.