who makes correct call

Question
WITH NO ONE ON BASE AND A BALL IS HIT IN SHORT RIGHT/CENTERFIELD AND THE CENTERFIELDER DIVES TO MAKE CATCH WHO HAS THE CALL, THE BASE UMPIRE WHO IS ONLY A FEW FEET FROM THE PLAY OR THE HOME PLATE UMPIRE???  THE BASE UMPIRE TOLD ME IT WAS NOT HIS CALL AND THE HOME PLATE UMPIRE TOLD ME HE WAS BLOCKED FROM THE PLAY!!! I DID SEE A RULE WHERE IT SAYS THE HOME PLATE UMPIRE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR FLY BALLS WITH RUNNERS ON BACE BUT DON'T THINK THIS WOULD APPLY IN THIS CASE.   THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!

Answer
Hi Dennis,

Thank you for your question.  You didn't mention it specifically, but I can tell by your description of the play that the base umpire didn't "go out" or "chase" the fly ball to make the catch/no catch call.  If they would have, they wouldn't have said that it wasn't their call, because any time that the base umpire does go out or chase a fly ball, then IT IS their call and their call alone!   This would have been a perfect time for the base umpire to go out, as they were in a perfect position to get a good look at that blooper.  But they didn't, for whatever reason.  (By the way, it is extremely common for the base umpire in a two-umpire system to never go out or chase, as that leaves the plate umpire alone to cover four bases, and that is a lot of work for the plate umpire.) So this left the responsibility for the catch/no catch on this blooper to the plate umpire.  Since the catch wasn't seen by either umpire, then the correct ruling to make would have been no catch/safe, much to the chagrin of the defense.

In my neck of the woods if the two umpires in this game were being evaluated, the evaluator probably wouldn't ask the base umpire why they didn't go out.  They would probably only ask the plate umpire why they didn't get the angle on the catch, and remind them that they cost the defense an out.

Scott Kelly