Conflicting fair/foul calls
I am watching the Rays-Red Sox game. Bottom of the 8th, 0 out, R1 on 1st. Batter bunts a ball down the 1st base line. 1st baseman lets it roll towards the line and then swipes at the ball. The plate umpire immediately comes up signaling fair, but the 1st base umpire calls it foul, killing the play. As the 1st baseman is arguing with the plate umpire R1 reaches 2nd safely. 2nd baseman then calls for the ball at 1st base due to batter-runner returning to the plate thinking it is a foul ball. The plate umpire overturned the foul call and called the batter out on the play at 1st. All this while Terry Francona, the Sox manager is out talking with the umpires.
I don't know what Joe Maddon was thinking, but I would have come out of the dugout and made the point that the play was killed due to the foul call, even if there was a fair call, too. The runner should be returned to 1st and the batter should come to the plate with a strike added to the count.
They kicked that one BIG time.
This is the umpire nightmare. A Double call. My thought would be to protect everyone and make it a foul ball. If the ball was before first it should have been the plate umpires call. If at the base or beyond it should have been the base umpire. If it was hard to tell where it was they should have gotten eye contact and one of the take the call. Of course they both thought the other one was going to have what they had.
Generally if one umpire calls a play foul it has to stay foul. If one calls it fair you could get help and change it. The proper results can be determined. But if one calls it foul you can not determine what the result would have been if it had been called fair instead because everyone stops.
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