- May 29, 2015
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I would encourage a coach to talk to the umpire about it. Even if it is before the game. Sure, most umpires might blow you off, but I don't see anything wrong with, "Hey Blue, just so you know, they are prone to doing this."Now want to bring this up to the other dfp'ers and umpires. If you were the coach of Tennessee and you were thinking that Stanford's players are disrupting the strike zone area... what would be your approach (if any) to the umpires about the situation?
There is nothing illegal about a batter setting up with body parts hanging over the plate. An umpire cannot tell a batter "don't do that." It's when the ball gets to that same spot that we have something, and the batter has to face the consequences of their choices.
It's an unfortunate situation for the offense because there's the disruption of what the Batters are doing that creates Umpire not being able to view the pitch all the way and get an accurate call on it. While at the same time the batter gets to stay in the Box to complete their at-bat ...
What you going to do?
I think your observation that the batter is also disrupting the umpire's FRAME is very astute. I noticed in that picture the umpire is set up almost over the top of the catcher, which is something we are typically taught to avoid (line of fire hazard). It could be he had to adjust.
I agree with @mmeece : benefit of the doubt is not going to the person making my life more difficult. If the batter is not giving me a view of the zone, the catcher is probably going to get the things I can't see. If the catcher is not FRAMING properly (no, not moving her glove, but giving me a frame to look through) and blocking me out, those borderline pitches are probably going to the batter.