Dear Catcher.. from your freindly umpire

[marriard]

I mean - to be clear, a catcher is setting up outside to field the outside pitch. Isn't this usually when they're expecting a swing and a miss and not a called strike?

If your catcher is set up competently off the plate and basically in the outside batters box. Look at it this way - if there is NO catcher between me and the pitcher, that is not good for anyone. The pitcher should be able to see some of the umpire - NOT all of them.

Again - good technique from catching camp and others show how totally unnecessary this is to do anyway. If you need to set up on the outside corner you can reach the ball 2' off the plate even in 10U and 12U - and that is a ball anyway.

It is never revenge. No make up calls. I either see it or I don't. I will do my best to call it a strike if it is a strike.

But it is bad technique and even when they miss close to the plate, the catcher has to dive back to catch it. Even if you do manage to catch a corner it looks to everyone like it is WAY outside.


I wrote this because it was such a major contrast from doing all the older age group games.

EDIT: If you feel the need to move your catcher for an outside pitch, lining their belt buckle up with the outside corner is as far as you should ever need to go. They should be able to catch a ball even 2' outside from that position. Once they go down the catching camp road, they likely wont even do that. DD's catchers basically set up the same for EVERY pitch. They are fast and have long arms

 

[SiB57]

I felt a little bad for the ump in our game this past weekend. First year 10U "C" level playing game 4 of a tournament and the 5th game in 3 days which is the most my particular team has played to this date.

My starting catcher, who is starting to become a competent little catcher, started getting a distant/glassy eye stare in the 3rd inning. Decided to sit her for an inning to get some water and rest. She's my only catcher, the only other girl I have who dabbles in it wasn't at this tournament.

I did, though, have an 8U girl playing up with me that catches some there, but her team is fully coach pitch and has never caught live pitching before. Warned Blue about it before she went in that she wasn't really ready to catch at our level. She surprised me, though, and did a decent job back there. But the umpire did take a few shots to the arms that my better catcher would've caught. I think the umpire appreciated me letting him know, even though there wasn't anything I could do about it.

Really good info about the catcher talking to the umpire and letting the coaches know about close calls without having to talk to the umpire directly. Will start working on my catchers with this information!

 

[canyonjoe]

We always taught our catcher to shake hands with the PU prior to the game. One time we had one say "So what" and wouldn't shake hands but mostly they were appreciative.

DD would take it as a personal challenge to never let PU get hit. We had a C once whiff catching a FB that hit PU in the wrist clean. He didn't take it out on us, but surely didn't help much after that.

One time DD came over to the HC and told him after a contentious inning that the PU was right and that the Pitcher was just missing. She always had PU respect.

 

[bmakj]

last fall, DDs coach kept telling her to set up more and more outside, she was resisting as he kept moving her further outside. could tell HC was getting upset with DD.

then HC was asking umpire why they were not getting outside pitches called. umpire told him, she is set up in the other batters box, no way are you getting that as a strike. DD looked back at HC like "told ya", left team after fall for a laundry list of reasons.

 

[YoungBuck]

Marriad, great stuff !

And www.catchingcamp.com is worth every second. DD has attended a few of Jay's camps and the knowledge gained makes all the difference setting yourself apart.

 

[CoachJD]

3) framing - my daughter (who is 15) says she never puts any effort on framing on obvious balls. Are you more likely to call a strike with artful framing?

Here's what I've noticed in my experience working with new catchers (and new pitchers).

It's not so much about the "framing" of the ball in the glove. Like marriard said, the call is (or should be) decided by then. What seems to affect umpires most is how smooth a catcher is. Does she beat the ball to the spot? Is her arm/glove moving a ton (the more it moves, the more it seems like the pitch was harder to catch, and balls are the pitches that are hard to catch)? Is she jumping all over the place, obstructing the umpire's view on decent pitches?

It seems to me that a catcher can do a lot more wrong than right. IOW, it's way easier to make the corner pitches look bad with poor technique that has little to do with "framing" than it is to "buy" a strike or two.

And, of course, framing should just be "freezing" (but not too long, or you're being a jerk) and not "pulling." You're trying to sell the pitch as a strike, right? So hold that pitch there for a beat. Once you move the glove, you just told the umpire it was a bad pitch.

 

[The Man In Blue]

As a catcher's dad, this is fantastic stuff. My daughter has been to two Catchers Camp sessions, and Jay Weaver tells them that they should introduce themselves to the umpire and ask how s/he would like to be addressed. Jay says that it is surprising how often the umpire gives his/her first name.

I've got a couple of questions for you:

1) What are your thoughts about a catcher asking for an appeal on a checked swing? Obviously some batters check up more than others, but is there a point where you just get sick of it>

2) I'm also very curious about your thoughts about the catcher's position in relation to the batter. My daughter tends to creep as close to the batter as she can get away with (she used to get popped for interference once or twice per month, but this no loner seems to be an issue). What are your feelings on this? It seems like if you set up directly behind the catcher and the catcher isn't directly behind the plate, you might be "seeing" balls that were in the zone as the crossed the plate but were out of the zone when the hit the catcher's glove.

3) framing - my daughter (who is 15) says she never puts any effort on framing on obvious balls. Are you more likely to call a strike with artful framing?

4) Not catcher related, but I'm curious - when there's a coach appealing a call and you walk out to discuss it with the fielding umpire, is it always 100% neutral, or do you guys say stuff like "Jim and his obstruction appeals. This is the third time in this tournament. Did you see any evidence of obstruction?" Or maybe even "Jim is such an asshat. Give the safe sign."

Going to pretty much echo Mariard ...

1) Ask anytime it is close. Don’t ask if it isn’t close. Yes, the PU can shut you down if it gets excessive. There is no requirement for us to ask just because the defense requests it. My practice is always to ask because “why not?” To me, it shows respect to the teams. (On a tangent ... I always expect an honest answer from my BU. I have worked with guys who have said in pre-game “You always back my call.” Wrong attitude, IMO.)

2) I can’t give you a good answer on the catcher’s position because every catcher gives you a different look. An umpire should not be set up directly behind the catcher. Umpires should “work the slot”. My outside foot and most of my body is behind the batter, my inside foot is lined up on the inside of the catcher. Very little of me is directly behind home plate. Ideally, I am looking through a “window” created by the batter, the catcher’s arm/glove, and home plate. That is the FRAME (more on that rant in a moment. A catcher who is too far forward or too far back can throw that off. A catcher who bounces around and sets up behind the batter’s boxes throws that off. My best advice ... don’t be afraid to teach your catcher to ask the umpire “am I OK or am I blocking your view.” Don’t do that after a few close calls though.

3) THAT IS NOT FRAMING, THAT IS SELLING. See above. Framing is building a frame for the umpire to look through. A good catcher builds a frame and sticks pitches (holds them where they land). Your glove has nothing to do with a strike — that happens over the plate. Moving your glove tells me you didn’t think it was a strike either.

4) That’s not an appeal or how an appeal works. I have no issue with a coach coming out when it is appropriate and I never have an issue with asking for help when it is appropriate. Yes, it is always neutral in my camp. This is why a coach needs to be specific on what s/he is asking. We get together, I say “The Coach is asking if there was a tag. I did not see one, but I was screened by the fielder. What did you see?”

On a tangent, I did call a coach a dumbass once. Not my proudest moment ... story for another day.

 

[The Man In Blue]

One note on the introduction ... I may come off a bit old fashioned or just as somebody who had some training from a paranoid UIC ... please don’t have your catcher try to shake my hand.

I don’t touch players and I don’t touch equipment. It’s not personal and it’s not meant to be offensive. Shaking the catcher’s hand before the game just has a bad look to it, IMO. I know it is innocent enough in your intentions.

The paranoid UIC I refer to will ask you what you are going to do when you go to shake hands and the catcher trips and you end with a handful of her breast ... and then mom and dad sue you. He claims it happened.

 

[Tatonka]

One note on the introduction ... I may come off a bit old fashioned or just as somebody who had some training from a paranoid UIC ... please don’t have your catcher try to shake my hand.

I don’t touch players and I don’t touch equipment. It’s not personal and it’s not meant to be offensive. Shaking the catcher’s hand before the game just has a bad look to it, IMO. I know it is innocent enough in your intentions.

The paranoid UIC I refer to will ask you what you are going to do when you go to shake hands and the catcher trips and you end with a handful of her breast ... and then mom and dad sue you. He claims it happened.

First of all thanks for your input and comments, this is a great thread. I just had to comment that while I understand this is the world we live in these days with everyone so easily offended and so eager to bring a lawsuit over frivolous and false allegations.....not even shaking hands when greeting someone for fear of being sued is really sad!

 

[GoGamecocks]

First of all thanks for your input and comments, this is a great thread. I just had to comment that while I understand this is the world we live in these days with everyone so easily offended and so eager to bring a lawsuit over frivolous and false allegations.....not even shaking hands when greeting someone for fear of being sued is really sad!

It seems like it's mostly fist bumps these days, though.