Yeah I wasn't worried about it at the time. But it was also a chance to teach a lesson to my team about protecting everyone on the field.I had the same reaction and was going to talk about the value of punctuation!
While I appreciate that as a ump, it would precarious if the other team pushed the issue later in the game (to force a pitcher out or to prevent an offensive conference later in the inning). If you are going to do that, try to get the BU to come over to verify you aren’t doing any coaching (kind of like an injury time out). Best practice is to have the catcher go out.
Dear Catcher.. from your freindly umpire
- Thread starter marriard
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- May 29, 2015
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Re: High Maintenance Umps ... dude. You should work with some of these guys and gals. You don’t know the half of it. Wait ... did you mean ... moi?! No ...
Re: Handshakes and fist bumps ... Personally, I’m more concerned with the appearance if I do it for one and not the other. I know it is well-meaning and I appreciate it. Like I said before, I’m a bit old fashioned. That UIC I mentioned though ... he will take you off of future assignments if he sees it.
Re: where the catcher catches it ... That’s the point we try to make — it doesn’t matter. So moving the glove all over the place can be perceived as an attempt to show up the umpire. Unfortunately, most parents see the glove and ooh and ahh. They don’t realize the catcher is 6 feet back and the ball dropped 6 inches from the batter’s eyes at the plate to the mitt.
Wait ... did you mean ... moi?! No ...Re: Handshakes and fist bumps ... Personally, I’m more concerned with the appearance if I do it for one and not the other. I know it is well-meaning and I appreciate it. Like I said before, I’m a bit old fashioned. That UIC I mentioned though ... he will take you off of future assignments if he sees it.
Re: where the catcher catches it ... That’s the point we try to make — it doesn’t matter. So moving the glove all over the place can be perceived as an attempt to show up the umpire. Unfortunately, most parents see the glove and ooh and ahh. They don’t realize the catcher is 6 feet back and the ball dropped 6 inches from the batter’s eyes at the plate to the mitt.
- May 29, 2015
- 3,813
- 113
Why ask? You can see where the catcher catches it. If I didn’t call it a strike and her glove is outside/inside/low/high, that is where the pitcher is missing. She knows. The catcher knows. No need to ask. No need to answer.
If were feeling particularly cantankerous, I would answer: The strike zone, that’s where she’s missing.
While I appreciate that as a ump, it would precarious if the other team pushed the issue later in the game (to force a pitcher out or to prevent an offensive conference later in the inning). If you are going to do that, try to get the BU to come over to verify you aren’t doing any coaching (kind of like an injury time out). Best practice is to have the catcher go out.
If the umpire does happen to get hit by a foul tip, we instruct our catchers to walk out to the pitcher. Most of the better umps will do something similar if our catcher gets hit by a tip.
This is all part of game management.
Once you answer one question from a coach, you are setting yourself for answering ALL the questions.
Now coach is asking on every pitch fishing for a call, or questioning everything. And now the other coach is also asking - and since you answered one coach, you have to answer the other one... and so on. It can get out of hand quickly and shutting it down can be messy once it is started
Does it happen with every coach or every time you answer the location question from a coach... of course not. But it happens enough to know that the way to avoid this situation is to not answer it at all and not set yourself up for heading down that rabbit-hole. The best way to avoid these situations is to avoid the starting events that could head you into these situations.
Same goes for talking about rules and calls with spectators or going to my partner unnecessarily or asking swing/no swing on obvious swing/no swing or talking to one set of coaches more than another when I arrive or going beyond "Hi coach" even though I have known the coach for 20 years and have no idea who the coaches in the other dugouts are.... and so on. I wont give counts to coaches either when they ask... I will normally just give the count to everyone. Just because you have never had an issue with the coach, player or spectator on a team in the past, doesn't mean today is not the day.
Avoid potential situations you know can happen. Assume people are watching from the moment you are at the field. Assume people can hear what you are saying... and so on.
Strike signals go to pitcher with you facing forward - never look at your arm making the strike call or off to the side. Giving the count the same - eyes and signals forward and to the pitcher. I am not narrating or commentating the game, so only give counts if there is a reason to do so. Say only what you need to say.
These are all things you are assessed on - and if you go watch the best at it - you will pick up on them doing these things.
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- May 29, 2015
- 3,813
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This isn't really true though. If it's a borderline low/in, low/away, high/in, high/away pitch, it can be difficult to know if the umpire thought it was one, the other, or both. Also, from the dugout, you really can't tell if a pitch is inside or outside if it's close and the catcher does a decent job receiving.
Since all my pitchers are developing, I'd like to know (though I don't actually ask) because my pitcher might also not be sure, and while I'm not sure it's helpful, simply saying "just get that up a little" could help her understand (as opposed to "get that up and over a little more") why it was a ball.
Edited to say: I'm not saying a coach should ask. As I said, I don't. But I don't think it's as obvious to the coach as you think it is. It may not be obvious to the pitcher or catcher either. I guess one thing I would do is if I saw the same close pitch called a ball a couple times, maybe between innings I would just ask something like "Were those low or outside or both?" Something in a way that acknowledges it was a ball, but just wondering which direction it missed.
Then ask your catcher. She is right there also and has a GREAT view - nothing between her and the pitcher to block her view and she is supposed to know what is coming as a pitch anyway.
If anyone has a read on where the pitch is it is her. And I will likely quietly tell her on close pitches is she is unsure..
- Jul 14, 2018
- 982
- 93
Thanks, marriard for all of the insight.
Is asking for a count really an issue, or do you just mean that you don't respond specifically to the coach and just announce the count on request? I feel like this request happens a lot during a game. I wouldn't say it's frequent, but my count in the scorebook doesn't always match up with the official count, usually because an umpire gives an 'away' brush that I mistake for a strike call, or I miss the call completely on a throwdown. In cases where I know the umpire has the wrong count, I might say something like "I have three balls," but I've never argued the count, doesn't seem like a spot to push your luck with an umpire.
Back when DD was a catcher, she attended a Catching Camp clinic and greeting the umpire was something that stuck with me and I always encouraged her to do it. She never did -- too timid -- but it's interesting to hear that it's not always appreciated.
