Should umpires signal/announce a fair ball?

[The Man In Blue]

In this case it's because these are rec players who are still learning that they need to assume everything is fair until the ump says it isn't (even though I have told them this a thousand times in every possible way ). And no, I did not say anything to the ump about it or blame him. I did have yet another discussion about it with the players, however.


My yelling "It's fair! Get the ball!" didn't seem to help much

So if the coach yelling "It's fair!" doesn't work for them ... I don't think me pointing is going to change too much.

 

[CoachJD]

My yelling "It's fair! Get the ball!" didn't seem to help much

There was probably a fan 250 feet away yelling foul. That's who they tend to listen to at that age.

 

[The Man In Blue]

There was probably a fan PARENT 250 feet away yelling foul. That's who they tend to listen to at that age.

Tomato tomato, but fixed.

 

[CoachJD]

Tomato tomato, but fixed.

I tell our players that when they're on the field that's the one time they're allowed to ignore anything their parents say. Most of them like hearing that.

 

[canyonjoe]

Teach the players to run until they hear foul called. Until it's called they should assume it's fair. The same to the defense. Obviously if it's 50 feet foul it's a different story.

One other thing I always try and stress to runners especially on 2nd and 3rd is that if it's a fly ball that clearly foul get back to the base and be ready to tag. There is no benefit to going halfway. I'm not talking about one that's close to the line but ones that are clearly foul.

 

[Big Daddy Michigan]

Teach the players to run until they hear foul called. Until it's called they should assume it's fair. The same to the defense. Obviously if it's 50 feet foul it's a different story.

One other thing I always try and stress to runners especially on 2nd and 3rd is that if it's a fly ball that clearly foul get back to the base and be ready to tag. There is no benefit to going halfway. I'm not talking about one that's close to the line but ones that are clearly foul.

I'd have runners tag on 3rd on every ball in the air. If they catch it you can go. If the miss it you can walk home. I don't see any advantage to going part way on a flyball from 3rd. I absolutely hate when I see a runner stand and watch the flyball from 3 steps from the base. I'm sure that's never taught, but just a coach not paying attention to the details.

 

[SoftballDadnWV]

Teach the players to run until they hear foul called. Until it's called they should assume it's fair.

As a WVSSAC baseball umpire for only about 10 years, my association taught me in training to only verbalize "FOUL" and then just point when fair. I see umpires on the travel ball circuit verbalize way too much and it creates issues with the players, coaches and fans. My pet peeves 1) verbalizing non-strike pitches - no need for it -and then using your right arm to point to first letting the batter know they need to leave the batters box to go to first base - the right arm is only for strikes and outs in my opinion. 2) Verbalizing fair balls. When the ball is hit by the batter and the umpire is quiet and/or moving into a better position to see a play, it means keep playing. And 3), Not verbalizing the count often and loudly enough. As a spectator, I would like to know the count if I have somehow missed a pitch or two or three, but also because my now 12u DD has hearing issues. She catches about half her teams games and when she doesn't hear the umpire, she is taught to turn around and just ask. You can always see her speaking to the umpire during her at bats too, making sure she has the count correct.

 

[dbronstein]

Teach the players to run until they hear foul called. Until it's called they should assume it's fair. The same to the defense. Obviously if it's 50 feet foul it's a different story.

I've been trying to get them to understand this for two years. We're slowly getting there.

 

[CoachJD]

One other thing I always try and stress to runners especially on 2nd and 3rd is that if it's a fly ball that clearly foul get back to the base and be ready to tag. There is no benefit to going halfway. I'm not talking about one that's close to the line but ones that are clearly foul.

Big pet peeve of mine. WHY are you going anywhere on a ball that's hit foul toward the fence?

We had a play last week where one of my fastest runners was on third. There was a popup hit foul to the 1B side. P, C, and 1B all went for the ball. Nobody was covering home. My baserunner is hanging out 10 feet off the base. The ball wasn't caught so the point was moot, but if it had been caught, she easily tags and scores if she's doing the right thing.

 

[CoachJD]

My pet peeves 1) verbalizing non-strike pitches - no need for it -and then using your right arm to point to first letting the batter know they need to leave the batters box to go to first base - the right arm is only for strikes and outs in my opinion. 2) Verbalizing fair balls. When the ball is hit by the batter and the umpire is quiet and/or moving into a better position to see a play, it means keep playing. And 3), Not verbalizing the count often and loudly enough. As a spectator, I would like to know the count if I have somehow missed a pitch or two or three, but also because my now 12u DD has hearing issues. She catches about half her teams games and when she doesn't hear the umpire, she is taught to turn around and just ask. You can always see her speaking to the umpire during her at bats too, making sure she has the count correct.

1) Yes! Though I do think a quiet verbalization for batter/catcher is fine, and if you sit close enough, you can hear high level umpires do this. But I can't tell you how many times I've asked "Did he say 'strike' or 'inside'?" I shouldn't do that because you shouldn't be yelling on non-strikes.

3) I agree on the verbalizing the count, but I couldn't care less if the spectators know what it is. You're not verbalizing for them. You're doing it for the players on the field. It's funny you brought this up though, because in the game that caused me to start the thread, one of the parents on the other team was just berating the umpire about not being loud enough for her. This parent was sitting down the line, 100 feet away. The umpire could have verbalized better/more, but she certainly shouldn't be doing it to appease that wretched woman.