Thread: Taking Signs
View Single Post
  #10 (permalink)  
Old Wed Jun 09, 2004, 11:48am
WindyCityBlue WindyCityBlue is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 554
Exclamation Not quite

Mick,
I'm sorry, but this is not OBR.
JEA / Roder / PBUC / et al are instructional manuals and guides to make it easier to umpire.
The Official Rules of Baseball and Rules of Major League Baseball have no provision for "Don't do that." It is bad information for younger officials to imply that it is an enforceable rule. It is not.

Many veteran umpires can and do influence the conduct of play on the field by telling the players / coaches to knock it off or stop doing something we find objectionable. However, say "Don't do that." to a pitcher and he does it again...now what? You tell the catcher and he ignores you. You've started something that could lead to an ejection and it was all your doing. The coach comes out and says that he wants you to show him the penalty for not complying with a "Don't do that." Do you carry Jaks/Roder with you? Will the coach care about umpire protocol that is not covered by a rule/penalty? Not likely, but what can we do?

If the guy wants to keep doing this to gain an advantage, you've got other options (tea cup him) or tell his catcher that you are going to call time and step away from the dish every time you see him do this. He'll get the picture, and very soon. I've yet to see a decent pitcher let me do this more than once. We won't wind up with a bad ejection and won't allow him to cheat.
Reply With Quote