Quote:
Originally posted by nickrego
There was an earlier thread about calling a Balk with R3.
Many umpires stated that they believe in Preventative Umpiring, or Coaching, to prevent such an occurrence, if possible. There were also some who said they take the situation into consideration.
Before I talk about Preventative Umpiring, let me say that I think taking the situation into consideration, and how it will effect the outcome of the game, to be completely wrong. Read any umpire manual in publication. Know where will you read that we are supposed to CONTROL the outcome of a game. I am being very literal here, and not talking about inconsequential events in a game. Like overlooking a base coach who is a few steps out of the coaching box.
Although I believe in the spirit of Preventative Umpiring at the lower levels, it is an EXTREMELY touchy thing.
If you are going to give CHANCES to players for not knowing, or breaking the rules, you better be VERY subtle about it. And nobody besides you and the player, or the catcher if he is the go between, should know about it.
Things you need to consider if you practice this
If you are going to give a pitcher a second chance on a particular way of balking, are you going to give them a chance on EVERY possible way they could balk ?
If you give the starting pitcher one or more chances, are you going to do the same with every relief pitcher ?
What if team A pitchers balk a few times, you are giving them chances, and Team Bs pitchers dont balk one time ? Did team B get a fair chance to win the game ? Especially if they lost by 1 run, and they had R3 on during one of the balks you gave team A a chance on ?
So, you are giving both teams chances on balks, or any other highly visible rule. Are you going to make sure you give each team an even number of chances ? What if the game ends before you can even it up, and the losing team had been given less chances ?
Do you really think nobody knows your giving chances ?
Personally, I find I have enough to do to properly manage a FAIR game. I will work subtly with a catcher, if I feel I can get a way with it, if a pitcher is CLOSE to balking. But
On the 90 diamond, See a Balk Call a Balk. I am talking about balks you are sure of, not the ones that may be a balk. Is there a score ? Will it affect the game ? Dont know, dont care.
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OK, I need to clarify some things, because you don't seem to understand what I mean by preventative umpiring. As I said, I have a set of articles coming up soon looking at this issue and others involving coaching and umpiring and when the two collide.
First, I NEVER said ignore a balk. What I say is this. If a guy is coming close to balking, let him know. For example, a guy is close to not stopping and the offense is *****ing, let everyone know that you are watching it and it isn't a balk...but very close! If they aren't *****ing, I subtly do this. I send the catcher, or as I said in the other post, between innings someone sent the messge. The dummy never headed my words and I balked him twice in a playoff game at a National Championship.
The irony is that you ramble on about not doing this and then say you will work with a catcher if the pitcher is CLOSE to balking. Isn't that exactly what I am advocating?
I see this no diferent than what we do in other sports. For example, when I worked basketball, I would often talk to the players under the basket as they were jockeying for position. I would let them know when they are getting close to fouling, then if they did nothing, bang...foul. Hockey, same issue in front of the net.
What preventative umpiring or officiating does is allow the players to determine the game.
Other situations that I use this. As I said before, if the runner is *****ing about the lefty steping toward first, I will tell the runner (and the coach there) why the pitcher isn't balking. It prevents the bigger argument after he gets picked off.
After a guy misses a base and they are going to appeal. If the ball has stayed alive and someone asks me if they have to have the pitcher toe the rubber, I will tell them the rule. I am not telling them what to do, just what the rule says. The smart team will just throw the ball to the base, thus eliminating any chance of a stupid balk.
What about the neighborhood play? I give latitude, but will quickly let a guy nkow if he is close to going outside that by saying, "Hey, don't cheat TOO much on that double play. Any further and you won't get that call."
So, to summarize, I NEVER advocated ignoring anything. What I advocate is to be more active in administering the game. This is not black and white and we need to let the players know when they are in the grey area. What this does is prevent them from breaking the rule and us having to administer it, which you know will lead to an argument.
Blaine
[Edited by NSump on Feb 8th, 2006 at 09:31 AM]