[ozzy6900]

I sent this dummy an email. I don't know why I did it, but I think that it has something to do with my age and my lack of tolerance for morons such as this.

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Mr. Donnellon;

Referring to your article posted about umpires on Monday August 28, 2006, it is quite obvious that you know nothing about baseball etiquette or umpiring.

Many of the players have forgotten the simple etiquette of waiting until the umpire makes the call. I've seen many a player start off to first base thinking the got ball four when I am just calling strike 2 or 3. Players that jump out thinking they have ball four are showing up the umpire (whether they realize it or not). Sure it seems like an eternity to the batter but in reality, it is only a second so just wait! You might get the call after all if you stay put!

That brings me to the job of umpiring. We are taught to see the pitch, see it again in your mind then call the pitch. You seem to want to call the pitch before the ball even gets to the catcher! Rushing the call produces only one thing - inconsistency. Players need consistency in order to work their "magic". If I call a spot a strike in the first inning, it had better be a strike in the ninth inning as well. Rushing the call causes timing errors and blown calls. Watch a local youth umpire do a game, then watch a trained High School or NCAA umpire - pitch, thud, pause, call - every time, every pitch!

Do some umpires delay more than others? Yes, there are times that a borderline pitch makes you guess for another moment. Remember what I said earlier about consistency, it's one of the most important things to the players. Sometimes after seeing over two hundred pitches, you loose focus. When that happens to a plate umpire, it can be a disaster to the game. Try to imagine a projectile coming straight for your you at anywhere from 90 to 100 MPH and you loose focus! That is where we are taught to slow down even more and "see" the pitch again in our heads.

Mr Donnellon, a plate umpire gets less than a second to make a decision on a pitch and he/she does it over two hundred times in a game. May I suggest that you try it sometime. Many sports writers have done this and found that they didn't have a clue and had even less of a clue when they took off the mask. What they did have was a little more respect for a part of the game that is taken for granted.

Thank You,
Mario (Last Name)
(City and State)