[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Ref Ump Welsch

I was told by our ASA District UIC here to yell "foul", not "foul ball". Rationale: players could become confused as to whether the call was a foul or a ball.

My USSSA state UIC told me to yell "foul ball". Rationale: so the players would know the ball went foul, and not to confuse the players with the words foul and out, which may sound the same from a distance.

The ASA state UIC said I could yell either one. Rationale: who the hell cares about the players, your mechanics are more important.

And I can't tell you how many times I've had a player go "I'm out?" when they think the umpire said "out" instead of "foul." Not that it's a big deal, because a foul ball's a dead ball, but still...

One more example of why those "one word" calls aren't always a perfect solution.