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Originally Posted by kcg NC2Ablu
.............. how can we sacrifice a sense of uniformity amoung our mechanics.
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Certain mechanics do need to be uniform and certain mechanics do not. Certain mechanics can be "personality" Others can be preference which allow the umpire to perform at his best because of genetics, god or McDonalds. You may have a preference because it looks good. I personnally think the umpire at this Tenn game was the BEST looking umpire mechanics wise I've seen working NCAA ball. He beat em all. It was refreshing to see good mechanics behind the plate of a softball game.
The misnomer sold to the softball masses is that if a PU used different stances than the allocated stance or a different strike 1&2 call... chaos would reign and and no one would know what is going on.
"Oh goodness," the softball umpire cries "how could I ever work with a partner from anywhere if he used a different stance!" Softball umpires, even in this thread, contend EVERYTHING must be uniform or they may not know what is going on. They need that uniformity to be able to work with anyone!
Are you kidding me?
I'm certainly not advocating people running around doing a double fist pump or inventing their own dead ball calls or what not.. but people would be just fine if certain areas were relaxed.
If an umpire, say, worked a Gerry Davis stance or used the dreaded "point" strike, and you as BU "lost" it and couldnt tell what is going on.. well then thats sad.
If I were president, we would have a chicken in every pot, a car in every garage..
Umpires could use any reasonable strike call, and would be evaluated on performance, not whether they did the robotics perfectly.
Umpires could use any reasonable stance and would be evaluated on performance, not whether they the specified stance.
Umpires, base or plate, could use any reasonable out call, and would be evaluated on performance, not whether they did the robotics perfectly.
Irishmike's contention that umpires can do so now is absurd. At least not in any place I've ever worked... maybe in Delaware they can.