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Originally Posted by wadeintothem
This is a bunch of hokey BS sold to softball umpires at clinics while we eat our cold donuts and stir our coffee in our Styrofoam cups.
I've never been confused watching a competent umpire regardless of his signals.
Rather the umpire points, hammers, chainsaws bow and arrows, throws, boxes, uses scissors, GD, box, Heel toe, knee, whether he says strike, heeyaa, haa, etc etc etc etc.
You DO NOT need to be a robot to be competent. You do not need to use the same universal signal and strikes to be competent and convey the message.
Want proof?
Watch MLB, Minor Leagues, HS Baseball, or College baseball umpires.
If you cant watch the game and keep up, youre in the wrong business. And they are not robots.
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I worked 18G showcase this weekend and goofed with all kinds of different stances. Gerry D, Scissors, etc. What did a umpire say to me? "Man I like your baseball stance".
Ha!! That was funny.
At any rate, I personnally see the plate best in ASA's prescribed robot stance. But it was fun to goof around a little at a show case and experiment with different stances.
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You get cold donuts and coffee at your clinics??
Gotta disagree with you, again. A signal is just that, a signal. Meant to convery a message. The best way to convey that message clearly to everyone in a ballpark is to give a universal signal, not some variant that you or I choose to use.
In your opinion, then, where should this morphing of signals end. Is it okay for me to point to the ground for a strike, if that is my desired strike call? Where do we draw the line?
I am also telling you that there are some signals in the groups of umpires you named that fail to convey the message. I have been at a MLB park where, due to my angle to the plate, I couldn't see the little side point, and due to my distance from the plate I couldn't hear a call. THAT umpire failed to communicate to me and the hundreds of fans around me. Had he come up with a big, clear, hammer, we all would have known what the call was.
To me, the hokey is with those people who feel we should "express ourselves" on the field rather than use the prescribed signals.