Quote:
Originally Posted by dash_riprock
I agree it looks bad when BU overturns an assertive "no he didn't." I still like the mechanic however, but I only use it when I am certain the batter did not offer, and only when I am working with a competent and trusted partner.
"No he didn't" tells everyone I saw that checked swing and the batter did not offer. My partner had better have seen the end of the bat before he overturns it, and if he did, then I had no business selling it in the first place. This is not a secret signal arrangement - I will always tell my partner to give me what he had on any check swing appeal.
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"No, he didn't (go)" remains the mechanic taught at proschool, reinforced at PBUC and practiced in professional baseball.
PBUC Umpire Manual (2010 edition, page 97)
"All decisions on checked swing shall be called loudly and clearly by the plate umpire. If the pitch is a ball and the batter does not swing at the pitche, the mechanic to be used is" 'Ball; no, he didn't go." If the pitch is a ball but the batter commits on the checked swing, the mechanic to be used is: 'Yes, he went,' while pointing directly at the batter and then coming up with the strike motion."
What has changed over the years is that the PU does not point at the batter when announcing "no he didn't go."
The mechanic, as you say, tells all that you saw the movement but do not judge it as an offer, rather than leave some wondering if you just missed what they consider to be a swing