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I know we all strongly defend softball as a different game from baseball (well, most of us do, anyway), but here is one area where the game could benefit from one of the so-called "unwritten rules" regarding catchers and umpires.
The unwritten baseball rule is that when a catcher wants to lobby for a call for his pitcher, he doesn’t turn around to address the umpire or do anything demonstrative that would show up the umpire. For his part, the umpire doesn’t do anything to show up the player either. The interaction between the two goes unnoticed except by the two of them (and possibly the batter). The umpire MAY brush the plate to communicate with the catcher, but to the observer, he would merely be brushing the plate.
Coaches who want a pitch-by-pitch report from the catcher are interfering with this umpire-catcher protocol by imposing themselves into it in a way that requires demonstration. They should know this, also, violates the unwritten rule and not do it. Find some other way to get their information (or, better, trust their pitcher and catcher to deal with it, especially and the level of game in the OP).
This would be, of course, if softball adopted some of the unwritten baseball rules that govern such things. I, for one, think the game would benefit.
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Tom
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