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Do you all say "ball" on a pitch 1/4 outside the zone? And if you don't, do you silently call called strikes?
And I guess then there is never a need for signaling safe at any point during the entire game. If you don't call him out, then he is safe! It will be up to the defense to know to look at you during the play to signal such, silently mind you.
If you (or your association) want(s) to be at the top of the profession:
1) If the pitch is snared out of the dirt by the catcher on a swinging strike out, step back to give the catcher room to make his play and signal "Safe" while verbalizing "No catch" or "No" as you would any other catch/no catch decision during a game.
1a) If there is a question as to whether the batter swung, make that call first as you normally would do. If that means going to your partner for an appeal right away, do it. He should be already coming in with his call anyways if you don't jump on a swing right away. The emphasis of your call should be reflective of the closeness of the short hop just as you would do on any play.
2) On a swinging strike three, if the pitch is caught in flight, but close to the dirt by the catcher, give your normal strike 3 swinging mechanic. Its okay if this is a closed fist. Verbalize "catch" or "yes" just loud enough for batter and catcher to hear so as not to show up the batter on a play he may have already given up on. You wouldn't yell "out" on a guy who is out by 15 steps at first, so don't do it here.
2a) If it is a called strike 3 dropped 3rd strike, give your usual called strike 3 mechanic and immediately signal safe. Then verbalize "no catch" if it is not obvious to all the ball has not been caught. *This is where people who use a closed fist "out" mechanic for called strike 3 can get in trouble*
3) If a strike 3 pitch goes to the screen or rebounds far away from the catcher, no need to do anything. Everyone should know what to do on plays that are obvious. You wouldn't signal "no catch" on a routine line drive base hit because you do not have a judgment concerning if a ball was in flight or not when it was controlled by a player. So don't do it here.
3a) If it was a called strike 3, go ahead and give your A+ strike 3 mechanic because everyone is going to wonder how it could be a strike when its rolling around 30 feet from home plate.
All this being said, do what you want. This information is written for people who want to learn and improve their performance. The great thing in life is that you get choices. If you or your association don't agree or want to do otherwise, its your choice.
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