Quote:
Originally Posted by lawump
Professional mechanics:
No signal and no verbal (a/k/a "spoken") statement given when the catch is a "can of corn". [It only takes giving a catch signal and saying "catch" once on a can-of-corn on the professional level to hear some player/coach/manager say "no ****" (or something similar) to you.]
It is okay to say, "Jim, got a catch". [Where "Jim" is your partner.]
Both umpires should be watching the ball. However, the umpire(s) who have responsibility for any runner(s) should glance at the runners. "Watch the ball, glance at the runner(s)!" I teach several clinics a year with a former instructor at one of the umpire schools and he has told me that that phrase is repeated every day for six weeks at school.
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I did some some checking, and this is the mechanic at pro school. Since I never aspire to attend pro school, and 95% of my training is at the FED level, this has never came up. However, it kind of blurs my mind that the reason for this mechanic is to possibly avoid a stupid snide comment. To me, it equates to the casual out signal when a batter is out by 20ft. Anyway, if they do say something similar, it gives me the chance to use my patented head and eye roll mechanic.
Thanks, lawump, for providing an answer other than, "Because I said so."