Calling Balls and Strikes: Umpire School vs Common Practice

[CT1]

From personal experience: Numbering strikes, while uncommon, is not rare. OTOH, I've never worked with anyone that call balls by number.

[ilyazhito]

Originally Posted by CT1

From personal experience: Numbering strikes, while uncommon, is not rare. OTOH, I've never worked with anyone that call balls by number.

Maven from the Umpire-Empire forum does, but you're in CT, and he's in FL, so it's natural that the two of you have never met. Is there a reason why more of your partners have called strikes by number, than have called balls by number?

[thumpferee]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Maven from the Umpire-Empire forum does, but you're in CT, and he's in FL, so it's natural that the two of you have never met. Is there a reason why more of your partners have called strikes by number, than have called balls by number?

BECAUSE, AS AN UMPIRE, YOU DONT WANT TO BE SAYING, "TWO BALLS".
Like asking the coach, or player, "do you have any balls"?
Why say "ball" if everyone in the ballpark knows it's a BALL? It's like screaming, "FOUL BALL, OUT OF PLAY", when the ball is over the backstop, in the trees and kids are running after it!

Personally, I randomly verbalize balls so only the catcher and batter can hear. On boarder-line pitches, I verbalize it emphatically! "BAAALL"!

[ilyazhito]

Originally Posted by thumpferee

BECAUSE, AS AN UMPIRE, YOU DONT WANT TO BE SAYING, "TWO BALLS".
Like asking the coach, or player, "do you have any balls"?
Why say "ball" if everyone in the ballpark knows it's a BALL? It's like screaming, "FOUL BALL, OUT OF PLAY", when the ball is over the backstop, in the trees and kids are running after it!

Personally, I randomly verbalize balls so only the catcher and batter can hear. On boarder-line pitches, I verbalize it emphatically! "BAAALL"!

No MiLB umpire who uses numbers says "Two Balls!" Instead, he (or she, for the occasional female umpire) would say "Ball Two!"
The reason to give a verbal call on all balls and all called strikes is to give consistent timing. Umpire School also teaches to call all pitches audibly, with the strikes slightly louder than the balls. Even umpires who have stopped saying "Ball One" and started pointing strikes in AA ball might still be making loud "Ball" and "Strike" calls, to keep the good habits that they had learned in umpire school.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

might still be making loud "Ball" and "Strike" calls, to keep the good habits that they had learned in umpire school.

Yes... even experienced umpires at all the levels I did (up through college) would say "ball" or "strike" -- except on balls that, for example, went to the backstop.

Beyond that, it's personal preference -- either your own, or that of your assignor / evaluator. It just happens that most (not all) choose to drop the number as not really adding anything to the call itself.

[scrounge]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Maven from the Umpire-Empire forum does, but you're in CT, and he's in FL, so it's natural that the two of you have never met. Is there a reason why more of your partners have called strikes by number, than have called balls by number?

I've never heard him say that. And he's in Ohio.

[ilyazhito]

Originally Posted by scrounge

I've never heard him say that. And he's in Ohio.

My apologies. He is in OH, not FL, but he actually did say "I say "Strike 1!", "Ball 1", etc. and hammer strikes. Pretty much what we did in the cages at Jimmy's..." in the "Strike Call" thread.