Calling Balls and Strikes: Umpire School vs Common Practice

[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.