13

[Frankwag]

Dude, you take 13 year old baseball to a level it's not. Why do you even care what the coach says to his catcher? Work on developing a deaf ear to this stuff. Unless he blatantly shows you up, chances are no one else even knows what is going on. There's very few fans to begin with. I don't know how long you have been umping, but if it's not long, you're soon gonna burn yourself out, and if it is a long time, it's a wonder you haven't already.

Obviously, a coach questioning every other pitch needs to have a stop put to it. But don't put the burden on the kid-it's not fair to do that to a 13 year old who is just learning a different kind of game on a larger field and has enough on his/her mind. Tell the coach to stop asking instead, unless talking to adults intimidates you-maybe explaining why you go after the catchers.

Another small common-sensical point- you have a catcher back there who is blocking everything and calling a great game. You mean to tell me that if he starts talking to the coach about the strike zone you'll have him removed and have someone else get back there who has no clue and puts you at risk? At 13, you're lucky to get 1 catcher who knows what he is doing, forget 2.