I remember in the '95 Series involving the Braves and Indians when he was criticized profusely for calling on one knee...and his delay was annoying. Also, on the side angle shots of him behind the plate, he was at least 4-6 feet behind the catcher.

Tonight, during the Braves vs Rockies game, I didn't know it was him until the announcers said his name on a fair-foul call, and I noticed he uses a box now and is almost immediate with his strike calls. He's made a complete mechanical change. I saw no elements of his previous mechanics...all new.

What made him change, I wonder?

I also noticed the same thing the first day of the season, as he being the crew chief worked the plate that first game.

I also noticed Chuck Meriwether (used to work the knee) now uses the box, Dana DeMuth (used to work the scissors now uses the box) and also Brinkman. I found it strange...I have heard the negatives about the scissors and what it does to your spinal column, but am unsure why Brinkman changed along with those two other guys. Brinkman answered questions on the World Umpires forum, but nobody asked him why he changed.

<b>Catcher - (turning to look at the plate ump) [loudly] "Where was that pitch at?"

Plate Ump - (while sweeping the plate) "Didn't your English teacher ever teach you not to end a sentence with a preposition?"</b>

Hey, where's the punch line?

My guess is he decided to go along with the program, both pro schools are only teaching use of the slot.

Michael

Hmmmm,
 

"I remember in the '95 Series involving the Braves and Indians when he was criticized profusely for calling on one knee...and his delay was annoying. Also, on the side angle shots of him behind the plate, he was at least 4-6 feet behind the catcher.

Tonight, during the Braves vs Rockies game, I didn't know it was him until the announcers said his name on a fair-foul call, and I noticed he uses a box now and is almost immediate with his strike calls. He's made a complete mechanical change. I saw no elements of his previous mechanics...all new.

What made him change, I wonder?"

====

In order:

Joe was not ctiricize for "calling on one knee" in that series. His work was held suspect because he was working 10' to 12' (that is feet folks) back and behind the catcher.

He also was never criticized for his delay in calling. If you said this about John Schlock there would be agreement among announcers . . . as we know it is simply good timing.

According to authoritive sources NONE of the umpires mentioned work "the box" . . . authorative sources have clearly intoned that there are two stances that get confused:

1- "Heel-to-toe", which is the stance used by a majority of professional umpires. This is the stance that is taught at professional school.

2- "The Box", which is the remnat of when American League umpires worked with the raft protector. The box resembles a wrestler's stance.

The difference in the stances, according to authorative siurces, is that "heel-to-toe" works in the slot and "The Box" works directly over the catcher's head. Durwood Merrill was the last MLB umpire to use "The Box".

Durwood once said to his friend Dale Scott (who works the slot), "Dale, how the heck can you see anything from waaay over there?"

Finally, as we are all aware the scissors stance in no longer accepted above AA professional baseball any longer (i.e. this would relate to new umpires coming up, not veterans at that level). MLB met with all the current roster of MLB umpires and strongly suggested that all umpires forgoe the scissors at first chance.

If anyone has missed the reasoning stated on this page earlier:

70% of all MLB umpire injuries over the past six years have come from umpires using the scissor stance.

The example used at professional umpire clinics is as follows:

"Take a tennis ball in your hand and hold it out at arm's length and count slowly to 180.

"Now take a bowling ball and hold it the same way and count to 180.

"Notice the difference?

"Now imagine your head is the bowling ball when working the scissors.

"See why all umpires should drop that stance?"

So what we are seeing is that it is a health issue based change.

Tee

I have talked to a couple of Midwest League umpires this year asking about the samething here, and the only thing he could tell is that because everyone else is using the box/slot mechanic, and that is all that is being instructed at both umpiring schools, that they would change to match everyone else.

Joe Brinkman serves as a Special Advisor to the training academies. As you probably recognize, many MLB umpires use mechanics that differ from the robotic mechanics instilled by the schools. Look how many have switche to the Gerry Davis stance.

Brinkman was interviewed during Spring Training and said he is getting older and the wear and tear of his old stance was taking its toll. He agreed that he sees the ball better now and isn't getting hit as much.

I attended his school a long time ago. B-F taught the slot and a modified scissors for taller guys. It was hysterical that the guy who made a million ball/strike calls from the knee was scrutinizing our slot mechanics.

Looks like they used my question I sent in

I noticed you always used the knee stance up until this year. Why did you make the switch? (Mark)

Using the knee stance puts quite a bit of pressure on the kneecap and all those years of using the stance were starting to catch up with me physically. Coming up into the “box” stance has been great for me. Of course, I’ve used the stance before, having trained many umpires to work that way. The main thing isn’t really what the legs are doing, but that the body has positioned the eyes to see the pitch well. That’s why you’ll see different stances. Different people will find their “comfort zone” in different ways.

http://worldumpires.com/askUmp.htm

This post has been quite valuable. I am glad to know that other umpires use the "box" and that it is considered a valid alternative.

I've tried the slot many times but always seem to lose the outside corner. Maybe my depth perception is faulty, maybe I'm too close to the catcher, or maybe I'm simply doing something wrong. But I feel very confident in the "box."

Brinkman's stance looked like GD stance to me.

[Edited by DG on Aug 27th, 2004 at 10:40 PM]