throwing the ball back to the pitcher?

[briancurtin]

number 7 (i think) on sportscenter's "not top 10" plays was an umpire throwing a ball to the pitcher (lefty braves pitcher), but threw it nowhere near the pitcher so he had to jump off the mound to his glove side and still didnt even get it. this happened to me one of the first times i used my BB2000, and ever since then i have always handed the ball to the catcher while wearing this chest protector.

do you guys throw it back to the pitcher, or give the ball to the catcher? if the catcher is back against the backstop after a foul ball or something, ill throw it back to the pitcher but very carefully and have no problems. i used to not have this problem until the BB2000, but maybe its just me.

kind of a dorky subject but since this made the "not top 10" i figured it might be worth something.

[umpyre007]

Originally posted by briancurtin
do you guys throw it back to the pitcher, or give the ball to the catcher? if the catcher is back against the backstop after a foul ball or something, ill throw it back to the pitcher but very carefully and have no problems. i used to not have this problem until the BB2000, but maybe its just me.

Sometimes I will and sometimes I won't. A lot depends on the level of play, ball boys present or ondeck batters hustling for lose balls, whether the catcher has to retrieve the ball, whether the pitcher comes down towards the plate a little, etc. Too many variables so no consistent advice from here. I just do what seems to keep the game going.

[ozzy6900]

My playing days ar long over. I just simply put the ball in the catcher's mitt. Come to think of it, I don't catch balls either. I direct the person to throw it to the catcher.

[nickrego]

99% of the time, I give it to the catcher for two reasons.

1) Although I have a good throwing arm, that doesn't mean I won't "ever" make an ugly throw. So I play it safe, and just let the catcher throw it. The 1% of the time that I do throw it, is for situations where the catcher is not available to immediately take a ball from me.

2) It helps to remind newer catchers not to chase passed balls with no runners.

[scottyman51]

I usually give the ball to the catcher since they usually turn around expecting it. The few times i dont its either because the catcher doesnt turn around,its the beginning of an inning and the other team took the ball. When i throw it back i am usually fairly on target,but sometimes i miss aliitle.

[U of M Sam]

I give the ball to the catcher so they can throw it back to the pitcher. I throw OK but do not need the potential situation of an overthrow or some other "goofy" thing to occur if I throw the ball to the pitcher. Simple theory: Let the coaches coach; the players play and the umpires ump.

[tjones1]

Usually just give it to the catcher, unless he's getting a foul ball or adjusting his equipment, etc.

[LMan]

after I had shoulder surgery, I underhanded balls back to the pitcher for several months. This caused a lot of funny looks from both teams......

[cowbyfan1]

I was going to suggest using under hand if you do throw it. I give it to the catcher most of the time but will toss it myself once in a while. Mostly ends up side arm toss due to my protector.

[DG]

I wasn't sure how often I threw the ball back, I knew I did sometimes. So yesterday I kept track and I threw the ball back 4 times, and in all the cases the ball had been popped up backwards or to the right or left and the catcher left his spot to move toward the ball in hopes of catching, and the pitcher had walked half way towards home. It was an easy throw and saved some time waiting for the catcher to pick up his helmet and get back to his position. If the catcher is close enough for me to make 1 or 2 steps towards him to give him the ball I give it to him to throw back.

[JJ]

I throw it back most of the time (because it saves time) UNLESS the catcher indicates HE wants to throw it. I did a Fall college game today and while one catcher didn't say anything, the other said, "I love it when umpires throw the ball back." I always make eye contact with the pitcher, and in a lot of years of umping I've been lucky enough to not make a ridiculous throw (one the pitcher couldn't catch).

[jumpmaster]

99% of the time I will give the ball to the catcher. However, if I need to "buy time" for my catcher if he gets hit, etc., I will throw the ball back to F1. Rarely do I throw the ball back to F1.

[BigUmp56]

While were on this topic, I'm wondering if any of you have seen an umpire and a catcher each throw a ball back to F1?

I saw this in one of my sons LL games a few years back.

F2 moved to his right to retrieve a passed ball. The ball took a hard bounce off of the backstop and rolled directly back to F2.

The PU was solo for the game, and he was concentrating on R2 advancing on the passed ball instead of watching the ball.

I'm not sure what the hell he was thinking, but he pulled a new ball out of his ball bag and threw it to F1 at the same time F2 tried to return the ball to the mound.

F1 covered his face and ducked down letting both balls by him. The new R3 sprinted home and the fun started!

F1 and F4 both picked up a ball and threw it home to retire the runner. It was hilarious watching this circus develop.

The guy did eventually do the right thing. He killed the play and returned the runner to third.


Tim.

[umpduck11]

I have thrown one back to the pitcher after a
foul ball,only to have the catcher hustle to the
ball and throw it also.

[DG]

I'm watching a lot of playoff games lately. And I am seeing quite a few balls thrown back to the pitcher by the PU, more times than I would have thought. In all cases I have seen, the throw back was because the catcher was not directly in front of PU, and therefore the throw back saved some time, and the throw was on target from PU to pitcher, not too hard, just an accurate toss.