Frustration with critique
 

This is a venting post. It serves no other purpose. If you don't like to read other people's b!tching, avert your eyes now.

Last night I'm working the dish with my assignor, who also happens to be the guy locally who recommends you to the JUCO/small college evaluators around here. He doesn't evaluate himself, but he's like the local mafia boss who tells the big Don to have a look.

So, game's over, we're doing the post game and I ask- "Tell me what I need to do different."

Answer: "Don't put your indicator in your ball bag after every pitch. It makes you look fidgety."

Of course, I was cliniced five years ago or so to start putting my clicker in my ball bag after every pitch. I am used to it now and I like it- I think it keeps me in the game better and keeps me from scarring up my mask with the indicator.

No, I can't work without one. I'll lose pitches.

And I know, if I want to do the next level around here, I have to do what makes these guys happy.

It still frustrates me.

Ok, done now.

Strikes and outs!

This seems odd to me. :rolleyes: What is the advantage of placing your indicator in your ball bag after every pitch? To me it seems like it wastes time. (I guess that you use 2 ball bags and place the indicator in your left bag). I do not want to re-start the "old" topic of not using an indicator (great for those who are "good" enough to not use one-even though I see MLB PU's using one) as I always use an indicator. To me, your habit would also seem "fidgety". I use a plastic indicator and don't seem to "scar" my mask.
Maybe you need to listen to the "big Don" to obtain your desired umpire advancement.
Anywhy JMO.
Good fortune in your quest.
Sam

If the only fault he could find is that you put your indicator in your ball bag between pitches, things are going pretty well for you. If he didn't have any mechanics or judgement critiques, maybe he will recommend you for the next level. Best of luck.

that topic is about BUs, not PUs.

Fair enough. I obtained clarity as I viewed "old" posts.
Sam

There have been quite a few topics about not using an indicator as PU.

At what kind of clinic were you told to put your indicator in your ball bag between pitches?

I can imagine it might make one look, oh, how could I put it....."fidgety."

Listen to the assignor.

Agree with Garth here- i don't know who told you to put it in your ball bag after every pitch...

I can't work the plate without an indicator either, but it never leaves my left hand. And I try very hard not to look at it but occassionaly I will.

I have never seen a PU put the indicator in the bag after every pitch, so although this might seem like no big deal to you, anything that nobody else does is a big deal, to the assignor.

Keep the indicator in your left hand and forget what you were taught.

I too try not to look at my indicator. When I really need to, I pretend to be adjusting the chin on my HSM!:cool:

I agree...Don't put your indicator in your bag or pocket between pitches.

Either use it, or lose it.

There are a couple of guys in my association who do the same thing. Really looks like you don't know what to do with it.

If you must keep your hand empty, then just reach in, and click it. But don't take it out unless you really need to see it.

I don't remember- it was five years ago. What I do remember is (a) I started my career with the clicker constantly in my left hand and (b) thinking how wierd it was to make that particular change.

But you (or at least I) get that all the time when I work with guys who are at the next level. On stuff I would consider to be cosmetic, every really good umpire has his own nuances.

Again- it was a venting post.

Strikes and outs!

Blue,

The reality it when you get to the next level, there are guys who can already umpire or officiate well. It is not the big things that hold them back. It is the little things. This is a little thing, but can be noticeable and look bad. Either use the indicator and hold on to it or decide you cannot use it. If your assignor is telling you this, there is a good reason. You do not have to agree with it. But if he assigns you games he has some influence in what you work and why. He might even have influence if you get to other levels as well. If you are satisfied with where you are do not listen to him. If you want to move up and get better opportunities, listen to him. It really is all about choices.

Peace

First, this kind of stuff is too minor to hammer someone about. Indicator or no, in the ball bal or not, whats the big deal? As long as your not sticking it up into your grill all the time, use it as you wish. Does this bother some of you guys that much?
Couple years ago I worked with a guy who put the indicator in his ball bag. Was very smooth with it. I decided to try it.
I keep it in the small pocket in my left ball bag. Leaves my hand free, especially using the GD stance, keeps my hands free.
Ive done it long enough now that I do it very seamless, and you cant tell that I do it. It doesnt look fidgety, whatever that means.
I just reach in and "click". I rarely take it out to "look" at it. If I do, I do the ole 'adjust-my-mask-with-indicator-in-palm-and-take-a-quick-peek trick'.
But agreed, if you cant do it without a lot of gyrations, maybe not for you.

I hold my indicator with my ring and middle finger, and grasp my mask with my thumb, forefinger and pinky. No marks on any of my masks. Hmmmmm.

Ok,ok,ok . . .
 

Been sitting back and trying not to enter this discussion. As always I have my own opinion:

Evaluations have become a system to 'disqualify' umpires rather than teach.

A great evaluator will help an umpire grow, correct and learn. Current evaluations are basically used to establish a pecking order for umpire rankings.

I find it a huge comedy from those who actually think a PU should place his indicator in a ball bag or pocket between pitches. Is this what training has become?

These are the same people that have never worked more than a varsity high school game giving the advice for "hiding the 'clicker'". I find that tremendously funny.

When did this even become an issue? Why does ANYONE think there is an value in dropping the 'indiclickercounter' in your ball bag?

Let's get back to teaching basics such as:

1) Timing can be defined by the comment: "Timing is nothing more than proper use of the eyes."

2) If we trust "angle over distance" then any two man crew can cover any baseball gamed played by shaving aged players.

3) An umpire needs to understand baseball as a game to really be a top notch arbitor -- knowing the game allows an umpire to know and properly utilize the "unwritten rules" we all have referenced.

4) Strikes & Outs are what define the top umpires. The higher the quality of game, the more important the tilt means that umpires who can still call pitches strikes and runners out will always prevail over those that find safety in the opposite.

5) A well trained umpire can still call the checked/unchecked swing when requested even if he is in "B" or "C" position.

Regards,

Yeah well
 

You have more dexterity than me. If I had any athletic gifts, I'd be using them. I usually wear out a mask every three years anyway (they get beat to hell, bent, vinyl cracked, etc.).

I also realize that to ump that game, I have to do what they tell me. Their field- their rules. A poster up a ways from this post said something to the effect of you have to do what they do to make it in the college game. I'm not sure I agree. On the MLB level, you see all kinds of dreadful mechanics/plate stances/etc. I think the more accurate statement is that to make it in the college game you have to do what they TELL you.

Strikes and outs!

Tim: I find it useful, I think, because it's what I'm used to. There is enormous value in umpiring, I think, in finding what you're comfortable with. At the plate, especially, the more that's habit for me, the more I can concentrate on what's important- did that pitch cross the strike zone. That's why, for me at least, it's very, very hard to put "major" training into action on the field, especially behind the plate. After 15 years in the scissors, I changed this year to the box (after being cliniced that it's really better and I won't move up in the scissors). It was easily my third game before I stopped catching myself kicking my right leg out behind me. I hate change, basically, but I know that to get better and to move up, I have to be coachable. By the way, now that I'm in the box, I wouldn't go back. Wow- what a difference for my legs, my back, and most important, my view of the outside corner.

Truer words were never posted on this site. Having worked 2,3 and 4 man crews, with 95% in 2 man, I can tell you it's AMAZING what you see with more umpires- or, more to the point, what you don't see with two. Having said that, I think "angle over distance" is a governing philosophy that applies inversely to the number of umpires on the field- it's a tool for getting as good a view as you can while facing the realities of having only two umpires.

Right on the money, again.

Wow. And I say that at the end of my posts just because strikes and outs tend to get me to my favorite post-game beverage quicker. :)

I'm learning that, too. Thanks, Tim.

Strikes and outs!

I could have written this. As a matter of fact, I did say something similar in a recent article on the paid part of the site. My articles rarely raise an eyebrow in my association. My article on evaluations created a firestorm within my group.

Peter

I guarantee I would instantly notice an umpire reaching into his ball bag after every pitch. I recommend you learn to hold the indicator in left hand so that no one knows you have it, ie look at it only occassionally.