Annoying catcher
 

Yesterday I had a catcher who would talk to himself during the pitch. In my mind he was doing this to distract the batters. After the second batter in the game, I told him it was distracting me and he stopped. Is there any rule which prohibits this (FED)?

The catcher told me his father caught in college and did it all the time. He also suggested that catchers carry plate brushes!

I'd cover it under Catcher's obstruction.

How so?

I have to disagree. The FED obstruction rule has very specific instances in which it can be applied. He is not changing the pattern of play as in 5-1-3 and 8-3-2, nor is the catcher hindering the batter as in 5-1-2b, 8-1-1e, 8-3-1c, and 8-3-2.

If I were a coach, you would have an argument on your hands if you told me my catcher couldn't talk to himself. You would have a tough time selling that the catcher was hindering the batter in any way.

Catchers (good ones) are always trying to get inside the batter's head. It's part of the game.

I don't see a big deal here. If yo are dealing with older players (HS age), they will let you know when enough is enough. Don't go looking for problems because this is one of those things that "takes care of itself" if you know what I mean. Hell, I used to talk to the catcher all the time while I was at bat. But if the batter complains, then by all means put a stop to it!

Yes, in days gone by, when umpires called the game from behind the pitcher's mound, the catcher was responsible for keeping the plate clean.

Regards

Obstruction can be verbal in FED, and he's hindering the batter.

(Note: I'm assuming that he is, in fact, doing this to be annoying to the batter, and it's more than an occasional comment to himself. I also agree with the comment about not being and OOO in looking for this.)

As long as I can see all of the plate I need to, the catcher is still responsible for cleaning the dish. I will brush it when I'm darn good and ready, like after a play. Otherwise, the catcher can feel free to smack it with his mitt if he feels it's necessary.:cool:

Steve, I didn't tell the catcher he couldn't do it, I told him it was distracting to me. The catcher, obviously a smart kid, was talking about economic policy, WWII, etc. I could easily see this leading to fastballs at his head when he plays varsity ball!

He may be annoying to the batter, but he is not hindering him so not guilty of verbal obstruction.

I could easily see this leading to pitcher ejection.

Was F2 talking to you during pitches? You said he was talking to himself.

So let him. How does this distract you? Does the mom from the stands yelling "Go Johnny?" distract you?

To take this one step further, a catcher with a more severe case of Turet's syndrome will be making noises all game long. Is this catcher obstruction as well?

How can you penalize a kid with a condition vs. a kid who just runs his mouth? What if this catcher had ADHD? Or better yet, just enjoyed talking?

Why stop it?

The catcher told me directly that his father was a catcher in college and he did it to distract the batter. This to me falls under preventative umpiring.

40 or 50 years ago when I played kid ball, the whole team including the catcher would engage in the practice of "chatter".
Were we tougher or perhaps we weren't as sensitive in those days being as no one had ever heard of a male having a feminine side.

The way things have changed over a relatively short period of time, I wonder what the next few generations will be like. Perhaps the pitcher should tell the batter what pitch is coming ...... just to be fair. Or if the batter gets hit by pitch the pitcher must make a heart felt apology to the batter in front of the whole crowd.

Whats next

Since there is no rule I know of that prohibits catcher from talking to himself or singing to himself (I have had some to do that) I would likely be amused but otherwise would not be OOO.