How to "Call" a ball not caught

[Tim C]

I guess I am confused:

Why didn't you give a safe sign and voice, "No Catch."

Maybe others here will correct me.

[Shmuelg]

hmmmm . . . good idea. Rats I didn't think of it on the field.

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by Shmuelg

hmmmm . . . good idea. Rats I didn't think of it on the field.

You didn't........ Groan!
Never mind!

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Tim C

I guess I am confused:

Why didn't you give a safe sign and voice, "No Catch."

Maybe others here will correct me.

Agreed.

[Ump Rube]

Yes, I agree. Signal "safe," and verbalize "no catch."

If F6 tried to, and is, selling that he caught the ball on the fly, it can be appropriate to point to the ground to further sell your call. But use this sparingly, I had a partner do this on every call, and when he had a close one, he never "another level" to take it to.

[jdmara]

Originally Posted by Tim C

I guess I am confused:

Why didn't you give a safe sign and voice, "No Catch."

Maybe others here will correct me.

Typically I don't even say catch. I give the safe sign and say "No!...No!" Although occasionally I do say "No Catch"

-Josh

[Fritz]

Originally Posted by jdmara

Typically I don't even say catch. I give the safe sign and say "No!...No!" Although occasionally I do say "No Catch"

-Josh

Go with Tim's suggestion and say "No Catch" it removes any doubt. Similar to potential interference/obstruction calls on a runner/fielder. It you don't have anything, go ahead and signal safe and say "That's nothing" so everyone knows. It saves you from having the players stop or delay their next action wondering if you were going to call something, and then the coaches go nuts because your silence contributed to the problem.

Better "safe" than sorry.

[SanDiegoSteve]

I thought the safe signal combined with the call of "no catch" was pretty basic Umpiring 101 for any close catch/no catch situation.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by Fritz

Go with Tim's suggestion and say "No Catch" it removes any doubt. Similar to potential interference/obstruction calls on a runner/fielder. It you don't have anything, go ahead and signal safe and say "That's nothing" so everyone knows. It saves you from having the players stop or delay their next action wondering if you were going to call something, and then the coaches go nuts because your silence contributed to the problem.

Better "safe" than sorry.

Are you saying to give the "safe" signal when you DON'T have obstruction/interference?

I've never heard of this.

[johnnyg08]

Originally Posted by zm1283

Are you saying to give the "safe" signal when you DON'T have obstruction/interference?

I've never heard of this.

It tells the teams that you saw it and it's nothing.

[ozzy6900]

My, My! It seems that what some of us take for granted as the "basic teachings" of umpiring seem to have eluded many of the posters here. I am amazed because these signals (catch/no catch, action seen but no interference or obstruction) are taught in our clinics and must be mastered by our students. I know because I am the one that teaches these!

[jwwashburn]

Originally Posted by jdmara

Typically I don't even say catch. I give the safe sign and say "No!...No!" Although occasionally I do say "No Catch"

-Josh

Same here. I quit using the word 'catch' a few years ago because it sometimes caused confusion. I do not think I have anyone confused by a big safe sign and "NO!"

[jdmara]

Originally Posted by jwwashburn

Same here. I quit using the word 'catch' a few years ago because it sometimes caused confusion. I do not think I have anyone confused by a big safe sign and "NO!"

That's my take. If I don't have to say catch, then I don't. "No!..No!" gets the idea across.

-Josh

[zm1283]

I will never give the safe signal to signal I don't have obstruction or interference. Teach what you want and do what you want, but I've never heard that from anyone in my area. If I don't call it, it's pretty damn obvious that I don't think it's either of the two, so why would it be necessary to give a "safe" signal?

Is that taught at pro school?

[UmpJM]

zm1283,

Originally Posted by zm1283

I will never give the safe signal to signal I don't have obstruction or interference. ...

You might want to rethink that position.

Is that taught at pro school?

Yes.

It's not something you want to do all the time, but, on occasion, it's the best thing to do.

JM