Strike 3 Mchanics

[bluezebra]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dave Hensley:
[B]10 or more K's per game is not all that common in the typical LL majors game, but yeah you could see such a game with a good pitcher.

But they're never ALL backwards K's. After the first one or two called strike three's, even a totally outmatched team will still start taking their hacks.

I don't automatically tone down my called three mechanic just because I'm doing, say, a 12 yearold LL majors game. I will, however, ease up when it's obvious the kid at the plate is the unskilled, uncoordinated kid that spends most of his time on the bench. If I have to ring that kid up, I find myself doing it in a more muted fashion.

But if the pitcher/batter matchup seems to be a fair fight, I'm *into* it, and if the at-bat ends up in a called three, I'm ringing it with my standard mechanic, which is a simple yet emphatic "THREE" with a chainsaw.

I didn't see a *called* strike three mechanic in the LLWS that I objected to. I did see a couple of umpires verbalize swinging strike three's, which is, by my training, a rather serious umpiring faux paus.

What's wrong with verbalizing "Strike three"? As long as you don't also say "He's out". or "You're out"? The pros verbalize, I always have, and I see nothing wrong.
Bob