Regarding the box stance, should the hand signal for a strike follow the verbal indication of the strike??? In other words, should you first verbally say "strike" followed by the hand signal. In addition, what is the proper hand signal (closed fist??) for a strike???

I believe you should announce and signal at the same time. Closed fist like you are knocking on the door is a very mechanically sound and strong signal. Don't forget to announce strikes AND balls with the same voice level. Stay down in your stance till you announce ball and come up and voice and signal strikes at the same time.

Take a look at the umps that worked in the '70's. Very animated and worth watching. Not boring, but not silly. Just BIG.

Always announce "balls" and "strikes" with the same voice level?????

When have you ever heard/seen a dramatic "Ball Four"!!!!

And swinging "strikes" should never (hardly ever)be announced with any type of flair.

Or am I reading more into your comment than what you intended?

Hmmm,
 

The call of "Ball" should never be more than 80% of your average "strike call" . . .

Maybe I misunderstood what was posted.

Tee

Don't forget to announce strikes AND balls with the same voice level!!??
 

I was always told not to announce balls. Eliminates confusion.

Re: Don't forget ??
 

Ouch. Take a drink, a few deep breaths.

Yes, Virginia, there are "experts" out there who don't know excrement from high gloss. (did that make it through the censors?).

Not every "charlie" knows what he is talking about. You were told wrong.

Well, I'm going to continue with what works. I'm sure my association will as well.

feel comfortable
 

You should always stay down in your stance when calling a ball. Standing up while calling a ball makes you look indecisive.

The voice on a ball should stay the same throughout the game. If you have a close pitch, and scream "BALL" it shows doubt. You're telling everyone that it was probably a strike.

It does not matter if you give voice and mechanic at the same time on a called strike. Just remember to be consistant with whatever style you choose. Use good timing. But above all, be comfortable in the style you use.

What works, according to any reputable clinic, school, or camp, is to verbally call all balls to build consistent timing.

Voice on all balls??? Ball bounces 2 feet in front of dish, catcher muffs it and runners advance. Don't think so.I like the old school, close balls, voice it, dirt balls, everybody can see is an obvious ball, nuttin.3-2 count, no swing, it's loud, whatever it is....jmho

If you're a "new" umpire, you should verbalize all balls to build your timing, as Jim says.

As you gain experience, you can drop the verbalization on the pitches F2 doesn't get a glove on.

Jim, I couldn't agree with you more................
Taking your time and making a low key announcement of the "ball" will build proper timing that will permeate into your "strike" calls. When you learn to take your time, you will soon be seeing the pitches better and making your decision about that pitch at a later time---taking all facets of the pitch into consideration.

This can sometimes be a difficult concept to grasp for someone whose timing is too fast, and who believes that slower timing ONLY means slowing down your verbal call. An umpire with fast timing will excuse his timing saying he is making his decision based on where the ball crosses the plate, and the catcher has nothing to do with the quality of the pitch. <u>He doesn't realize</u> that his decision point is actually occurring just before the ball crosses the plate. As one whose timing was too fast for too many years, I speak from experience. Now that I've developed proper timing, those instances of calling a pitch and immediately knowing I blew it---I didn't call what I should have called---have virtually disappeared. So if that happens to you, <u>realize</u> that your timing is likely too fast. <u>Realize</u> that is an indicator of timing that is too fast and that you need to slow down.

Slowing down your timing is waiting longer to make your decision regarding the pitch, and not just slowing down your verbal call of an earlier decision. Once you develop proper timing, it takes a tremendous amount of anxiety out of the game, and makes it far more enjoyable to call. The lack of anxiety then makes it much easier to slow down your calls in the field, resulting in more accurate calls.


Just my opinion,

Freix

Personally, I don't verbalize a ball call very loudly, about loud enough for the batter and catcher to hear me. If I don't give the strike signal then everyone else should know that it is a ball. For strikes, what has worked for me is that I will make the verbal call as I am down, then come up and give the signal. For a called third strike I give my sell call and signal at the same time. Seems to work for me, and my evaluators have all said that I give good clear signals behind the plate.

What Jim Porter states makes perfect sense. And thinking about it I do verbalize a "close ball" from time to time. I've been doing this for about 15 years, so some of what I do is just automatic.

I was just video taped working the dish at a clinic and was very surprised how quick my call was. I thought that my timing was pretty good, but this was an excellent tool for me to actually see and hear myslef. At first, during instruction from veteran umpires, before I wathced the tape, I felt like I was over exaggerating slowing down my timing, but the tape revealed that I still could have paused slightly longer before making my call. My biggest problem was rushing my call on a called third strike. I not only made my decision too quick, I rushed my call and my "ring-em-up" mechanic. In the future, I hope to have myslef video taped on occasion. I learned a great deal from watching myslef and would recommend it to everyone.

This is like watching a car wreck
 

I can't NOT look. Jeez, is this person saying that they are part of an actual baseball umpire association that TEACHES no voice on balls?? So in other words not ONE person from this "association" has ever been to ANY semblence of professional instruction?

Why do I see base umpires with clickers firmly in palms??

Bad, Mike! Bad! I gotta go do a low level JV game now.

strike mechanic
 

I've worked a number of clinics with Matt Hollowell (MLB/AAA) Justin Klem (AAA) and WebbTurner (AAA).
They ALL emphasize...SLOW DOWN! IT"S NOTHING UNTIL YOU CALL IT!..I read in an earlier post about some who made up their mind on a pitch BEFORE it crosses the plate. What looks good 2 feet in front , may look like crap by the time it's caught! Most important is to lock in and FOLLOW PITCH with just your eyes all the way to the glove. That means NO head movement, NO body lean, NOTHING..JUST EYES.
The obvious..stay down to call balls, ( and one DOES call them ) and up and out stong on your strikes has already been stated. The Fist is used in the "newer" mechanic ala FRANK PULLI, with a front facing "tommahawk
chop". The pointer is used for those of us still coming out to the side and voice and mechanic happen simultaneously...The strike three mechanic should be different than your others.

[Edited by NJumpire9 on Mar 13th, 2003 at 02:30 PM]

CLARIFICATION
 

I should have taken more time and been more specific concerning my comments on strikes and balls. No, I don't announce swinging strikes, only signal. The statement balls and strikes same voice should have read that the tone of voice should be same throughout the game for ball in first inning and ball in ninth inning. As for strike, I don't know percentages too well, but my strike is at LEAST 20% louder than ball, but same in first inning as last. Sorry for any confusion and thanks for not reading TOO much into the original post.

Now You're Talkin'
 

Thanks for the clarification, 'Gator. From reading all of the posts, it seems there's quite a bit of consensus on the techniques for calling "balls" and "strikes". As with many things in our business, we learn from experience (our own and others) . . . as well as from mistakes (mostly our own!) . . . and adjust our techniques accordingly.