Plate Crowders

[DownTownTonyBrown]

What mechanic do you use to fit in with the catcher who wants to set up directly behind the inside edge of the plate and the batter who wants to hang his elbows and hands out over the plate?

Had partner this weekend that had problems with this. He ended up doing some arguing with the catcher and possibly took away a strike or two because he couldn't see the inside egde.

I offered to him that he needs do his best to work with the catcher and explain that he wants to call strikes just like the catcher wants to have them called. To achieve this the catcher needs to do his best to let the umpire have a good view. This is all we had time to discuss...

Some other suggestions?

[blueskysblue]

Although unusual, on rare occasions I have set up on the outside, the position I use with an opposite handed batter. This has been when there is a small batter and a large catcher, both who have set up as you described. Although it is unorthodox, I have felt it better than missing the pitches.

A partner I have worked with many times basically follows the guide "any pitch you cannot see for certain as a strike, is a ball". I agree with that! Therefore, when he just cannot see the pitch adequately, he calls a Ball. If and when the defensive manager / coach questions the pitch, this umpire tells him / her that the catcher is blocking his view of the pitch, and he cannot call that pitch a strike. Works for him!

I, for one, am reluctant to ask the catcher to reset and give me space. That's a matter better left to his / her coach / manager, in my opinion, of course.

[mick]

Originally posted by DownTownTonyBrown
What mechanic do you use to fit in with the catcher who wants to set up directly behind the inside edge of the plate and the batter who wants to hang his elbows and hands out over the plate?

Had partner this weekend that had problems with this. He ended up doing some arguing with the catcher and possibly took away a strike or two because he couldn't see the inside egde.

I offered to him that he needs do his best to work with the catcher and explain that he wants to call strikes just like the catcher wants to have them called. To achieve this the catcher needs to do his best to let the umpire have a good view. This is all we had time to discuss...

Some other suggestions?

Tony,
Most of my years were spent in the box/slot with my mask ahead of the back of the catcher's helmet.
With some catcher's setting up 'outside', and then, for no apparent reason, moving way back 'inside'(I know not the same but very similar result), I have taken to setting higher with my floppy thing almost touching the catcher's shoulder.
It gives me a slightly different view, but I don't have to reset nearly as much, or as often, as in the past.
mick

[GarthB]

Mick confessed:

I have taken to setting higher with my floppy thing almost touching the catcher's shoulder.

How do you pass the background check?

[chris s]

Originally posted by GarthB
Mick confessed:

I have taken to setting higher with my floppy thing almost touching the catcher's shoulder.

How do you pass the background check?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not what I was thinking, but too funny.

[Jerry]

My own thoughts only! Don't beat me. Or do.

It doesn't make a hill of beans difference what you call! As Marty Springstead once told me, "You've gotta call something."

Don't go moving all over the place or changing your comfortable stance, just for the sake of "getting it right". You'll never get it "right" 100% of the time.

Do you think that newfangled "Qwest" gadget is moving all over the place to suit its needs? Of course not.

Once you know what your strike zone is, it doesn't matter where you set up/sit/stand. You'll know a "strike" when you see it/don't see it.

As for catcalls from the dugout . . . if it bounced and you called a strike; your response, "But it only bounced one time!" If it's outside . . . "The ball looked good; the bat was too short!" And the infamous, "It was a strike the last time" response? "I probably should have called this one too; but it wasn't exactly there."

Jerry

[mick]

Originally posted by GarthB
Mick confessed:

I have taken to setting higher with my floppy thing almost touching the catcher's shoulder.

How do you pass the background check?

Busted !



mick

[Warren Willson]

Originally posted by DownTownTonyBrown
What mechanic do you use to fit in with the catcher who wants to set up directly behind the inside edge of the plate and the batter who wants to hang his elbows and hands out over the plate?

The standard response for slot umpires who get caught out like this is to move BACK and UP, but stay in the same position on the inside edge of the plate. Sometimes it works fine. Sometimes it takes away as much as it gives back.

I recommend the following:

1. Explain nicely to the catcher that if he sets up like that he's taking the inside edge away from his pitcher.

2. If he still wants to be there, and you are still blocked out, try moving BACK and UP to get back as much as you can get

3. Don't be afraid to call "Ball" if you didn't actually see a pitch pass through the zone, regardless of where you think it might have been. You can only call what you see, not what you think it might have been.

4. If the pitcher questions your calls in his own inimitable fashion, apologise for not being able to call more strikes and point out that you can only call what you can see.

5. Finally, keep your floppy thing off've the catcher, at ANY cost!

Correct head height for the slot position is generally considered to be with the bottom of your mask, not including any extra appendage, level with the top of the catcher's head/helmet. That's supposed to give you the best shot at the outside edge of the plate. There are proven exceptions, but that's another story!

Hope this helps

Cheers

[DownTownTonyBrown]

Thank-you all. I will pass this information along... as well as the following:

Every situation is slightly different. Sometimes it is the catcher that is blocking you and sometimes it is the batter... and sometimes both. The large catcher that likes to put his head squarely on the inside edge of the plate is the worse of the two. Both leaves you very little option.

Rarely do I switch to the outside (half-dozen pitches per season). I only do this when it is absolutely impossible to see anything between the two (catcher and batter) and then my outside edge of the plate is the inside edge for the batter. I can now see up and down good, but have to estimate the "in" on the batter. This generally works okay.

My objective is to see as much of the flight of the ball as I possibly can - preferably the entire flight. I want to see the course of the ball and not just the last hundredth of a second when it appears from behind the batter and disappears into the catcher's mitt.

If I am working the proper edge of the plate in the slot, I will square up with my feet straddling the inside edge of the plate and stand relatively tall to see the pitcher begin his motion and watch the impending release. As the delivery motion is being made I will lower my head towards my final set position where I make the call.

If the batter is crowding, I tend to lower my head in a line close to the center of the plate (maybe 6 inches away from the inside edge) and around the batter's hands... coming into my set position at the inside edge before the ball arrives. This requires some amount of horizontal movement as I come set.

If the catcher is crowding (and refuses to cooperate - some of them just ain't to bright), I tend to lower my head in a line even with the inside the edge of the plate and then come set in a position a couple of inches toward the batter.

Both of these techniques require the umpire to watch the flight of the ball, make a timing judgement upon when the ball arrives the plate, and then compare the ball's position at that time to the plate (in/out) and to the batter's strike zone (up/down). It has little to do with my head position. (A technique used by most beginning umpires is to resolutely place their head with eyes at the top and inside edge of the zone. Strikes are then judged based upon the ball's position relative to the umpire's head ==> below the eyes and away from the batter over the plate is a strike; above the eyes or toward the batter inside the plate is a ball. This still leaves to the umpire's judgement the outside edge and the bottom of the zone but it is dependent upon the umpire being able to place his head at the top inside edge of the zone. And as being discussed here, that placement is not always available - even if it is available before the pitch is delivered, it doesn't always remain available as the catcher and batter settle into their receiving positions.)

This technique of horizontally sliding into a set position and making every effort to see the maximum amount of the ball's flight works well for me. Being able to horizontally slide my head with the ball allows me to see that flight and also allows me to get a better view of the OUTSIDE edge. As the catcher reaches for the outside pitch, his head moves in that direction and I can slide toward the outside a couple inches and make a better judgement of the ball's location.

This may seem contrary for many (moving as the pitch arrives) but as I say, it works very well for me and generally garners me compliments for my consistent strike zone.

The ability to do this is dependent upon using a relatively wide stance, bending at the knees (not your back), and horizontally sliding your knees and butt (again not twisting and reaching from your back). I have some local rookies that refuse to bend at the knees. When they come set their back is nearly horizontal and their head is cocked back touching between their shoulder blades (their strike zone sucks). This technique won't work well for them - as they bend from the waist and twist to the left or right as the pitch arrives, the angle of their head moves in an arc. Bending at the knees is a much more sound ergonomic stance.

Hope this helps some of you.

[Warren Willson]

Originally posted by DownTownTonyBrown
Rarely do I switch to the outside (half-dozen pitches per season). I only do this when it is absolutely impossible to see anything between the two (catcher and batter) and then my outside edge of the plate is the inside edge for the batter. I can now see up and down good, but have to estimate the "in" on the batter. This generally works okay.

It may work, Tony, but it also leaves you in prime position to block any pitches fouled back off the bat. That can be a painful experience because, even with the best chest protector and an extra wide throat guard, the side of your neck is much more exposed to a foul hit.

"You're a braver man than I am, Gungha Dhin!"

Cheers

[cowbyfan1]

I go by the school of thought of sliding out towards to outside edge to see the pitch. I am not comfortable with not being able track the pitch until the very last possible tenth of a second and being able to call it. I find I question myself a lot by keeping the slot. I remove that by making the batters inside edge my outside.