Handling the Catcher

[briancurtin]

You handled it poorly. Do not give ultimatums, period. I'm not sure what point you wanted to get across anyway - let him tell his pitcher to just throw meatballs down the middle if it makes him happy.

1. The first time a catcher turns around to ask you where a pitch was, tell him where it was, then when he turns back around, kindly ask him to simply work with you by talking while facing forward. You want to work together, not against each other. He can just ask "where'd you have that" while facing forward like everyone else does.

2. If he isn't receptive to the info you're giving him and he wants to interpret it as requiring the ball to be down the middle, that's fine. Not every catcher knows how to work with an umpire, and if they don't want to, you can't make them.

[ozzy6900]

I agree that you handled it poorly. Never allow F2 to turn around to talk to you when he is in his crouch. This leads people to think that he is questioning your call. Instruct him to face forward when he speaks ot you in the crouch.

Secondly, nip this wanna-be umpire in the bud early. Explain to him that his job is to call the game, catch the pitch and lead the team. You will handle the umpiring. Do not give ultimatums and do not allow him to violate this pact a 2nd time.

19 years old? This sounds like a middle school F2!