The Official Forum  

Go Back   The Official Forum > Softball

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old Wed Aug 26, 2015, 07:38pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: USA
Posts: 14,565
LL Baseball Umpires . . .

. . . are killing me with their called strikes. I have no problem taking one's time to get to the hammer, but holding off on the verbal until the hammer have been keeping some in suspense
__________________
The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old Wed Aug 26, 2015, 11:29pm
Rich's Avatar
Get away from me, Steve.
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 15,770
I have always called the strike at the same time as the signal...
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old Thu Aug 27, 2015, 07:13am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: USA
Posts: 14,565
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich View Post
I have always called the strike at the same time as the signal...
Even when I started in baseball (1966), I always made the call in the set prior to the signal, just the way I was taught.
__________________
The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old Thu Aug 27, 2015, 07:30am
Rich's Avatar
Get away from me, Steve.
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 15,770
Maybe so, but not how it's taught at pro school. LL is moving towards standardizing umpire mechanics based on that model.
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old Thu Aug 27, 2015, 08:23am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 1,640
I started in high school baseball about 16 years ago and their umpire manual says to make a "ball" call from the set position, make a "strike" call by standing up to give the verbal and visual signal together.

It took me some time to get the hang of doing it "the softball way" when I started in softball a few years later!

But, yeah, some of the guys I've seen in the LL tournament seem to take forever to call the pitch. Good timing is one thing, but they seem to be taking an artificially long amount of time, probably in an exaggerated effort to demonstrate their "good timing".

There's a brief pause you can take to make sure you get a good look at the pitch all the way into the mitt so you're not calling the pitch too soon, and then there's a long pause that really is too long and it makes you look like you're unsure about your call. Some of these guys need to find the happy medium in between those two.
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old Sun Aug 30, 2015, 10:19pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Fort Myers FL
Posts: 600
For me on a called strike--it's the call--then the non-verbal signal. I think doing both at the same time too long after the ball is in the catcher's mitt smells like indecision, too soon smells like anticipation. Just one old school umpire's 2¢.
__________________
Keep everything in front of you
and have fun out there !!
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old Mon Aug 31, 2015, 10:53am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 268
I thought the ump that stopped play the other night to bring the catcher over to his coach for a "teachable moment" was great. These kids are 12 and 13 and acting up over ball and strike calls is not appropriate. The umpire set the record straight on who was in charge.
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old Mon Aug 31, 2015, 11:51am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: USA
Posts: 14,565
Quote:
Originally Posted by SE Minnestoa Re View Post
I thought the ump that stopped play the other night to bring the catcher over to his coach for a "teachable moment" was great. These kids are 12 and 13 and acting up over ball and strike calls is not appropriate. The umpire set the record straight on who was in charge.
If softball umpires did this, games would take 4 hours and half that time would be spent talking to the coaches about their players.

Next question is who do we talk to about the coaches?
__________________
The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
Old Mon Aug 31, 2015, 10:10pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Northeast Nebraska
Posts: 776
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA View Post
If softball umpires did this, games would take 4 hours and half that time would be spent talking to the coaches about their players.

Next question is who do we talk to about the coaches?
Irish - not sure if the first line in your comment was completely tongue-in-cheek...or not. If so...ignore the following. I didn't see the LL game mentioned above, and I don't work LLBB, but I understand the pervasive "sportsmanship first" and "all about the kids" ethos of LL, especially at their pinnacle event. They are 12-13 year old boys, after all. How smart were all of us at 13?

I don't know if you work a ton of 10U/12U/14U softball (and bless you if you do), but at that level in international showcase championship play, wouldn't you approach a coach if possible about a player grumbling too much about balls and strikes? I mean, we can always address it with the big hook later...

(For additional context, I ejected an 11-year-old girl this year for MC on a crash play at the plate, so I'm not opposed to handling things ourselves...)
__________________
Powder blue since 1998. Longtime forum lurker.
Umpiring Goals: Call the knee strike accurately (getting the low pitch since 2017)/NCAA D1 postseason/ISF-WBSC Certification/Nat'l Indicator Fraternity(completed)
"I'm gonna call it ASA for the foreseeable future. You all know what I mean."

Last edited by teebob21; Mon Aug 31, 2015 at 10:14pm. Reason: context
Reply With Quote
  #10 (permalink)  
Old Tue Sep 01, 2015, 07:02am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: USA
Posts: 14,565
Quote:
Originally Posted by teebob21 View Post
Irish - not sure if the first line in your comment was completely tongue-in-cheek...or not. If so...ignore the following. I didn't see the LL game mentioned above, and I don't work LLBB, but I understand the pervasive "sportsmanship first" and "all about the kids" ethos of LL, especially at their pinnacle event. They are 12-13 year old boys, after all. How smart were all of us at 13?
I must have been pretty smart since that was the year I realized I would be a better umpire than player There is no doubt I was right about that.

Quote:

I don't know if you work a ton of 10U/12U/14U softball (and bless you if you do), but at that level in international showcase championship play, wouldn't you approach a coach if possible about a player grumbling too much about balls and strikes?
I would inform that coach they s/he may need a new (enter position) if the banter continues. I am not walking the player to the coach and spending 30-45 seconds explaining the unsportsmanlike conduct encountered.
Quote:

I mean, we can always address it with the big hook later...
Not from me. I refuse to play into their (coach/player) game and will not put on a show. When I eject someone, the only way anyone other than the player, coach or scorekeeper know is if one of them announces it. I once tossed a player and my partner didn't realize if until 2 inning later.
__________________
The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
Reply With Quote
  #11 (permalink)  
Old Tue Sep 01, 2015, 10:20am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Northeast Nebraska
Posts: 776
Quote:
Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA View Post
I must have been pretty smart since that was the year I realized I would be a better umpire than player There is no doubt I was right about that.
Touche.

Also I meant "this" hook...not a giant EJ mechanic for 12 year olds:
__________________
Powder blue since 1998. Longtime forum lurker.
Umpiring Goals: Call the knee strike accurately (getting the low pitch since 2017)/NCAA D1 postseason/ISF-WBSC Certification/Nat'l Indicator Fraternity(completed)
"I'm gonna call it ASA for the foreseeable future. You all know what I mean."

Last edited by teebob21; Tue Sep 01, 2015 at 10:29am.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Baseball Umpires Encyclopedia Carl Childress Baseball 20 Thu Dec 22, 2011 01:38pm
Baseball Song (it's about umpires!) rpumpire Baseball 3 Mon May 18, 2009 11:26am
What is going on with ML baseball umpires PeteBooth Baseball 96 Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:19am
Olympic Baseball Umpires Buckeye12 Baseball 6 Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:21pm
NCAA Baseball Umpires manhong Baseball 5 Sun Apr 13, 2003 08:21pm


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:53am.



Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0 RC1