Banter

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

Originally Posted by tcblue13

This made me wonder

How much banter or "friendly conversation" is appropriate before or during the game.
1. Is it okay to tell a catcher that she is not framing the pitch well enough to get a strike called on the outside?

2.Is it okay to tell a fielder that she had a play until she dropped a ball?

3. Is it okay to joke with the the catcher to "take care of you" if you are the plate man?

4.Is it okay to ask a player how their season is going assuming you have met them in a previous game?

5. Is it okay to chew the fat with the first base coach as the defense warms up?

Lets take this item by item:

1. Whats this 'framing' you talking about???

2. SOMETIMES..big help I know...lol..seriously..depends on the game...hey should be able to figure that one out by themselves...

3,4,5 -ABSOLUTELY...especially for high school/JO/PONY...youre not a robot out there, and being superficially fiendly with the kids doesn't hurt! Especially with your catcher - STORY: Had a 16U PONY qualifier, and had a C with THE greatest personality - chattery, always hustling with a smile - so of course,me being me, I had to yak with her ..encouraging her...just generally keeping her relaxed..especially since her P didn't have the greatest control! Sure enough, around the 5th or so, she gets crossed up on a pitch and I get it right on the forearm....raising a nasty lil bump (which became a nasty lil bruise later!)...boy, was she SO embarassed...kept on apologizing over and over..and I kept going 'hey its no problem'...'hey part of the game', etc, etc....so...later on I had a game in this fall practice league we have round here..and Guess Who is catching? And she STILL was apologizing.....and Guess What AGAIN??? Yup......and it STILL wasn't her fault (same P actually!)and she was SO flustered....so yeah, if you see the same kids over and over (or even adults) you can't HELP a little chatter...

and to put this in another perspective, we have a hs program around here, where the kids are FORBIDDEN to talk to us...and boy do we hate that...(we have other problems with this program too...)

as long as it doesn't interfere with the game..why not??

[SC Ump]

1. I would not, even if asked.

2. I would if answering a question. I would not speak first.

3. I don't but do not feel a sentence or two like this is inappropriate.

4. Sure, but again a sentence or two, being cordial.

5. I will be cordial with a greeting. I think it would most always be inappropriate to chew the fat between each inning, depending on the league, e.g. in coach's pitch this might be fine.