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  #1 (permalink)  
Old Thu Jun 22, 2006, 12:21pm
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it's also illegal in ASA code. If a coach asks where a borderline pitch was (outside, low, etc). But if they start chirping about it, I remind them not to argue balls and strikes. Next comment gets them a free pass to the parking lot.
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Old Thu Jun 22, 2006, 03:34pm
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I've had this happen on occasion but for the most part, both teams realize that my strike zone is consistant for both teams and they quiet down but the other night I was this close to tossing a guy that kept saying the pitches were too high and I needed to call those "illegal". He was chirping from the dugout so I went and asked him if he had a tape measure with him, he said no and I told him we would be going by my 12', not yours. That sat him down and shut him up. My luck, he'll come to the next game with a tape and try and measure pitches. The thing is, most people don't know how high 12' really is. They're not used to seeing pitches that high and when they do, they think they're too high. We've used that 6 and 12' string jig to help us with our height judgements so I have a pretty good idea what 12' is. Not only that, I use a tape measure every day at my other job.
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Old Thu Jun 22, 2006, 05:33pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NDblue
The thing is, most people don't know how high 12' really is. They're not used to seeing pitches that high and when they do, they think they're too high. We've used that 6 and 12' string jig to help us with our height judgements so I have a pretty good idea what 12' is. Not only that, I use a tape measure every day at my other job.
Ha! In my part of the world, the don't know how low 6' & 12' are
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Old Thu Jun 22, 2006, 06:54pm
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I worked an 18&U B tournament a couple of weeks ago. The tournament reinforced my dislike of bad ball. I had a coach ask on 3 balls in a row where the pitches were - and they were very obvious balls, not ones that were close to borderline. I answered him twice. The third answer was "not in the strike zone, coach." In between innings, this went a little further until I explained that I was not going to help him coach his team and that he needed to be speaking with his catcher in between innings. That ended it and there were no problems with him the rest of the weekend.
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Old Fri Jun 23, 2006, 07:41am
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I don't argue balls/strikes - period. Sure the occasional, "blue where was that?" But I stress occasional! The answer that Steve gave about "Not in the strikezone" is always a good one. I usually have a good raport with the coaches in our area and this past year in fall ball a coach didn't like a call on the inside - he thought she caught the corner. He and his assistant both went "OOOOOOOOOOOO" - I walked over to them and said, "I hope you're looking at the fireworks when you do that!" They cracked up and now everytime they are at a field where I am working they give me an obligitory "OOOOOOOOOOOO".

I have more patience with softball coaches than I do in basketball but if they want to argue ball/strikes - they can do it from home because they aren't staying around the ball park.
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Old Fri Jun 23, 2006, 09:41am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountaineer
I don't argue balls/strikes - period. Sure the occasional, "blue where was that?" But I stress occasional! The answer that Steve gave about "Not in the strikezone" is always a good one. I usually have a good raport with the coaches in our area and this past year in fall ball a coach didn't like a call on the inside - he thought she caught the corner. He and his assistant both went "OOOOOOOOOOOO" - I walked over to them and said, "I hope you're looking at the fireworks when you do that!" They cracked up and now everytime they are at a field where I am working they give me an obligitory "OOOOOOOOOOOO".

I have more patience with softball coaches than I do in basketball but if they want to argue ball/strikes - they can do it from home because they aren't staying around the ball park.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!
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