Game Situation for New Pitcher
 

Something that came up this weekend in my State Tournament:

Pitching change.

Do you inform the new pitcher of the game situation, or do you let her figure it out via her teammates and/or coaches?

And if you do inform her, which position (base umpire or plate umpire) does it? What do you tell her?

Personally, as the PU, I remind the batter and catcher. If the catcher chooses to remind the pitcher, that is her option, not to mention part of her job.

As a PU, I rarely talk to the pitcher, but I'm more than happy to communicate with a catcher as long as it is a valid question and does not get ridiculous.

As a BU, I'm in my position, no where near the circle, so there isn't going to be anything said in the field.

At the higher levels, no. That is considered coaching.

Have you ever seen a pitching change made where a defensive coach didn't make it? If a coach makes the change, isn't s/he capable (and responsible) to tell the new pitcher what situation s/he put her in?

If there is a count on the current batter, I (as PU) will restart the at-bat by announcing the count; just as I would after any other significant delay. If asked, I will restate the outs.

As BU, my responsibility is to make sure PU knows how many warmup pitches have been thrown when you are done announcing the substitutions. After that, I get in position for the next play.

This covers it all, in my opinion.

As BU, no.

As PU, I'll announce the # of outs and (if the change was made during an at-bat) the count, the same as for any other long break in the action.

But, I don't specifically tell the pitcher anything.

No one should - its not the umpires job, its the coaches job. as PU i'll give the count if there is one, thats it.

No - I do not inform new pitcher of game situation. That can be considered coaching. (IMO)
After a pitching change:
(As PU) I inform catcher of number of outs and announce batters count (if there is one)
(As BU) I signal number of outs and batters count (if there is one) with my PU
Sam

If there is a count on the batte, I will give the dcount.

It's up to the teams to know the number of outs and where the runners are located. Anything else is beyond the scope of my duties - however, for another 50 cents or so I would likely be happy to announce.

The reason I ask this is because of what happened in my championship game. F1 is replaced. My 3BU comes down the line and asks me if I want her to tell the new F1 the game situation, or if I was going to do it. I told the 3BU "No, she should know what's going on." The 3BU thought that I was being inconsiderate, and that "it's a common courtesy to tell her the game situation." I told the 3BU that "she's a big girl now, and can look around to figure out where the runners are. If she needs to know the number of outs, she can ask."

Well, that drove the 3BU nuts! She fumed on that the rest of the game... and afterwards, made it a point to bring it up very sarcastically with me in front of the UIC. I said the same thing you guys did - that it's coaching the player, and totally unnecessary. The UIC sided with the 3BU. We discussed it a little more, and I realized that it was going nowhere. I smiled and said that I needed to go get out of my plate gear and go home (had a 3 hour drive to look forward to). Oh well, c'est la vie.

Maybe you should have asked the UIC where that was in the umpire's manual so you don't make the same mistake the next time :rolleyes:

Obviously, this is a "courtesy" wherever the UIC and your partner resides. I wonder if they also provide a breakdown of the next three batter's in the line-up.

Championship game... and the base umpire wants to hold the pitchers hand?!!? The first thing I would have done after the game, had I been the UIC and heard her speaking sarcastically toward you, is instruct your partner that it's not only NOT her job to tell the new pitcher the game situation it's also NOT her job to fume and become sarcastic towards her partner. Umpires have enough to deal with during games with coaches, fans, etc. and should not have to have to deal with partners that become angry easily. This base umpire needs some 101 instruction and needs to act more professional. The UIC not only did a disservice to you but missed a perfect opportunity to correct her. Now other umpires may have to put up with her unprofessional behavior in future games as well. Pretty bad when an umpire who did the correct thing can't even get the support of the UIC.

it may be a "common courtesy" ... but its also coaching and should be avoided

I did. And that's exactly the response I got - "It's a courtesy to the pitcher."

I voted no.....but I would rather answer with a "maybe".

In most cases, I find that the plate umpire is busy with notations on the lineup card, whether the new F1 is a substitute or just a position switch. I have found that the BU will monitor the number of warmup pitches from somewhere near the circle. As BU, I may tell her the number of outs, but not the placement of runners....she can figure that one out for herself by looking. As others have stated, as PU, I will announe the count, if there is one before resuming play.

This is not anything that I have been taught, just what has evolved over the years. It's not in any umpire manual, but I don't see any harm in it.

When we're ready to restart after the change, I'll give the count - if there is one - but nothing else. I'm not a coach and do not want to have any part of coaching the players. Along with the fact that the players should already know the game situation.