One of those nights !!!!

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

I don't do softball anymore, but when I did, I don't recall a ceiling that prevented a pitch from going over 12 feet (or whatever it is now) out there. By this, I mean, its a judgment call and if it took you an extra half second to make that judgment call, so be it. It isn't easy; you don't want to call what's not there nor do you want to miss one that is. Some of those illegal pitches are, well, maybe.

I used to get griped out by batters who claimed I didn't call them fast enough and they'd swing.

Well, the flat ones are tougher to call right away, as you don't have as much time on a 12'+ pitch. I've found that the only times when I call the high ones late are either when they float or when I've lost my concentration. Otherwise, I usually have no problem calling it as best as possible.

Back to the sitch, if I've got a batter staring me down while in the box, my next words are, "here we go. [slight pause] Play." He's now been told I'm not going to play his silly game of a staring contest, and I've indicated to him that we are to continue playing ball. If he ignores my direction and somehow, by some STRANGE stroke of luck, gets injured, that's his own fault. If I'm asked by a lawyer what happened, I'll simply tell them, "hey, I gave him enough time to turn around before I resumed play, and he didn't turn."