Your chance to wipe out a bad mechanic

[SethPDX]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

OK... it's you're chance. You get to wave your wand and pick one bad mechanic and erase it from the minds of the entire country of umpires.

Do you pick BU's who have to go remind the new F1 that there's a runner on 2nd, 1 out?

Do you pick umpires who run around the field with the DDB signal, holding it there until they get to the base they're protected to?

Do you pick PU who has to go chat with the crowd between half-innings?

Do you pick the PU who yells PLAY after every foul ball so loudly and so late that he's nearly caused illegal pitches?

Or something else entirely - what's you're umpire pet peeve you wish you could fix?

Me ... I'm going with the first one, wishing I had 4 wishes...

I don't get four choices?

For some reason the first one irritates me the most.

The other one I don't like is the PU who never signals play.

[youngump]

PU who calls strike and then comes out to me on the appeal.
________
Class Action Settlement

[KJUmp]

BU's who signal&announce the number of outs to the defense.

[NCASAUmp]

"31" instead of "3 balls, 1 strike!"

Or how about the PU screaming "foul ball" when it goes 40 feet over the fence?

[okla21fan]

Removing my mask with my right hand (20+ years of a catcher habit is hard to break)

[CelticNHBlue]

Originally Posted by okla21fan

Removing my mask with my right hand (20+ years of a catcher habit is hard to break)

I do that and won't change. I tried, not comfortable with it, not changing it. I'll take the ding and move on. If that is the biggest flaw in my game, I'll take it.

[scottk_61]

Originally Posted by okla21fan

Removing my mask with my right hand (20+ years of a catcher habit is hard to break)

I did this for almost as long as I umpired.
My left hand is kinda screwed up so I use the right and switch it over.
When I went to the Advanced Camp and for ISF, nobody noticed it until they looked at films after the games.

My pet peeve is the ump, doesn't matter what position, that has to try and be a "pal" to the players.
You ain't out there to be there friend, just call the game without being overly officious.

[CelticNHBlue]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

Or how about the PU screaming "foul ball" when it goes 40 feet over the fence?

Mostly when it is the over the home run fence!!!

[CelticNHBlue]

My wish is to end the swinging third strike - pull the bow and bang 'em out. That is the one that puts me over the edge.

[BlitzkriegBob]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Do you pick PU who has to go chat with the crowd between half-innings?

Out of the four you listed, this would probably be the one I'd pick, but I'd expand it to include anyone who spends too much time chatting it up with players, coaches, and spectators.

If I were picking one of my own, I'd say it would be umpires who want to use baseball mechanics during softball games. Or maybe the slow pitch umpires who keep calling pitches "deep", "flat", or "plate", using the infamous double fist pump immortalized by piano playing umpires all over the world. Or slow pitch umpires working solo who don't move out from behind the plate except to grab their umbrella from the backstop when it starts to rain. Yes, I saw that this year.

Originally Posted by KJUmp

BU's who signal&announce the number of outs to the defense.

I've been wanting to ask a related question for a while now, and this kinda jarred my memory. I've worked with a bunch of people who want to signal outs all the time, using what I refer to as the "baseball signal" for outs, with both arms out to your sides flashing the corresponding fingers for outs. You can see a lot of that during the LLWS. I'm not saying it's a formal baseball signal, but that's what I tell rookies when they start flashing that at me during games. Me personally, I prefer a discreet signal between my partner and me if there is a question as to the number of outs. If I get a 1-2-3 inning, I'm not flashing outs any time. What do you guys do?

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by KJUmp

BU's who signal&announce the number of outs to the defense.

And who signal foul balls, especially prematurely.

And signal the count when not announced by PU.

[MD Longhorn]

Ugh yes. And PU's who signal or call foul ball prematurely.

[BlitzkriegBob]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Ugh yes. And PU's who signal or call foul ball prematurely.

Yeah, I forgot another one. A BU who calls a ball rolling up the first base line a foul ball while I'm waiting to make my call until it actually is foul.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by BlitzkriegBob

Yeah, I forgot another one. A BU who calls a ball rolling up the first base line a foul ball while I'm waiting to make my call until it actually is foul.

Worst one I've had was a ball that was hit very short and rolled back to land and settle on the plate. Just as I start to point fair, my partner gives a huge "FOUL BALL!!!!!!"

Luckily, neither coaches nor parents complained and we moved on. between innings, before I have a chance to say anything, he wanders in and says, "Dude, that's YOUR call - you gotta make it!" All sorts of retorts came to mind, but I resisted and just said, "Yes, it's my call and that ball was fair - we'll look it up after the game," and even this he was pretty pissed about.

Needless to say he was very sheepish when he learned he was wrong.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by youngump

PU who calls strike and then comes out to me on the appeal.

Or the other side of the coin, a BU who responds to a player's ask.