Mechanics discussion

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

You know my feelings of the 3-umpire mechanics for U3 with runner on 1st. Works betting in FP than SP, but it gives the umpire a better perspective of the plays.

For everyone else, you mean the "non-rotation" U3 in C slot, I assume.

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Also, in FP, not so much a change, but consistency in teaching, I guess. We have been told that when pinched/blocked by the catcher in the slot to go up. However, there are UICs who teach the umpire to move further outside the slot and find an angle between batter and catcher. While it should be a rarity, I have seen umpires trying to catch a good look and end up turning their body hooking the C and getting way too close the the batter. I'm not a fan of the GD stance, but I believe looking down through the zone would be better than trying to sneak a peek between batter and catcher.

Also, while a standard should be defined and taught; there is a lot of variety in the "pinched/blocked" problem, along with varying heights of catcher, batter, even the umpire. My concern is changing the viewpoint from pitch to pitch when going to a "look down"; especially since high/low is often the more crucial aspect of the zone.