Mechanic question
 

I'm just a parent seeing if this is the correct mechanic (?).

2 Outs no one on.
Batter swings and misses for third strike. Ball clearly hits the dirt before the catcher catches it very cleanly. (nice drop ball if i must say).
I know its a D3K as well as the ump. calls strike 3 and nothing else and leaves his right hand up.
catcher rolls the ball to the cirlce, both teams leave the field.

Now my question.

the ump followed the batter (3-5 feet behind) to the dugout with his hand still up. called her out as soon as her foot hit the dugout.
Should he have followed her or just stayed at the plate?
No one knew she wasn't out, but I'm thinking his actions might have let someone figure it out.
I'm just curious if he did the right thing, the call was dead on, no question the D3K.
Althought alot of parents said, suzy caught the ball. Yea she did, right after it hit the dirt.

Thanks

He should have done nothing differently from his routine strike-three call. He DEFINITELY shouldn't have followed her to the dugout, nor should he have held his call any longer (holding it longer, if anything, indicates that he saw the catcher CATCH the ball and has an out).

Let me add that if his "normal" strike three call includes something like "batters out!", he should obviously omit this... although most here will say he should omit it all the time, not just on D3K!

I disagree. If the only play I'm interested is knowing whether the batter enters the dugout or is assisted to avoid entering the dugout, why wouldn't I want to move into position to see that. Call strike three, get your arm down and move to see the play.
Also, on my usual strike three, my mask stays on. Here it is coming off.

Did the ump really need to follow the B to see the dugout entry, or just move if needed to have a good angle?

"my mask stays on. Here it is coming off" does not seem consistent in not giving the call away.

Wow, that's awful. Might want to speak with your higher-ups on this. Every clinic I've been to (that addresses this) stresses doing as little as possible that might tip off either side. We adjudicate the game - we don't want to affect it if that can be avoided. Both of your actions have a good chance of affection gameplay.

Let's eliminate the 2nd concern. No one leaves their mask on between innings; the OP play had two outs, this being the 3rd.

Yes, I know he says he does; not in this case.

Of course it should be noted that NCAA now wants a "safe" call on a third strike not caught.
Right or wrong, I have seen this mechanic used by umpires in ASA, USSSA and NFHS games.

:D

PU should not do anything different, agreed, except NCAA.

Now what about BU? We have a play on, should BU wait for BR to start for 1B or get in a calling position? The latter would be considered a "tell", but it also prevents rushing at the last minute?

Thoughts?

Well with 2 outs, the BU can be moving in most instances to the between inning position, unless already in "B". Or could be moving toward the pitcher's plate to brush it.

In either case, if BU now sees the BR make a break for 1B, BU's already on the move in that general area. No?

Although I would change one thing with this mechanic, I like the fact that NCAA is letting everyone know that we have a strike three and an uncaught pitch. I would like to see this or some similar type of mechanic in all codes.

If we have a trapped ball on a batted ball, don't we signal or annouce "no catch"? If we have a missed tagged by the defense, don't we announce "No tag" and signal safe? Why can't we tell the offense and the defense that we have a strike three and an uncaught pitch? Other than the reason that it isn't an approved mechanic.

I agree. The mechanic SHOULD BE that we make a call. This is the only time that for some we are instructed not to tell the world whether a runner is safe or out when it is in doubt whether they are or aren't.

Something as simple as calling the batter out upon a 3rd strike caught, and not calling the batter out on an uncaught one, would seem to be consistent with everything else.

But until they make that change - I do as I'm told.

Could have sworn it was posted in the spring that the NCAA does not prescribe this mechanic.

And who is seeing this signal? Everyone, but the two involved, batter and catcher. My personal opinion is that this signal is meant to "excuse" the PU if the batter and/or catcher do not properly respond to the play at hand which is exactly why it was developed in MLB. A batter was smarter than a catcher and a coach couldn't win the argument as there was no substance to it.

Personally, the more I think about this, the more I lean toward just dumping the 3rd strike rule. The batter failed, end of story.

Not always

No, not always and in some cases, we are instructed to NOT say that.

Again, who are you telling? Those for whom it would be intended are looking the other way by design. The people who will see the signal are already going to be screaming either "run" or "tag her" or "throw it to 1st" long before the umpire makes such a signal. I consider it extraneous and quite possibly, a good possibility for inconsistency since the PU is not always aware the ball was not caught.

The signal comes with a verbal: "No catch", which is for the batter and catcher to hear because, as you have pointed out, they don't see the signal.

Well SRW usually wanders around to correct me when I get to far off the reservation, so he'll probably be along soon if this is frowned upon here. But I will ask when I get a chance. And yes if it's the third out I suppose my mask is coming off anyway.

But if it's the first or second out, it seems like I'm definitely going to tip at least a little so why not just get the best angle? For that matter at the very least I should turn and watch (or if I have other responsibilities as well I'm going to be looking back and forth). Suppose the batter runner gets almost to the dugout and as she's putting her foot down the coach tells her to run and she gets to first safely. Now the DC calls time and insists she touched something in the dugout when she got there. Don't you want to know for sure?

Oh boy, you're goinna love this........

NCAA mechanics require the field umpires to assist on 3rd strike calls with a physical signal indicating either catch or no catch...
:D

The book says to only do so on strike three calls when the batter can advance. At a few clinics I've attended, the clinicians have told us to do it on every strike three.

And is that going to be right away, or after your standard "Strike/Strike Three" call?

How did this game get to the point of needing this after decades of NOT having it? Will the lack of a timely call create any contention with the teams? If the call is not made and a player enters the dugout and the defense never makes a play, is that delayed/changed call placing either in jeopardy?

IMO, unnecessary can of worms that has arisen out of laziness and weak coaching. Like I said, JMO.

After

Thanks for everyones responses. Someone asked if her followed her, from my vantage point, he was almost directly behind her, about 3-5 feet. It didn't appear he moved to a better angle. The call was spot on, just a big "tell" to anyone paying attention.
Thanks everyone

For me, it is innovation.

There were people who didn't think the horseless carriage was necessary - for a variety of what were sound reasons. But, I think the automobile was a positive innovation.

I agree that for many decades we got along fine without letting both teams know what we are ruling on an uncaught third strike, but I personally believe that it is a useful mechanic. I respect your opinion and understand it. I just disagree.

Not all innovation is good. May seem good, but in the long run, I often have to wonder if it actually improves anything.

How about the verbaliztion of "obstruction"? I just stopped doing it due to the negative effect it had on the game. But it satisfies someone's desire, so it needs to remain even though there is a visual signal that has worked for decades. However, this game is getting so excuse-for-failure heavy, look out for OBS to become a dead ball and instant award in the next decade or two. :D

The TV remote is a good example. Sure, it is convenient, but it made folks lazy and in some cases, stupid. Same with the automatic transmission in a vehicle. Talk about an innovation which has dummied down a society.

Ever see a teenager try to "dial" a phone number? Or a college student not be able to figure out the change for a $70 tab from a $100 bill without a calculator? In the 70s, (yes, even that long ago) when I worked for Southland in FL, there was a power outage at the store and no one could figure out how I could keep the business open without an operating electric cash register. Go figure, the math I learned in 3rd grade confused the big, college graduate who was my alleged superior.

New and different doesn't mean better, and if you played the game of softball 20-30 years ago, you should be able to appreciate how weak the skill levels have become for some playing today's game.

Question: Before the incident in MLB, did you ever hear such an uproar for a mechanic on a U3K? Even with the mechanic, what has actually changed other than the appearance that there was some sort of reaction?

You can agree and I can disagree, but I cannot see one positive it adds to the game.

1) You are not old enough for this kind of rant. Next thing you know you will be going about growing up with no air conditioning, riding a bike w/o a helmet or maybe penny candy. :p :D

2) Poor 3rd grade math has little to do with declining playing skills. :rolleyes:

If it prevents the coach from arguing "Your fist was up in the air. You called my batter out," that's a good enough "positive" for me.

I did not have TV, black and white, in my younger years. The air conditioner was an open window. Milk & other dairy products,, bread & potato chips, along with household goods (Fuller Brush) and footwear were delivered to you door. As was a newspaper and mail, yes MAIL, twice a day. You went to a butcher for meats, farmer's market for vegetables & fruit, bakery for bread, cakes & pies and corner grocery for non-perishibles. Went to the mill for cloth and dry goods for other products.It isn't the 3rd grade math that I believe to be poor.

"Little Man"


I remember walk'in round the court square sidewalk
Lookin' in windows at things I couldn't want
There's johnson's hardware and morgans jewelry
And the ol' Lee king's apothecary
They were the little man
The little man

I go back now and the stores are empty
Except for an old coke sign dated 1950
Boarded up like they never existed
Or renovated and called historic districts
There goes the little man
There goes the little man

Now the court square's just a set of streets
That the people go round but they seldom think
Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut em down
And killed the little man
Oh the little man

He pumped your gas and he cleaned your glass
And one cold rainy night he fixed your flat
The new stores came where you do it yourself
You buy a lotto ticket and food off the shelf
Forget the little man
Forget about that little man

He hung on there for a few more years
But he couldn't sell slurpees
And he wouldn't sell beer
Now the bank rents the station
To a man down the road
And they sell velvet Elvis and
Second-hand clothes
There goes little man
There goes another little man

Now the court square's just a set of streets
That the people go round but they seldom think
Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut em down
And killed the little man
Oh the little man

Now the stores are lined up in a concrete strip
You can buy the whole world in just one trip
And save a penny cause it's jumbo size
They don't even realize
They'er killin' the little manOh the little man

Now the court square's just a set of streets
That the people go round but they seldom think
Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut em down
And killed the little man
Oh the little man

It wasn't long ago when I was a child
An old black man came with his mule and his plow
He broke the ground where we grew our garden
Back before we'd all forgoten
about the little man
The little man
Long live the little man
God bless the little man

BLACK AND WHITE TV

"Good night and God bless."





Go all the way to the bottom past the pictures..... I think you'll enjoy it. Whoever wrote this must have been my next door neighbor because it totally described my childhood to a 'T.' Hope you enjoy it.

Black and White
















Black and White (Under age 40? You won't understand.)
You could hardly see for all the snow,

Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go. Pull a chair up to the TV set,
'Good Night, David.
Good Night, Chet.'
My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread Mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter and I used to eat it raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli.

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.

The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE...and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.
Flunking gym was not an option.... Even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym.

Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.

We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health system we had then.. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.

Oh yeah... And where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.


Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat. We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either; because if we did we got our butt spanked there and then we got our butt spanked again when we got home.

I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off.

Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house.

Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.




To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family.

How could we possibly have known that we needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes?

We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!

How did we ever survive?

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA; AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T, SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING!

Pass this to someone and remember that life's most simple pleasures are very often the best.















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