3rd strike dropped mechanic ?

[MD Longhorn]

I know this is not politically (or mechanically) correct in the softball world...

But this whole nonsense would be fixed if we could get over our phobia of calling the batter out when they are in fact out. After all, we call them out in EVERY other situation where they are out... why the abhorence of calling them out after strike three. (And, of course ... NOT calling them out when the pitch is uncaught).

"Strike Three! Batter's Out!"

seems more communicative of our call than ...

"Strike!" - Silence... (Now guess the rest!)

And no ... I DO NOT do this - but I posit that if this were the mechanic, it would be better for everyone, ourselves included.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

I know this is not politically (or mechanically) correct in the softball world...

But this whole nonsense would be fixed if we could get over our phobia of calling the batter out when they are in fact out. After all, we call them out in EVERY other situation where they are out... why the abhorence of calling them out after strike three. (And, of course ... NOT calling them out when the pitch is uncaught).

"Strike Three! Batter's Out!"

seems more communicative of our call than ...

"Strike!" - Silence... (Now guess the rest!)

And no ... I DO NOT do this - but I posit that if this were the mechanic, it would be better for everyone, ourselves included.

From baseball clinics, I was taught umpires don't use the "Batter's Out" mechanic because there is a small but real chance it would be erroneously applied when the batter is not out on an U3K. Better to have just one mechanic of "Strike Three" for all called third strikes.

Also, the overwhelming majority of U3Ks occur when the batter swings at a bad pitch. Since we don't verbalize "Strike" or "Strike Three" on a swing, it would be strange to call "Batter's Out" when he/she can't advance to first, and stay silent when he/she can.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Manny A

From baseball clinics, I was taught umpires don't use the "Batter's Out" mechanic because there is a small but real chance it would be erroneously applied when the batter is not out on an U3K. Better to have just one mechanic of "Strike Three" for all called third strikes.

Also, the overwhelming majority of U3Ks occur when the batter swings at a bad pitch. Since we don't verbalize "Strike" or "Strike Three" on a swing, it would be strange to call "Batter's Out" when he/she can't advance to first, and stay silent when he/she can.

Strange because we don't do it... but not strange in comparison to every other out call we make. I've never understood the reluctance (in both baseball and softball) to call a player out when they are out. After all, it's our job to create clarity when things are not clear regarding whether we've ruled a player out or not. On a borderline D3K - why the silence?

[KJUmp]

MD...it's way too logical, which is probably why the BB&FP gods don't have us do it.