Team throws at PU

[RKBUmp]

Originally Posted by umpjim

Im wondering if he has had any training because in the full game video I noticed the head movement while tracking pitches and indicator in right hand. Those things would be corrected at any baseball umpire clinic. I think somewhere they say that this was a showcase for aspiring college players so that's why I presumed a college level game.

Page 238 of the ASA umpire manual

"The umpire then tracks the ball from the pitcher's hand to the catcher's glove or to the ground. Tracking the ball is the act of watching the ball from the pitcher's hand into the catcher's glove using a slight movement of the head guided by the nose. Tracking is not an exaggerated head movement or just an eye movement. It is a movement of the nose which simultaneously brings the head with the pitch as the eyes are locked on the ball."

As for the indicator, maybe he is left handed, maybe he has a physical disability with his left hand which makes it difficult to operate the indicator, who knows. I know a guy who umpires who does not have a left hand. Does being physically unable to hold or operate an indicator with the left hand preclude a person from being able to umpire? Bottom line is, what difference does it make if he was tracking the ball with his head, or if he had the indicator in his right hand to being purposely plunked with the ball?