Dealing with a Catcher
 

Jr College Game, NCAA rules.

I am BU. Team A pitcher really likes to work the edges of the zone. Catcher is frustrated from time to time with my PU partner's zone and not getting strikes called when she thinks they should be.

Finally, about the fifth inning, a pitch comes in that is just off the plate and called a ball. Catcher holds the ball out where she caught it, and asks my partner "Where did that miss?" with attitude. Partner tells her it was out of the zone and to throw the ball back to the pitcher. Catcher turns to someone behind the backstop and says "He said it was outside"

Partner pulls the mask off and tells the catcher that he is sick of the attitude and that if she wants to stay in the game, she will refrain from any further comments.

Question: For those of you that work NCAA level ball, would you have handled this the same way or would you have addressed this with the coach?

Would any of you handle this any different in HS or other youth ball play?

NCAA - the only thing he might have done differently is, instead of waiting until he had to blow up, simply tell the catcher quietly, while in position, that she needs to can the attitude and that her rope has been used up. But having not done that, addressing the catcher directly here is fine.

High school - ditto.

Youth ball - address MUCH earlier, and address via the coach.

I don't do college, so no comment on that, but with high school and any youth of high school age, I have no problem with (and have done in the past) giving a verbal warning to the catcher while in position. It has always worked the times I have done it.

If a catcher younger that HS age has an attitude, this is best dealt with by a coach (or parent).

Also, make it easier by answering politely and respectfully the first time asked and make it clear the second time that it was the same reason and it will stay that way.

He got it right, Andy....

I'm sure someone here will say we should never talk to the players and go directly to the coach to deal with...

This is the point....When I presented this situation to a former official in the same conference that I talk to quite a bit, he said it should have been handled through the coach.

Youth or HS ball, I would be more likely to do that, college ball, I'm addressing it right then and there. If the coach wants to know what is going on, I will let him/her know as well.

IMHO..you are on the right track. Especially since that team seems to have a few discipline issues this year....Shut it down right away

I have had something similar this year. About the fifth time the catcher asked me where the ball was I flat out told her that it was out of the zone. Since this was still the first inning and she had used up 5 "asks", I wasn't going to listen anymore. She got the hint. She still complained in the dugout, but she knew not to do it in the catchers position. What made it worse later is the opposing pitchers balls were coming back over the corner and were called strikes. Her pitchers pitches were tailing away from the plate and thus were missing the inside corner.

I did issue a warning last year after a catcher yelled to her pitcher "That's a bullshit call" about a pitch I called out of the zone. That one went through the coach immediately, with the catcher right there.

A warning? A catcher yelling that should be an instant ejection.

Why? In this case it really depends on the teams in question. Sadly, in some areas if you were to eject every player who said something like that on a first offense you wouldn't be umpiring because you would not have any players to umpire.

In theory you are correct. In practice ejecting players and coaches for this like this is often much more of a hassle for all parties involved. I know some umpires who have ejected players for things like this, and for some reason you don't see them umpiring much if any. Why? The schools refuse to have them umpire for them. Without the schools allowing them to umpire, there are no games for them to umpire.

Why? because not only did a catcher yell across the field questioning your strike zone, she also used a profanity to do it.

Holy wow.....

ADULT ball...I MIGHT let that go with reminder...

ANY youth..federation...J.C..or NCAA..that's an ejection....

Dear lord.

That's my first, and highest, priority when umpiring... avoiding hassle. :rolleyes:

If the schools around here placed sportsmanship and respect for officials at such an intolerable level, they would not be the ones doing the refusing.

Maybe they are not getting games because they did and you did not. :rolleyes:

And I agree with Tom, avoiding hassle is our job. :( :( :o

The only conversation I'm having with the coach after this is to find out who the substitute is for the catcher I've just ejected.....

In some of the schools in the area I am talking about sportsmanship is pretty much non-existent. This is an area that during basketball threats were common against opposing players during and after basketball games.

The problem is that many of the AD's in the area still schedule their own umpires and don't use an assignor, so there is nobody to back up the umpires. The state association really doesn't do much even if there are reports filed by umpires.

NCAA provides us three options in this sitch...
13.1.1-Informal warning
13.1.2-Formal warning
13.2.1-Ejection

If it were me, as described, I'm going with 13.1.2, which after I've told F2 she's been issued a warning, the reporting and recording of the warning has me talking to her HC.

I would not have dealt with it the way your partner did....JMO.

As I said above. If I was in this situation, the schools would not be the ones doing the refusing / blocking. There is no way I would accept such an assignment even if offered.

My point was consistency. If all the umpires ejected or warned or whatever, consistently with each other, then the game schedules also would even out.

That said, I would not have ejected the coach in a couple situations where I saw partners do so.