Called Strike/Ball Question

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Had an umpire at a tourney yesterday tell me that if my catcher did not line perfectly square center behind the plate, he would always call a ball no matter where the pitch was. Is this pretty standard? We are a 10U team.

 

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Must have been the same large fellow I saw in Middletown on the 4th. He had no idea what a catcher's box was. He was just afraid of getting hit be a pitched ball from a 10 year old... sad...

Not standard - I have only heard of it this week (twice now) in over 6 years I have been around the sport.

 

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Had an umpire at a tourney yesterday tell me that if my catcher did not line perfectly square center behind the plate, he would always call a ball no matter where the pitch was. Is this pretty standard? We are a 10U team.

Not this guy again! No, this is not standard and not correct!

 

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A catcher should never set up on the middle of the plate, unless they want the ball to get hit hard and far.

 

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First post on this Board, so if you decide to rip me, BE GENTLE! Our experience this year has lead me to belive this is a very bad trend. In school ball, we had two umpires in particular that if your daughter throws a pitch that actually tails or bites, you are hosed unless the catcher is pre-set on that corner. Also, they both warned our cathcer about being "outside the box". Converse was at the Stingray's Tourn. this weekend when "The old hippie" took away the inside, outside, knees, and letters. He would actually move our catcher with his forearm between himself and the ball, and called I think three illegal pitches in the game. I think using a 12-year old as a meat shield is pretty poor, especially with what umps make per game now. With my vast experience {{{lol}}} I see the problem as too many unqualified guys and gals are getting certified for the money, without having actually played the game or played baseball. I know as a "bucket dad" I had to relearn how pitches move, and what strikes look like, because after playing 20 of hardball, brothers and sisters, they ain't the same. There is no "field test" for umpires, and have onlly known one in my area who got his license pulled for performance(in slowpitch men's). He was bad in slowpitch but that idiot in this day and age would probably slide right in to fastpitch without a hiccup.
Thanks for induling me.

 

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I never heard of such an Idiotic Idea! What if the Pitcher throws out on purpose to draw a Batter to swing-on for a Strike?


FASTPITCH! Anything else, And you're playing to SLOW!

 

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We had a similar event - he wouldn't call a strike if the catcher set up on the inside because she "blocked his view". He told if she kept doing that he would keep calling it a ball.

 

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We had an umpire in Wilmington early June tell our catcher the same thing about moving over behind the plate. (She was tall he was short.) He came up to me after I complained in the second inning about his strike zone and he said some may have been strikes but, he could not see over her so, he would not call them strikes.

We also had an umpire rest his chin above the left shoulder of our catcher last week and did not call one strike on the outside. (He did make all the inside calls though.)

 

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There needs to be some action that can be taken to root these umpires out. It cannot be that darn hard to tell if a ball went over the plate or not. To be totally honest I have had some of best games called by folks that arent even umpires they are standing in because umpire didnt show. I am sure there are a ton of great umpires but maybe they are doing baseball or something cause we seem to have too many of the losers.

 

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There needs to be some action that can be taken to root these umpires out. It cannot be that darn hard to tell if a ball went over the plate or not. To be totally honest I have had some of best games called by folks that arent even umpires they are standing in because umpire didnt show. I am sure there are a ton of great umpires but maybe they are doing baseball or something cause we seem to have too many of the losers.

How about a grading card to be completed on each umpire after every game? The umpires would have to present you with their grading card before each game, and we could turn them into the TD afterwards. If an umpire gets consistent bad marks from different teams, maybe the TD's can make sure he is not invited back the following year?

We actually took the time to go to the TD this year in Toledo to compliment the umpire crew we had at one of our games. They were fantastic. Every umpire is human, and they will all make mistakes here and there, and no one is perfect. We have however, had several this year, that should not be allowed to umpire a T-ball game.

 

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Umpiring well is not an easy thing to do, and its something everyone should try to do once themselves before they get too critical. With that being said, I can think of at least 2-3 times over the years when we had an umpire tell our catchers and/or the coaches that he would call balls if the catcher blocked his view. I never quite knew what to say back when I heard that as a coach without risking making things worse for us.

 

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I think the catcher should move back. She has a lot of space behind the plate, right?

 

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A good catcher will know that it is to their advantage to set-up such that it gives the umpire the best possible view of the pitch.

A good umpire will adjust his stance, moving a little bit inside, a little bit more behind the catcher, raising his head height or whatever it takes so that he can see the pitch if his view is being blocked.

I see a lot of catcher's that set-up right on the plate, almost like they're purposely trying to block the umpire's view. I don't really understand that, as they aren't doing their team any favors by obscurring the view of the one person who has to make a call on the pitch!

But I would never go so far as to say that I'm automatically going to call balls just because of the way the catcher is set-up. As long as she is legally positioned within the catcher's box, it's up to the umpire to adjust accordingly. If you can't see...move to where you can!

One other thing: Batter's move around and block our view, catcher's move around and block our view, the umpire might have to move around to change his view, but there is one part of this equation that NEVER moves- home plate! If the umpire is seting up consistently and has gauged his relationship to home plate, even if someone moves and blocks his view while the pitch is on the way, he can still have a good idea where the ball crossed the plate. You might be forced to guess a little, but at least it will be an educated guess.

 

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Just for clarity sake, I asked if she was blocking his view. That was not the issue. His last comment which was quite enlightening was that she was there to protect him too.

 

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Well, the 10U games usually get the rookie umpires and it sounds like this is what you had in your game...

The catcher isn't there for the umpire's sake, or to protect him. That's what we wear shin guards, a cup, a chest protector and a mask for!

You have to realize that if you're working a 10U game it's not a matter of "if" you will be hit, it's a matter of "how many times will you be hit"!

Calling balls just because the catcher is set-up off the plate is stupid. Adjust your position, man up and let all that protective gear handle the 40 m.p.h. fastballs!