Sometimes (only sometimes) an umpire with frustrate me

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Recently, pitcher threw a 50mph curve ball that started over the inside 1/4 of the plate and broke to the outside 1/3 of the plate. Catcher didn't move her glove quite far enough and it tipped the pocket. Umpire, "Ball". The pitch having been clearly over the plate, and belly-button high (I know, I will work with the pitcher on placement. Ha), I asked the ump, "Was that up a little, Blue?" Umpire says, "It's hard to call those strikes if the catcher misses it." UGH! "The strike zone is actually IN FRONT of the catcher, Blue." Otherwise, I thought he did a great job. ;&

 

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Many more of those calls to come.

 

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Rarely will an umpire give you a strike if it is not caught, especially at the older age groups.

 

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Just wait when your girl throws that falling off the table drop that crosses the batter knees and hits the ground before it gets to the catcher. Always a great pitch and never a strike.

Try setting up your catcher on the outside so that her glove is moving back toward the strike zone on the catch. It will help convince the umpire that it was a strike and some will give the glove especially when it is moving in. We call it expanding the strike zone. Face it; the glove moving out will pull the ump's eye out and a glove moving in will help get that call. Remember that most of these umps are old and blind and need all the help that you can give them. Oh by the way, she has got to catch that pitch.

 

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guys unless your dd or player is a high high d-1 level thrower that ball isnt breaking that much ... CROSSES AT THE KNEES AND HITS THE DIRT BEFORE THE CATCHER CAN CATCH IT ? either we are playing slow pitch or the batter is a midget ?

 

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It never ceases to amaze me how well some coaches and parents can see exactly where the ball crosses through the strike zone ... my eyes just aren't that good, maybe because I'm getting old! I guess according to fairman, that qualifies me to be an umpire!

 

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one thing for sure , unless you are behind the plate you cant tell ANYTHING from the 1st or 3rd base dugouts ... only way to tell if you are getting pinched or stretched is to have your catcher give you a hand signal that Blue is missing calls .

 

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Ummm...I'm left speechless!!

 

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one thing for sure , unless you are behind the plate you cant tell ANYTHING from the 1st or 3rd base dugouts ... only way to tell if you are getting pinched or stretched is to have your catcher give you a hand signal that Blue is missing calls .

In this case, we were inside and I was sitting four feet away AND the ump all but admitted it was a strike. However, on a more broad approach, I have to disagree that "...you can't tell ANYTHING from the...dugouts."
I'm sure that I'm not the only one that can watch a college basketball player pull up and launch a three and I can tell if it is off-line and that's on TV. The brain can do amazing things and taking into account the height of the pitch at the plate (something you can definitely see from the dugout) and where the catcher caught the ball and what pitch was thrown) you shouldn't be the one calling the balls and strikes but you can tell if you are getting decent calls.

 

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I should clarify what I meant -- I meant inside and outside corners .. you cant tell if a pitch is 2-4 inches off the plate VS on the black from the dugout . No way possible .

 

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I can't say that I agree with calling ANY pitch not caught by the catcher a ball. If it's obviously over the plate and obviously a strike, then call it a strike!

(Of course, I mean "obvious" to the guy standing four feet behind the plate who's job it is to be calling balls and strikes, not someone in the stands or dugouts.)

It is a fact that how a pitch is received- or, in this case, not received- can influence an umpire's call. Examples would include catchers who move up so close to the plate that they block the umpire's view, movement of the glove away from the plate to catch the pitch or catching the ball then yanking the glove back toward the strike zone. Any of those might influence the call on a borderline pitch.

I'm not saying that any of those should automatically equate to calling a ball. But when you're tracking a fast-moving object through a three-dimensional space, you're going to use every piece of evidence available make the call. On a borderline pitch, poor technique by the catcher can, in effect, tip the scale so that it's more likely to be called a ball than a strike.

But if it's right down the middle, obviously a strike, none of that should matter. In other words, on NOT borderline pitches...just call the obvious strike, not matter how the pitch is caught...or not caught.

 

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someone will make a fortune when they come up with an electronic strike/ball caller. then what fun would we have grousing at a machine that cant respond with "One more crack and you're out o here"