Correcting Umpires

As far as the strike zone, I have already asked, from the dug out, "where did that miss" and have the umpire signal high, low, inside, outside. This guy, tried asking (in between innings) and he wouldn't even tell me. Just said they were not strikes.

We have also had the catchers do exactly what was mentioned, last year, but I have all inexperienced catchers this year. They are still trying to get comfortable behind the plate and pay attention to me for signs. Being able to talk to the umpire will come.

I have kept all my conversations with the umpires quiet enough that its just us that know what is being talked about. When I approached the plate umpire and talked to him, he asked the field umpire from about half way to first if stealing second off a walk was allowed. That's when the 1st base coach starting yelling.

CoachHarley said:

As far as the strike zone, I have already asked, from the dug out, "where did that miss" and have the umpire signal high, low, inside, outside. This guy, tried asking (in between innings) and he wouldn't even tell me. Just said they were not strikes.

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What is the purpose of asking 'where did that miss'?

I know what coaches will say: So we'll know what the strike zone is. (I'm not an umpire, btw.)

Have you ever gotten a response to that question from an umpire that helped you win a game?

Has that question ever resulted in you having a talk with your pitcher, which then led to her performing better and finding that umpire's strike zone better than had you not asked that question?

I understand that coaches ask umpires 'where did it miss' all the time, but I wonder how many coaches can honestly say that this question and the umpire's answer won a game. Has there been one coach who has said, 'The difference in that game was the umpire's willingness to shed light on his strike zone.'

If a coach cannot say that these conversations have been game-changing, then what is their real purpose?

CoogansBluff said:

What is the purpose of asking 'where did that miss'?

I know what coaches will say: So we'll know what the strike zone is. (I'm not an umpire, btw.)

Have you ever gotten a response to that question from an umpire that helped you win a game?

Has that question ever resulted in you having a talk with your pitcher, which then led to her performing better and finding that umpire's strike zone better than had you not asked that question?

I understand that coaches ask umpires 'where did it miss' all the time, but I wonder how many coaches can honestly say that this question and the umpire's answer won a game. Has there been one coach who has said, 'The difference in that game was the umpire's willingness to shed light on his strike zone.'

If a coach cannot say that these conversations have been game-changing, then what is their real purpose?

Click to expand...

I don't ask to know where the strike zone is. Sometimes its hard to see if its in or out from the dugout. Plus it helps so I can tell my catcher to hold the target in a little different spot to help out the pitcher.

Yes, we have gotten responses from umpires to help win the game. If a pitcher is struggling with the zone, having the catcher set up different will sometimes help, leading to more strikes.

Yes, I do talk with the pitcher on feedback from the umpire when I get it.

Like I said, its not to find the umps strike zone, but to help the catcher and pitcher work together better to get more strikes called.

Out in Left Field said:

It is 10u, not the end of the world; you can document it, perhaps, but you should blow it off until and unless it becomes a pattern. Remember it is like being a prisoner, every prisoner says they are innocent of the charges, and that is how the wardens, I mean umps and officials, see coaches.

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Blow it off?

So does that mean if a girl hits a ball in the outfield, it rolls under the fence and its called a home run I should blow it off?

I could write a book about my encounters with umpires who:

1. Were confused about whether we were playing baseball or fastpitch
2. Were confused about sanction we were playing under, and the relevant rule differences
3. Were confused about what age group / classification was on the field, and the relevant rule differences
4. Were using something other than their eyesight to call balls and strikes
5. Simply made up their own rules

Most of the time, these people are impervious to new information after the first pitch is thrown. It is the rarity of a blue moon that anything they've decided will change when confronted with an alternate reality. If there's some rule exception your particular game operates under, bring that up at the otherwise pointless pregame conference.

Strike2 said:

I could write a book about my encounters with umpires who:

1. Were confused about whether we were playing baseball or fastpitch
2. Were confused about sanction we were playing under, and the relevant rule differences
3. Were confused about what age group / classification was on the field, and the relevant rule differences
4. Were using something other than their eyesight to call balls and strikes
5. Simply made up their own rules

Most of the time, these people are impervious to new information after the first pitch is thrown. It is the rarity of a blue moon that anything they've decided will change when confronted with an alternate reality. If there's some rule exception your particular game operates under, bring that up at the otherwise pointless pregame conference.

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This entire post is funny.....probably true for any coach.

Funny you mention the pregame conference. At that tournament on our Sunday game, I said "No stealing 2nd off of a walk correct?" Plate ump looks at me and says "Right, its 10 "c", been like that all tournament" I chuckled and said "Just checking"

CoogansBluff said:

What is the purpose of asking 'where did that miss'?

I know what coaches will say: So we'll know what the strike zone is. (I'm not an umpire, btw.)

Have you ever gotten a response to that question from an umpire that helped you win a game?

Has that question ever resulted in you having a talk with your pitcher, which then led to her performing better and finding that umpire's strike zone better than had you not asked that question?

I understand that coaches ask umpires 'where did it miss' all the time, but I wonder how many coaches can honestly say that this question and the umpire's answer won a game. Has there been one coach who has said, 'The difference in that game was the umpire's willingness to shed light on his strike zone.'

If a coach cannot say that these conversations have been game-changing, then what is their real purpose?

Click to expand...

I ask because it is at the top of a decision tree. My angle from the dugout tells me high or low, so I need to know if he's calling high/low or in/out. If high/low (and I'm only asking because from my POV it was not high or low) then I know my pitcher is grooving along and blue is calling it tight - no action needed other than to tell my pitcher to keep hammering. OTOH, if he says in/out it tells me to look harder at my pitcher for fatigue and mechanics.

As an example: last year's season end touney, my #1 is cruising and we're up 10-3. There's a play that leads to both coaches "discussing" sliding between innings (my player didn't slide, probably should have). Next half of the inning, my pitcher can't buy a strike call even though from my POV she's hitting the knees almost every time, and we were getting those calls before. My 1st assumption: blue is making it up to the other guys for not calling the slide. I eventually asked blue where she was missing and he told me it was in/out. I wasn't educated enough then (hadn't discovered DFP) and didn't recognize the fatigue/mechanic break down, but it clued me in that something wasn't right, and I made a change. We won 11-8. Can't say for sure we won based on asking blue for some info, but it didn't hurt.

Not sure if that makes sense?

CoachHarley said:

I don't ask to know where the strike zone is. Sometimes its hard to see if its in or out from the dugout. Plus it helps so I can tell my catcher to hold the target in a little different spot to help out the pitcher.

Yes, we have gotten responses from umpires to help win the game. If a pitcher is struggling with the zone, having the catcher set up different will sometimes help, leading to more strikes.

Yes, I do talk with the pitcher on feedback from the umpire when I get it.

Like I said, its not to find the umps strike zone, but to help the catcher and pitcher work together better to get more strikes called.

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You might be surprised how well they work together when the presence of an intermediary is reduced.

I've seen good and bad umpires.

One of the best was an umpire that talked to the pitchers and catchers to help them improve. The coach for the other team actually thanked blue for calling IP on his pitcher, so it would help her learn.

One of the absolute worst was the father of one of the kids on DD #1's team, who was a volunteer umpire for a game. One of the kids on the other team yelled at the umpire's daughter the next day at school... oh, wait, I was that umpire. Harder than it looks.

If I'm behind the plate, I have no problem giving information to the catcher on each side as to pitch location.

But when the coach calling pitches on the bucket or 3B coach on offense ask me after every single pitch what the count is, I look at them and offer my clicker. They're not that expensive, you know, and they can be helpful .