Umpires Being Fooled Or Surprised By A Pitch.

I didn't want to hijack the RG thread so I though I'd start one based on one of the comments Bill H. put out there. So add yours if you have been burned or benefited by a fooled umpire's call.

Not to mention, umpires are human and they can get deceived by watching the pitcher and being confused too. A good pitch might be called a ball because the ump was equally fooled. It happens all the time, even in real games when umpires get caught guessing what pitch is coming or get fooled on a change up like the hitter.... they call a strike a ball.

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Playing a team in a pool game. One umpire. The opposing pitcher throws a legal ephus(sp) pitch to one of my hitters. It was PERFECT. She was 100% legal. She threw the ball like throwing a shortened backswing motion slingshot pitch with a legal leap. No continuation of the arm circle after the release. My hitter instantly turned to a statue.

The umpire called "Illegal pitch." The opposing coach came out of the dugout and asked what was illegal about the pitch. The old guy told her it was "Deception." Said she couldn't do that. The Coach argued with him for a while. Listening to her I could tell she did not know the pitching rules well enough to argue specific points. She ended up returning to the dugout losing her plea and pissed off.

I'm in the 3rd base coach's box smiling to myself knowing I just got free bases for my runners and a ball on my batter with a gift call.

I don't know if this is the same thing, but DD has a very slow CU that was seldom called for a strike all summer even though the catcher's glove didn't move and remained in the strike zone.

Where the catcher catches the ball has nothing to do with the strike zone. If your daughters changeup is very slow as you say, that means it most likely has a fairly high arch and could ver y well be above the strike zone as it crosses the plate but be caught in what looks like the strike zone by the catcher.

Comp said:

Where the catcher catches the ball has nothing to do with the strike zone. If your daughters changeup is very slow as you say, that means it most likely has a fairly high arch and could ver y well be above the strike zone as it crosses the plate but be caught in what looks like the strike zone by the catcher.

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Very true, Comp, but can you say that you never have been fooled by a pitch?

Sparky Guy said:

The umpire called "Illegal pitch." The opposing coach came out of the dugout and asked what was illegal about the pitch. The old guy told her it was "Deception."

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Every pitch has some level of deception on it - if deception was illegal you might as well just hit off a tee... Good umpires know the rules, but quality varies from competition to competition and area to area. We are lucky in South Florida travel to have a lot of good umpires but there are a few lesser quality individuals out there. You get a volunteer umpire in a rec game and good luck.

Anyway, yes of course you can be fooled by a pitch as an umpire. The good ones will take their time and go through the call in their mind before they make a call. It is preferred to get it right over getting it wrong even if it 'looks bad'

I have umpired many, many different sports. Calling a strike zone is one of the toughest gigs out there since the zone changes for every batter, catchers can get in the way, batters set up differently, slappers are moving all over the place, the zone is a 3D shape that is not equal shape on all sides, the ball moves, etc, etc. Calling a consistent low outside corner is tough. If the pitcher does something she hasn't done before, or something 'out of the blue' happens it can really put you off.

You remember a few 'special' bad calls every time someone brings it up - the moment I read this post I remember vividly missing a strike call in a local 14U championship game about 5 years ago - 2-2 and the catcher set up way outside off the plate, and the pitcher threw a pitch that tailed into the inside corner which the catcher really had to leap back to catch and I called it a ball (and next pitch the batter tripled). It was a terribly executed pitch - in reality the pitcher missed her spot by over 3 feet (confirmed with the catcher later) after being consistent all game, but it was a strike and I got it totally wrong. That call still makes me cringe when it gets dredged up in my memory.

You try to minimize it with proper technique, positioning and focus but every so often one gets past you.

BTW, the second HARDEST single call to make as an official is offside in soccer - the rule is complex, you have to know and see exactly when the ball is played sometimes 30+ yards up the field and on the other side of the field AND be able to figure out an imaginary line directly across the field in line with the last defender sometimes with out visual cues plus you have to understand all the complexities and situations (they added you can be offside but only if you effect the play so the call can be delayed as well)... But you only have to make a really hard offside call maybe an average of twice a game. Calling 200+ pitches per game, every game with everyone looking at every call is much tougher.

The actual hardest call in umpiring is 'LBW' (Leg Before Wicket) in Cricket. I am not even going to try and explain what that is and the complexities in getting that right.

Comp said:

Where the catcher catches the ball has nothing to do with the strike zone.

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This! This! This! This! This!!!!!!!!

Probably the most misunderstood thing in softball today in my area.
People seem to believe either it was a strike because the catcher caught it in the zone or it wasn't a strike because the catcher caught it outside the zone.

Off soapbox now......

disclaimer: I have no idea what the OP thinks on this and it has nothing to do with an umpire being fooled. I just took the opportunity to vent on a pet peeve.

The one I remember most vividly is the very first pitch I every saw from behind the plate at 18U. I had been umpiring for about 3 or 4 months at the 8U to 12U level and my buddy who got me started and who I umped with alot roped me into umping a big Saturday tournament about an hour away, to make matters worse we got lost, it was one of those places basically in a farmers field. So we are literally running up to the field throwing on my gear and then I just say hi and sorry to the coaches "let's have a good game" I jump behind the plate and say "play ball". The first pitch must have been right down the middle of the plate given everyone reactions but since I did not see it and stood their speechless everyone just continued on like it was a ball since they did not hear "strike" called. I took a deep breath said to myself "what the heck have you just done" I bore down and focused really hard for the rest of the half inning then went down to my "buddy" umping first and he is just laughing his butt off, I said "dude that is not funny you could have taken the plate for first game" he said "yeah but what fun would that have been".

Besides that I think a good change up is the hardest because after all the heat and movement the ball just comes floating over the plate (or at least somewhere close) and your first reaction is the batter could have hit that, the best defense against this is always good mechanics trying to set yourself up the same way every time focusing on the ball as it crosses the plate but it has been years since I've been behind the plate. As another poster mentioned they can be high a lot of the time if as the ump your eye level is top of the zone and the ball stays above that level then drops into the catcher glove you get a ball called every time.

Greenmonsters said:

Comp said:

Where the catcher catches the ball has nothing to do with the strike zone. If your daughters changeup is very slow as you say, that means it most likely has a fairly high arch and could ver y well be above the strike zone as it crosses the plate but be caught in what looks like the strike zone by the catcher.

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Very true, Comp, but can you say that you never have been fooled by a pitch?

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A decent umpire will not be fooled by the pitch. Unlike the batter, an umpire doesn't have to get the timing element down necessary to square a ball with efficient mechanics. The rhythm of an umpire is different, and they shouldn't be fooled to the extent that a batter may be fooled.

FiveFrameSwing said:

A decent umpire will not be fooled by the pitch. Unlike the batter, an umpire doesn't have to get the timing element down necessary to square a ball with efficient mechanics. The rhythm of an umpire is different, and they shouldn't be fooled to the extent that a batter may be fooled.

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While I agree a decent umpire will not be fooled by a pitch anywhere near as often or as much as a batter will be, that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen occasionally even to the very best. I'd love to be able to call a perfect game every time out, but that is unfortunately not going to happen as much as I would like it to.

personally from what ive seen umpires vary greatly from tournament to tournament and more times than not you pay for what you get.