- Sep 5, 2012
- 53
- 8
First off you are talking about calling pitches, no someone yelling pitch location to a batter, secondly you are talking NCAA which has a completely different rule set. No such rule exists in any of the other associations I am aware of. Even college players when on base will signal the pitch location. There is no rule against it and the umpire has absolutely no authority to stop it or control it.
If you expect professionalism out of an umpire, then you should expect them to enforce the rules as written. Any umpire that attempts to enforce "unwritten" rules will most likely end up with a protest on their hands. There is no rule support for an umpire to enforce any of these supposed infractions.
Have you read an Umpire Manual for any of the associations? If you did, you'd realize that an umpire does have the power to cover incidents that are outside the rules. In ASA, Rule 10.1 covers this.
Let me ask you this? Would you allow a coach or a player to stand behind the backstop & give instructions/signals? Of course not! The same thing extends to spectators. An umpire should instruct them to cease the behavior or remove themselves from that area. Failure to comply could result in ejection from the facility. FTR, I have seen it happen.
The behavior, at the very least, is unsportsmanlike & an umpire does have the right to take action when viewed in that light.