Umps looses track of the count. Any options?

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May 16, 2016
1,024
113
Illinois
First game Saturday morning. Very first batter of the tournament. The count is 3-1 and the pitcher throws another ball; should be ball 4 and a walk. Nope, umpires says the count was 2-1, and that was only ball 3. I am keeping the book and of course I tell the umpire that that was ball 4, both of the other coaches on our team also knew it was ball 4. Ump tells me if I say another word about this he will kick me out of the game. So I shut up.

The girls up to bat fouls off the next two pitches and then strikes out. There was only one umpire per game. Did not make any difference in the end, we ended up winning 3-1. It most likely cost us two runs in the first inning though, assuming the inning would have gone the same way.
 
Jul 3, 2013
438
43
The home team scorer should be the official scorer if none is provided by TD. Umpire should have checked with that person. Coach could have protested at the time of the discrepancy.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
I had an umpire who lost track of the count a month or so ago. I called him on it at the time, but he insisted it was 2-2 (instead of 3-1, and trust me, there were no close pitches that I could've been confused on). Batter should've walked, eventually struck out, and after the inning I approached him about it. He got super confrontational, started yelling in my face, etc. He even said "The scoreboard even said it was 2-2." Turns out, they changed it AFTER he insisted on his wrong count. Then he used that in his argument. Real, real bad umpire all the way around.

He was by far the most unprofessional umpire I dealt with this year, and unfortunately it was a JV game and in Illinois we don't rate umps for those games.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
This has happened to us so many times. It's like, their main job. And they have a clicker to keep track. I always wonder how this happens so often. Maybe the umpires get better as the girls get older? I can hope?
 
Jun 4, 2014
159
28
In my experience, when there is an error in the count, it occurs after a wild pitch with a runner on third. That's where I see them forget to click a ball during all the activity. This happened to us over the weekend. If the other team won't be honest with everyone and confirm, there's really nothing you can do. In our case, we also had a field ump, but he admitted he simply was not keeping the count.
 
Jun 23, 2016
47
8
Guys, it happens. Sometimes, you click an extra ball or strike, or sometimes on a steal, you forget to click it. Every umpire from rec league to the pros has forgotten the count. Don't believe me?


Normally, if I think I've have cerebral flatulence, I'll just ask my partner for the count. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, your tournament decided to forgo a second official. On top of that, if you don't have an official scorekeeper, you're relying on teams keeping the book - teams that have a vested interest in seeing their batters get a base on balls, or seeing their defense strike out the other team. I'm not saying that you were wrong with the count, nor am I implying that you personally would cheat. I'm only saying that when we don't have a partner out there, we'll take your words with a grain of salt.

Push for getting a second umpire out there.
 
Last edited:
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Opposing coach in game the other day certainly thought the umpire lost track of count, how yelling at them would somehow get the correct count is beyond my understanding.

We were home team and our players are keeping score, I know they are not keeping track of balls and strikes. Are they supposed too?
 
Mar 13, 2010
960
0
Columbus, Ohio
Hey, it happens. In the typical game there are 200 pitches thrown and you just might forget to click off one of them, especially if a lot of other stuff happens to be going on (and there is always a lot of other stuff going on!).

If you make a mistake, try to correct it as best as you can. But first...try not to make a mistake! Had it happen to me last weekend- during my third straight game in 90+ degree weather, so mental fatigue can be a factor.

I tend to give the count more often than most umpires and am fairly loud about it. There was some sort of passed ball/steal/wild pitch scenario and after hustling out to cover the play, I guess that I forgot to click off a strike. So before the next pitch, I very CLEARLY AND LOUDLY, WHILE HOLDING UP THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF FINGERS announce the count as, "One ball, one strike", (should have been 1-2).

Nobody says a word. You would think that if the count's wrong somebody would be yelling at you, wouldn't they?

Next pitch comes in, I call strike, then get set for the next pitch. Now, five coaches in the dugout go BALLISTIC. Three of them come out onto the field and start arguing. I get them off the field, get the head coach, get him calmed down, then tell him there's no need to blow up, I'll check with my partner. I do, he has strike three, I correct it, and we move on.

When it comes to losing the count, there are two kinds of umpires: Ones who have lost the count and ones who are lying if they say they never have!
 
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
It's happened in the major leagues before. I've never witnessed an ump that didn't first go to their partner (in this case there was none) and then go to the home book.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
We had an umpire this weekend (he's our fave, his strike zone is absolutely perfect) who didn't call a strike when a girl went on a bunt. It wasn't even a close call, she did not pull back one bit. DH asked him about it between innings. He said, "I messed up. The next pitch was a ball no matter what." Really, we're all human. A little taking of responsibility goes a long way. "No worries, thanks blue." The end.
 

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