Crowhopping, Barnhill, and Confessions of an Umpire

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4 girl's dad

4 girl's dad

Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
jryan15 said:
Aside from the ethics of it all, what value do you place on these particular rules?
The value of these rule is what there intentions are when they were written. Trying to balance the level of pitching by limiting leaders and replanters from having an advantage. They felt this rule was so important that it carries teh weight of a called ball, and one base advancement for BR. That's heavy, and that means they DO NOT WANT LEAPERS AND REPLANTERS in the game.
To me it changes the way the game is played. If you feel like the balance of power between pitchers and hitters is important, and the balance of power between teams is important, then they should leave the rules as is and enforce them. These rules have been in place a long time but the lack of enforcement is new.


Do you have apprehension over where opening the rules will take the game?
Yes, because it will change the game. "The rule of unintentional consequences" comes to mind. Its unknown what will change. Dont change the rules, enforce the current rules.

Will it become so pitcher dominant that hitting compromises would have to follow?

Quite possibly. The best way to balance the pitcher/hitter battle is to work the zone size and to not allow IP's to happen.
Click to expand...

Personally I like hitting and having fielders work and make plays. I like a good strong pitcher working over the batters in all of the zones. Opening up the zone a little more and enforcing the foot work rules that are written, to me, would make the game better.


I understand we view this differently. I too was once on the hey lets just change the rule to eliminate IP and let them leap and replant like mens game. But again, to me, the idea of the rule is to even up the teams so the playing field is more balanced between teams.
 
C

cweb

Jul 17, 2012
48
0
My problem is most have singled out 2 or 3 kids when there are 20 kids in high level D1 illegal at some level and D2 and NAIA they are everywhere. I hear you before you say it RB, that doesnt make it legal or OK. That is fair. I still ask why doesnt the home teams coaches have the same pull as Florida when at home with the umpires? I believe the NCAA wants parity with offense and defense(pitching). The Umpires and NCAAs silence is loud and clear to me. The game is evolving and to me, there is only so much you can legally do to a ball to make it dance at 43 ft so anything they give back to the pitcher is just fine with me. Lastly, you can let every kid do what ever they want to do without doctoring the ball and you would still only have 1 kid this dominant. JMO
 
D

djcarter1966

Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
cweb said:
My problem is most have singled out 2 or 3 kids when there are 20 kids in high level D1 illegal at some level and D2 and NAIA they are everywhere. I hear you before you say it RB, that doesnt make it legal or OK. That is fair. I still ask why doesn't the home teams coaches have the same pull as Florida when at home with the umpires? I believe the NCAA wants parity with offense and defense(pitching). The Umpires and NCAAs silence is loud and clear to me. The game is evolving and to me, there is only so much you can legally do to a ball to make it dance at 43 ft so anything they give back to the pitcher is just fine with me. Lastly, you can let every kid do what ever they want to do without doctoring the ball and you would still only have 1 kid this dominant. JMO
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Umpires are usually grouped by conference so in this case it would be a SEC thing. I think what umpires do with the zone has a much bigger impact on the game it really was quite a few years ago a pitchers dream league two balls outside shin high was a strike the pendulum is starting to swing back but you can't have thigh high to belly button and no black being called either unless you want a HR fest.
 
C

cweb

Jul 17, 2012
48
0
8-9 ballgames are not fun to watch imo. The strategy of the game has evolved to wait for a belt high pitch and hammer it. Balls on the outer black getting pulled out of the park.. Come on man.
 
S

Swim Coach

Jun 28, 2014
171
0
Somewhere in Left Field
cweb said:
My problem is most have singled out 2 or 3 kids when there are 20 kids in high level D1 illegal at some level and D2 and NAIA they are everywhere. I hear you before you say it RB, that doesnt make it legal or OK. That is fair. I still ask why doesnt the home teams coaches have the same pull as Florida when at home with the umpires? I believe the NCAA wants parity with offense and defense(pitching). The Umpires and NCAAs silence is loud and clear to me. The game is evolving and to me, there is only so much you can legally do to a ball to make it dance at 43 ft so anything they give back to the pitcher is just fine with me. Lastly, you can let every kid do what ever they want to do without doctoring the ball and you would still only have 1 kid this dominant. JMO
Click to expand...

Just gonna say that might be because she gets to practice and pitch that way in game situations while the vast majority of the other pitchers can't afford to waste time in practice developing pitches and technique that's going to be called an IP on the first delivery.

A more interesting comparison would be what happened if she had to play by the same rules as the rest of the country. Would she be good? Most definitely. Would she be super-dominant like now? Well if she would, why would she be pitching like this in the first place? :confused:
 
knightsb

knightsb

Jun 18, 2010
2,623
38
Amanda discussing a crow hop/replant:

For a replant, a pitcher will actually drag for a little bit, her foot will come up in the air, replant, then drag back behind her.
Click to expand...


amanda_crow_hop_zps6kpxn7p0.gif



Amanda discussing what the pivot leg should do after the initial push for a legal pitch:

Be sure to notice, your drag should be smooth, one drag the whole way, toes down and there should not be a hitch in it.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
knuckleballer

knuckleballer

Mar 12, 2016
48
18
Left Coast
The way I see it, the issue is not if someone is breaking the existing rules (there will always be players who push the limits and beyond), but if the current pitching rules are too difficult for all umps to consistently enforce. DI umps are clearly skilled enough to call crow hops although they seem to choose not to. But my observation is the average 12U/14U/16U/HS ump does not have the eye to make sure the drag foot doesn't leave the plane of the field while making sure there is not a push off at any point during the drag. This is what leads to jryan15 points 1,2 & 6. Let's change the rules if it helps all umps make more consistent calls.
 
W

wheresmycar

May 16, 2016
946
93
Had an ump in 10u rec tell me my kid will never play college ball because she replants. I responded, "what? like Kelly Barnhill"? Feeling a bit of fatherly pride at the comparison. He was like, "well, I don't know who that is, but...." I stopped listening after that.
 
radness

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
wheresmycar said:
Had an ump in 10u rec tell me my kid will never play college ball because she replants. I responded, "what? like Kelly Barnhill"? Feeling a bit of fatherly pride at the comparison. He was like, "well, I don't know who that is, but...." I stopped listening after that.
Click to expand...
Great story!
 
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