An ump walks into a bar....

[left turn]

Where was this tournament and what rules were they using?

NY State. I do not know the governing body for the rules. I understand the umpires also umpire high school softball. I know that's not much to go on, but that's all I have.

 

[SCDad]

That is certainly an interesting take on the events. As a part of the coaching staff we work with the players to exploit the weaknesses of the other team. One of the coaches used to call pitches. Now the catcher and pitcher work it out. We want them to be aware of the the batter's capabilities and we talk about hitting faults and how to exploit them. The catchers are doing a great job and are picking up on it. We are doing less and less in-game work with making the catcher aware of the batter's flaws.

The whole point of pitching is to exploit a batters flaws.

To me it's not much different than shifting the outfield or infield to be in a better position for a batter that pulls the ball or is late.

The catchers are becoming more game aware and are taking charge of the play. I am proud of their development and ability to absorb and deploy information in the stressed environment of a game.

We faced a team this weekend with big laminated, printed, arm bands. They kept yelling out numbers the whole game. And everyone looked at their arm bands.

Saw similar in the college world series (or some post high school game, not sure what). I think in this case the outfielders used them to determine exactly where to line up for each batter.

I guess this is where the game is moving to. Call me old school. I am not sure the games founders, and rules makers, had this intent when the game was formed.

Soon, an I-Phone will be standard uniform fare, complete with headphones, or secret hidden hearing aids/devices, so the whole team can hear secret coded messages to gain an advantage.

One day, I hope, the rules will move back toward the players themselves becoming more educated about the game. Let them play the game, and have the best team win, and not the team with the most advanced in-game technology.

 

[ms244]

We faced a team this weekend with big laminated, printed, wristbands. They kept yelling out numbers the whole game. And everyone looked at their wristbands.

We have a local team that does the same thing. Some of our parents got into the game and started yelling BINGO when the coach would call out 6-5-5, or 2-3-2 before each pitch. We thought it was funny at the time. After the game was over our players told our coaching staff that they figured out their system and was able to shift defensively before the batter received the pitch. They thought it was funny that a system that was meant to confuse the other team was easy to know when they were calling for a bunt, slap or a hit & run.

 

[Easton33]

That is the coach's fault. They are slide ins and he should switch them every couple of innings. Or confuse the number call. Like first and last, or middle two, maybe even have the same play listed 3 seperate time. Either way it is much more effective than signs.

 

[SCDad]

That is the coach's fault. They are slide ins and he should switch them every couple of innings. Or confuse the number call. Like first and last, or middle two, maybe even have the same play listed 3 seperate time. Either way it is much more effective than signs.

That is the spirit ... maybe I will invent a digital arm band so messages can be instantly downloaded between pitches.

Darn, I should have kept quiet. There goes my patent ... sigh.

 

[left turn]

We faced a team this weekend with big laminated, printed, arm bands. They kept yelling out numbers the whole game. And everyone looked at their arm bands.

Saw similar in the college world series (or some post high school game, not sure what). I think in this case the outfielders used them to determine exactly where to line up for each batter.

I guess this is where the game is moving to. Call me old school. I am not sure the games founders, and rules makers, had this intent when the game was formed.

Soon, an I-Phone will be standard uniform fare, complete with headphones, or secret hidden hearing aids/devices, so the whole team can hear secret coded messages to gain an advantage.

One day, I hope, the rules will move back toward the players themselves becoming more educated about the game. Let them play the game, and have the best team win, and not the team with the most advanced in-game technology.

SCDad, I must be missing something. It seems you are advocating that the coaches and players willfully disregard what is going on in the field and play a standard softball game without variation or nuance. I can't imagine that is your position, so I may have misinterpreted your statements.

Recognizing the weaknesses of the other team and exploiting them is part of the essence of softball if not all sports. For example, if a third baseman is playing back, we may drop down a bunt. If a batter is a pull hitter we will pull the outfielders over some. If the batter drops their hands during their swing, I may calmly say "hands" and the catcher will have the pitcher throw high in the zone. We teach the players to be self sufficient, but we still coach.

 

[Easton33]

That is the spirit ... maybe I will invent a digital arm band so messages can be instantly downloaded between pitches.

Darn, I should have kept quiet. There goes my patent ... sigh.

I am not advocating their use but the question is how exactly does this make it unfair or disadvantage the other team? Coach calls a play, arm band , verbal, or signs they are still executing the play called. Tell me how it is different, wrong, or unfair. Or is that the game is growing out of traditions that has you bent. I have seen entire teams except the pitcher wearing these and I have seen just the catcher.
Either you endorse their use or you are advocating for there to be no play calling. Digital or electronic help during a game is a different issue. This is a coach calling a play and the team looking at wristbands vs relying on their memory. The player could simply write it on their arms instead of the band. You can't logically make an arguement that sticks. Personally I don't like them either but there is no advantage.
Some people have even started using radar guns to tell the speed of a pitcher. This is unfair, back in the good old days it was the sound of the ball hitting the mitt that people used to determine speed. Now they are wanting to use pen and paper to write down plays and a piece of velcro to attach it to the wrist. Durn technology. What's next? Something besides wooden bats.....naw that want happen.
BTW have you seen the wristband Spurrier has on his GameCock QB?

 

[Umpire]

NY State. I do not know the governing body for the rules. I understand the umpires also umpire high school softball. I know that's not much to go on, but that's all I have.

The reason I ask is that in NYS, umpires are specifically trained to ask for help on a pulled foot before making the safe/out call. We encourage umpires to get the call right immediately, not after a coach goes ballistic and the umpires conference with each other. I understand that other groups choose to handle this differently, but in NYS, we prefer to get the call right initially.

 

[BaldNBeautiful]

We faced a team this weekend with big laminated, printed, arm bands. They kept yelling out numbers the whole game. And everyone looked at their arm bands.

Saw similar in the college world series (or some post high school game, not sure what). I think in this case the outfielders used them to determine exactly where to line up for each batter.

I guess this is where the game is moving to. Call me old school. I am not sure the games founders, and rules makers, had this intent when the game was formed.

Soon, an I-Phone will be standard uniform fare, complete with headphones, or secret hidden hearing aids/devices, so the whole team can hear secret coded messages to gain an advantage.

One day, I hope, the rules will move back toward the players themselves becoming more educated about the game. Let them play the game, and have the best team win, and not the team with the most advanced in-game technology.

I used wrist bands this year with my MS team, and it worked great.
Two main reasons that I went to it: a majority of the kids coming out of our youth league had NO IDEA what a sign was and keep our calls secure.

 

[left turn]

The reason I ask is that in NYS, umpires are specifically trained to ask for help on a pulled foot before making the safe/out call. We encourage umpires to get the call right immediately, not after a coach goes ballistic and the umpires conference with each other. I understand that other groups choose to handle this differently, but in NYS, we prefer to get the call right initially.

Umpire, as for this call, I think they did the right thing from a practical standpoint, The base ump did not have a good angle on the call but the plate ump could see the play unfolding from right to left. It was a very close call.