- May 29, 2015
- 3,830
- 113
While I am not a fan of adding anything to your plate meeting “speech”, @Comp ’s suggestion may be good if there is a transition period for teams to get used to this.
Let the coaches know that somebody needs to be warming the pitcher up if the catcher needs time to gear up. Stick to it.
I don’t necessarily watch the clock as long as the teams are moving on their own. What I do consistently is stand up the baseline and give an alert when it is almost time to go. Typically I am counting pitches, but I will keep an approximate time in my head If needed. When there are two pitches left (or my estimate of time for two pitches) I am raising two fingers to the pitcher and the on deck batters. Don’t forget to leave time for the throw down to second if they are going to do it. That’s not an additional amount of time.
On the bases, I am in RF doing the same routine in my head. When it is getting close (especially if my PU is not paying attention) I start to move to the fair side of the first base line.
As for calling it, I am pretty liberal with verbal “warnings.” If they are making an effort, I’ll work with it. If they aren’t, start awarding balls to the batter. I think I have only done that 2 or 3 times in my career.
Let the coaches know that somebody needs to be warming the pitcher up if the catcher needs time to gear up. Stick to it.
I don’t necessarily watch the clock as long as the teams are moving on their own. What I do consistently is stand up the baseline and give an alert when it is almost time to go. Typically I am counting pitches, but I will keep an approximate time in my head If needed. When there are two pitches left (or my estimate of time for two pitches) I am raising two fingers to the pitcher and the on deck batters. Don’t forget to leave time for the throw down to second if they are going to do it. That’s not an additional amount of time.
On the bases, I am in RF doing the same routine in my head. When it is getting close (especially if my PU is not paying attention) I start to move to the fair side of the first base line.
As for calling it, I am pretty liberal with verbal “warnings.” If they are making an effort, I’ll work with it. If they aren’t, start awarding balls to the batter. I think I have only done that 2 or 3 times in my career.