Strike two, you're out?

[The Man In Blue]

MTR, Comp and MIB have all answered this question. No one misses my strike calls, and I'd bet that no one misses there's either.

Heck, I miss them all them all the time according to coaches.

 

[WVSteven]

Like I said, “Recommended? No. Technically correct? Yes.”

I highly doubt the umpire in this scenario applied the rules I cited though. I also highly doubt it was some vindictive effort against children on his part. I’m betting he incorrectly applied abandonment.

Comments like yours sadden me CoachJD. Not to say thee aren’t @holes out there, but the fact that your mind immediately thinks this is some vast one-man conspiracy because he was stood up at prom by the coolest girl in school as part of a prank, so he is going to destroy children’s lives via umpiring! MOOOHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh, sorry. Sounds like I have been giving that a little too much thought for too long.

Personally, yes, I am bringing the batter back to the plate. What was up with the coach not slang something?

Yes, it was misapplication of abandonment

 

[The Man In Blue]

You are absolutely correct, it was the wrong ruling. A little self-disclosure, I was on the bases that game I believe. Field 1?

I had 1-2 on my indicator, when the little, and she's pretty petite, player ran to the dugout I indicated to my partner I had 1-2. She went to the dugout about the same time and he held up the hammer. I assumed he meant that was strike 3. Her dugout did not, to my knowledge, argue anything. My thought was that I missed a pitch or missed his first call. Between innings I told him that I must have missed a pitch and he informed me that it was 2 strikes and she was out for leaving the field. I mentioned he messed that one up but it was too late to fix it. In retrospect maybe I should have pursued an answer more vehemently but I've worked with the guy before and he's done a good job. I trusted him and that's the first time I had an issue with him. We talked ab out it after the game and I don't think that he will make the same call in the future. Sometimes we mess things up. IF someone had asked for an explanation before the next pitch we could have rectified and put her back in the box with her 1-2 count.

All I can do is apologize, that was a missed call, don't let that happen to your girls again.

Love it! The fact that you were there and provided a fantastic and honest explanation ... love it.

I’ve been there before ... count on my indicator doesn’t match up with what just happened and I’ve had the same thought: I missed a pitch.

Odd question though ... did your partner give the count at any point before that? (I guess I wouldn’t have, as I usually don’t give it before the third pitch UNLESS I notice the scoreboard is wrong.)

 

[WVSteven]

No scoreboard and I do not remember him giving the pitch count indication.

 

[testandor]

Heck, I miss them all them all the time according to coaches.

I should have said - and meant - that no one misses hearing my strike calls, and I'd bet they don't miss hearing the strike calls of any of the other umps here either.

 

[mmeece]

This is only slightly off the subject so I'll go ahead and ask. Why not give the count between every pitch? It drives me crazy in some games when you have an umpire who is both quiet and doesn't show a count. Even if your strike calls are clear, why not give a count between each pitch? I realize it must not be taught, I just don't understand why.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Pace/tempo of the game? Not wanting to call attention to yourself every pitch (it’s not about you Blue!)? No real need to do that? Not exactly sure ... but I was taught not to.

Typically, I will not give the count until the third pitch (1-2, 2-1, or 3-0). Then I give it again when/if we reach a 3-2 count. Beyond that, I will only give it when there has been an “interruption” in the tempo such as a passed ball with a stolen base or a bunch of foul balls in a row.

Exception: if I see the scoreboard is wrong I will give the count until it is correct.

Embarrassing exception: if I don’t give the count in one of those situations, it’s because I lost the count and I’m going to give it a pitch before I ask my partner.

I’ll agree mmeece ... quiet and not showing a count drive me up a wall too. If I can’t tell what my partner is doing, how will anybody else?

 

[slagothar]

You are absolutely correct, it was the wrong ruling. A little self-disclosure, I was on the bases that game I believe. Field 1?

I had 1-2 on my indicator, when the little, and she's pretty petite, player ran to the dugout I indicated to my partner I had 1-2. She went to the dugout about the same time and he held up the hammer. I assumed he meant that was strike 3. Her dugout did not, to my knowledge, argue anything. My thought was that I missed a pitch or missed his first call. Between innings I told him that I must have missed a pitch and he informed me that it was 2 strikes and she was out for leaving the field. I mentioned he messed that one up but it was too late to fix it. In retrospect maybe I should have pursued an answer more vehemently but I've worked with the guy before and he's done a good job. I trusted him and that's the first time I had an issue with him. We talked ab out it after the game and I don't think that he will make the same call in the future. Sometimes we mess things up. IF someone had asked for an explanation before the next pitch we could have rectified and put her back in the box with her 1-2 count.

All I can do is apologize, that was a missed call, don't let that happen to your girls again.

Ha! It was indeed on Field 1 (3:55 game), and it was the tiniest girl on the team

Fortunately, the call in no way affected the game outcome. As a coach, I am always interested in understanding these unique plays (not sure I would have had the confidence in the rules to push back if I had been in the dugout vs. being just a regular parent, as my daughter was subbing).

The umps did a great job at this tournament - even if I didn't agree with all the ball / strike calls, but then again, my daughter is a pitcher....

 

[CoachJD]

Comments like yours sadden me CoachJD. Not to say thee aren’t @holes out there, but the fact that your mind immediately thinks this is some vast one-man conspiracy because he was stood up at prom by the coolest girl in school as part of a prank, so he is going to destroy children’s lives via umpiring! MOOOHAHAHAHAHAHA!

We get a lot of bad umpire stories here because posts that say "Our umps today were fine. Maybe a ball or strike I didn't like, but they knew all the rules and generally had agreeable personalities" are kind of boring. But I think most of us have that experience way, way more often.

But we all can think of the one-man power trip umpires. Heck, I had an umpire just stop umping a high school game in the second inning this year because the score was lopsided. He just ended the game and left. Actually, he tried to end it when it went to 15-0 (I was trying out new pitchers and it wasn't going great!) without saying anything. I said we should play 4 innings (3.5 since we were the visiting team) since that's what the rules are. So he pouted and literally wouldn't call a strike for 3 straight batters (I promise you a few of them were strikes, but he was trying to get us to quit) before just quitting.

I won't guess why this man had to prove some kind of point, but he did. But that's also nowhere near the typical experience, so I hope I didn't give the impression that all, or even most, umpires are like that. But they are out there. We've all seen them. #UmpShow is a thing for a reason.

 

[The Man In Blue]

The best umpired games are the ones where nobody remembers you were even there.