CATCHERS, what do you do with umps

My advice would be to #1, before anything else - PROTECT HIM!

It nevers hurts to build a good repore with umps by hustling, being consistent in your work behind the dish and not trying to trick him on close pitches by jerking them into the zone. Be respectful and help him do his job and you and your pitcher will benefit from it.

One thing I strongly disagree with is "not jerking the ball to confuse the ump"

Your job as a catcher is to get strikes called for your pitcher,if you can get a borderline call then good for you.

We had a game today.All I do is go about my business,occasionally speaking to the umpire.Or If I disagree Ill ask him a question or have him check with the other ump and if he the call doesnt change I usually just say "hey its your call blue Im just checking" or "ok just checking"

The way I go about it is you want them to like you but forget your game right after,chances are if an ump remembers you its not a good thing!!!

thanks guys. im a fresh this year, so we will be getting games that are outside of our community, so this oughta help

since when is framing a pitch offensive?

It is ok to frame a close pitch, but it's going a little overboard if the pitch is clearly a ball. I don't know if that's what others were referring to, but that's just my opinion.

I mean ofcourse if a pitch is clearly a ball dont frame it.Not only is it decieving to the umps but you are wasting time and chances are you wont get alot of borderline calls the rest of the way.

But if you cant get a borderline pitch called more power to you,thats your job as a catcher

Obviosly you can frame a pitch but pulling your glove over the plate from a ball 8 inches outside or inside is a bit disrespectuful.

Ha, this is pretty weird. today we played a game- our first, away (a long ways a way too) and guess what. the ump was my 7th grade math teacher! baseball is getting weird, man...

Guys....I hope you dont mind a little input here....

For myself, as far as pitches are concerned there are 2 methods....Framing and Pulling....

Framing is the act of holding a pitch or using your glove postition to give the umpire a good look at a pitch. I absolutely do not have a problem with a catcher framing a pitch....That is doing your job.

Pulling is the pulling of a pitch from where you caught it to a location you feel is inside the strike zone....If you pull a pitch you are telling the umpire that that pitch was a ball....You are costing your pitchers strikes by doing this. I will not call a pulled pitch a strike....If you continue to do this you will not have a good relationship with your umpire...If I have a catcher who pulls, I automatically think I have a rookie behind the plate.....

Most youth catchers are taught this technique and it very well may get you strikes in the youth leagues...but in HS and above baseball it is not well received by Umpires.....It may fool some of the more inexperienced Umpires, but us NFHS and NCAA/NAIA guys will not go for it and it will cost you borderline strikes.....

Ok, so now on to some tips, to help you along with umpires...

Hustle on...hustle off...

Know how many pitches you are allowed to take in warm-ups...(8 for a new pitcher, 5 for in game pitchers)

Throw it down without being told.

Catch the ball....cant stress this enough, my job is to track the ball to your glove, if you are letting me get plunked it is difficult for me to do my job.....

Stay down, stay steady....if you are swaying back and forth or raising up, you are cutting down my field of view......

Be personable...you dont have to be friendly, but we do have to work together...you show them to me good, we will get strikes.....

Remember that the ball you want called a strike when you are catching is also the ball that I will call a strike when you are hitting...so if you want that outside pitch called for strike 3 dont be suprized when that pitch is also a strike when you are at bat.. My zone is consistent for both teams.

As an old catcher I have a respect for the jobs you all do. If I can be of any assistance to you guys, please let me know.....Hope this helps.....

thank you, piaa, that is all going to help me a lot

I was just about to state that Piaa ump. Framing is sticking the ball, not moving the glove after you catch it!

Im a catcher good topic keep it goin.

Our team lost to a school down here in Texas that is always in the playoffs, good tradition, and they host a tourney ever year and umps work it for free, for charity or something.

In the game we got NO calls, ump rings me up in second AB (clearly a ball). Next ab a hit a double on a pitch right down the middle. The ump tells me when i go on to the field that the pitch i hit was in the same place the one he called me out was.

How does an ump do that, HEY I HIT THE BALL I KNOW WHERE IT WAS. Is the ump just blind or dumb. Im gonna right a complant on him PATHETIC

Most of the times i will say hi and ask how the umpire is doing during the first inning warmups and kinda feel out if he is someone i can talk to or someone that is just there to do business. The other day the umpire behind the plate was a nice guy and said a couple jokes so as the game went by i would talk more and more when the time was appopriate. In the later innings a guy leaned into a curveball and got hit and i told the umpire he leaned into it. he said he didnt and i was like oh man yes he did and then i laughed. he i did all this without "showing" him up and we went back to normal behind the plate. If you can build a small relationship during the game i feel that it can help you out later.