i am a cather in high school. is there anything i need to know about gettign along with the umpire that will help me get in a good relaationship with him while i am behind he plate.
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fozz1988,
That's a good question, and yes, there are some un-written rules of catching that you can do to get along with the umpire. Prior to you taking your position behind the plate, remove your mask, and introduce yourself to the umpire. From that point on, NEVER look at the umpire. You may attempt to ask a question but never look at him. Looking at him gives the fans the impression that you and he are talking to each other. If you ask a question (without looking at him and with your mask on) and he doesn't respond, don't push it. If you miss a wild pitch or have a passed ball that happens to come close to him, apologize for your mistake. Trying to make a ball a strike will get you on the umpire's bad side in a hurry and will hurt you and your team in the long run. Some umpires resent a catcher's method of asking for an appeal on a check swing and push the fact that a catcher's request is just that, a request.
Bottom line, respect his authority and let him know that with your words and your actions.
Best of luck,
Fungo
That's a good question, and yes, there are some un-written rules of catching that you can do to get along with the umpire. Prior to you taking your position behind the plate, remove your mask, and introduce yourself to the umpire. From that point on, NEVER look at the umpire. You may attempt to ask a question but never look at him. Looking at him gives the fans the impression that you and he are talking to each other. If you ask a question (without looking at him and with your mask on) and he doesn't respond, don't push it. If you miss a wild pitch or have a passed ball that happens to come close to him, apologize for your mistake. Trying to make a ball a strike will get you on the umpire's bad side in a hurry and will hurt you and your team in the long run. Some umpires resent a catcher's method of asking for an appeal on a check swing and push the fact that a catcher's request is just that, a request.
Bottom line, respect his authority and let him know that with your words and your actions.
Best of luck,
Fungo
Asking for an appeal on a checked swing will not upset a good umpire. In fact, it's mandatory for the PU to honor it. It never bothered me.
As for turning your head, DON'T. That looks like you're showing him up, even if you ask a simple questiion or make a simple remark. As for talking to each other, I always talked to the catchers. I usually reminded them how to make a checked swing appeal, how to ask about a pitch location, etc. And when they asked for time, "Make sure I give it before doing anything. I'll check to make sure all action has stopped before I call time". "Do you know your main job"? "No". "Keep the old man from getting hit, and we'll be good friends".
And, WATCH WHERE YOU TOSS YOUR MASK!!!
As for turning your head, DON'T. That looks like you're showing him up, even if you ask a simple questiion or make a simple remark. As for talking to each other, I always talked to the catchers. I usually reminded them how to make a checked swing appeal, how to ask about a pitch location, etc. And when they asked for time, "Make sure I give it before doing anything. I'll check to make sure all action has stopped before I call time". "Do you know your main job"? "No". "Keep the old man from getting hit, and we'll be good friends".
And, WATCH WHERE YOU TOSS YOUR MASK!!!
It doesn't take very much to get along with me. Hustle in and out, know how many pitches you are allowed to take in warmups and send it down with out being reminded. Frame pitches but do not pull it.....no one ever had to pull a strike. So if your pulling pitches back into the zone, you and I both know its a ball.
Once your set up, try to stay as still as possible. This gives me a chance to set up correctly without being screened. I promise you this will get you strikes. On appeals I'm not too picky, just ask " can I get an appeal", and I'll go everytime.
You can call me "blue" or sir or Mr. Umpire, Im not one of those guys who thinks blue is derogatory. I know in higher baseball its common for Umpires to be addressed by their first names, but in my experience it is not in the best professional interest of the HS game by having players addressing umpires by their first names. It can appear to a visiting team of an umpire being a "homer"
Im an umpire, a father of a player and an ex-coach, so Im a fan of the game. I love hustle, chatter and enthusiasm. I like seeing baseball played with spirit. Over the years I have come in contact with many of our local college coaches and all of our area scouts for pro ball. Mostly I have spoken with them on questions on specific players, but I always leave them with names of players I think they should look at. Funny, a lot of them seem to be catchers.
Once your set up, try to stay as still as possible. This gives me a chance to set up correctly without being screened. I promise you this will get you strikes. On appeals I'm not too picky, just ask " can I get an appeal", and I'll go everytime.
You can call me "blue" or sir or Mr. Umpire, Im not one of those guys who thinks blue is derogatory. I know in higher baseball its common for Umpires to be addressed by their first names, but in my experience it is not in the best professional interest of the HS game by having players addressing umpires by their first names. It can appear to a visiting team of an umpire being a "homer"
Im an umpire, a father of a player and an ex-coach, so Im a fan of the game. I love hustle, chatter and enthusiasm. I like seeing baseball played with spirit. Over the years I have come in contact with many of our local college coaches and all of our area scouts for pro ball. Mostly I have spoken with them on questions on specific players, but I always leave them with names of players I think they should look at. Funny, a lot of them seem to be catchers.
Bluezbra and piaa_ump.
You both summed it up in a nutshell.
The two things I would like to re-iterate.
1. Frame your pitches and do not pull it in. I tell the catcher if you do not think it is a strike, then why should I think it is a strike.
2. Block the balls in the dirt. They always seem to hit a spot were we have no protection.
The only other thing I want to add is if the coach ask the catcher "Where was that pitch?" Be honest. It will go a long way.
You both summed it up in a nutshell.
The two things I would like to re-iterate.
1. Frame your pitches and do not pull it in. I tell the catcher if you do not think it is a strike, then why should I think it is a strike.
2. Block the balls in the dirt. They always seem to hit a spot were we have no protection.
The only other thing I want to add is if the coach ask the catcher "Where was that pitch?" Be honest. It will go a long way.
thanks alot for ur info.it helped me out alot
On check swing appeals, if you you've got a LH batter and the BU is in A, the BU can't tell if the batter went around or not, so there's no one to appeal to. You could point down to third, but there wouldn't be anyone there.