On Deck Batter Calling Pitch/Location

Off the top of my head I have no rule but it isn't very sporting. Of course many times a catcher will shift at the last second or the pitcher just won't hit his mark. Either way now he has the batter looking at a spot and it comes somewhere else.

MST, The only HS rule that I think could possibly apply would be 3-3-1g-4....

which says that:

"no person connected with either team shall exhibit behavior inconsistent with the spirit of fair play"

also in FED ball we have the statement calling for the UIC to emphasize good sportsmanship throughout the game.

Now to the application........clearly this umpire felt that the calling out of location was unsportsmanlike..........and under FED rules he is within his rights to stop it as he interprets the rule.....Many umpires may not feel the same way....but the rule gives us the right to interpret it.

To me.., I agree with MST... this is not very good sporting behavior...so.......in a 12-u game........tell them to swing the bat.....calling out locations is more likely to confuse the batter than help him....

Understand that this type of behavior in higher baseball often will be dealt with on field....... Bat waving/pitch location/type calling disappears from the game in higher levels......

very bush, and is usually self-correcting. at any higher level

a. its not done

b. the OD batter would have a fastball in his earhole as soon as he dug in.

Back in the day you never would have even thought of doing this. Why would they today?

quote:

Originally posted by LonBlue67:
very bush, and is usually self-correcting. at any higher level

a. its not done

b. the OD batter would have a fastball in his earhole as soon as he dug in.

I echo this sentiments, with only one exception. Not all pitchers would wait until the on deck hitter got to the plate, and I probably couldn't blame them.

I agree, bush and not very sporty. Seriously, how much can this really help a batter, especially at the 12U level?

I teach my 12U players to pitch to a location but about 8 times out of 10 they miss their spots.

See the ball, hit the ball.

Think about the timing. A 12-U pitcher releases the ball, OD sees where pitch is going, yells to batter, batter hears and tries to adjust,but the catcher has already caught the ball and is throwing it back to pitcher...Just not enough time to make a diff, but is unsporting...

In higher levels of play, stealing pitches is just as common as in youth baseball, it's just very well concealed. But greater emphasis is spent on seeing if pitchers tip their pitches as signals are better disguised.

The only problem with pitcher retaliation is the chance of the P and Coach getting tossed.
In a 12U game against the EC Tigers in 2006, they were still stealing with an 18 - 1 lead and our Coach, who was calling pitches; got tossed for giving the catcher his one fingered sign for a purpose pitch.