Relationship with Catcher

Speaking strictly as a pitcher...anything helps.

Golfman and JH;

If the umpire is short, the catcher should "pop up" too quick. This can block the umpires view on the low strikes. Please read the book "9 innings". It describes the best catchers and their methods of "pulling" pitches.

What make of catchers mitt does your son use? If it is a Easton he maybe a "one hand" catcher.

Bob

International Baseball

1,  DON'T PULL PITCHES!  We are trained to track a 3" baseball moving at 90+ mph all the way to the mitt.  Do you think we can see a 12" mitt moving at 2mph?  So can everyone else.  If you pull the pitch and we call it a strike, it looks like you fooled us.  Can't have that!  If you want strikes (and believe me - we want to call them), stick the borderline pitches.  Hold it there for us to see it.  You are telling us you thought it was a strike, and that's fine.  But if you don't get the call, throw it back to the pitcher.  Don't hold it there after it has been called a ball.

2.  Smother everything in the dirt with your body.  We love catchers who smother the ball, especially with nobody on.  It gives us confidence in you.  We know we can stay locked and concentrate on that pitch if you are a wall back there.  The better we can concentrate on the pitch, the more strikes you will get.

3.  Don't pull pitches.

4.  If we get nicked (and it happens even with the best "walls" in front of us), ask for time and go talk to the pitcher.  We will gladly do the same for you.  If we don't want the time, we'll call you back and thank you for the gesture.

5.  Give us the best look at the pitch you can without compromising your ability to do your job.  Stay as low as you can.  It is really annoying when a catcher, anticipating a steal, is almost standing up to receive the pitch and blocking the inside part of the plate at the same time.  It is very difficult to see the inside pitch when you do that.  If we can't see the pitch, it is less likely to be called a strike.

6.  Don't pull pitches.  Pulling pitches has nothing to do with framing.

7.  Make the low pitch look like a strike.  Catch it as far out in front of you as you can with the thumb down.  Otherwise, you will make it look like a ball.

8.  Don't turn around when you don't get a strike.  We'll tell you where it missed if you can't figure it out (although it usually should be obvious).  "A little low blue?" is far better than "Where was that?"

9.  If it's an obvious ball (like when you set up 2 feet outside and the pitcher hits the mitt), don't stick it.  Say "good miss" and throw it back to the pitcher.  Let's be reasonable here.

10.  If your coach asks where the pitch was, don't ever say "It was a strike" or "I don't know."  We understand that not all coaches will be receptive to this, but if you can give him a quick answer like "down" or "out" it is appreciated, even if the coach was asking us.  If not, don't say anything.  We know how to shut down coaches who constantly beg for pitches.

11.  If your pitcher is a mental case who gets visibly upset if he doesn't get a call, go talk to him and tell him he is not helping his cause by flapping his arms like Big Bird out there.

12.  In case I forgot to mention it, DON'T PULL PITCHES!!!

Thanks for asking.

I think there's some great advice here already! I think sometimes the best relationship a catcher can have with an umpire is one that nobody knows even exists... For example, talking while facing away. Nobody has to even see the communication taking place and it's quiet enough that nobody hears it!

We had signals that we would give to our coach. We weren't worried about the umpire seeing that we thought he missed it because it was done in a way that the spectators didn't know we thought he missed it. As a catcher, you can disagree with the umpire; you just can't tell the whole world that you disagree!

I saw a kid do this masterfully once, and I've ever since been a believer in it.   It was one of those quiet lawn-chair games where we sat right behind the backstop, and this catcher starts it during the first inning warm-up pitches, when the umpire got down in the slot to watch a few.   The oppo catcher starts asking little 3-word questions, always facing forward like Bulldog mentioned.  By the second inning, they're acting like the pitcher is some kind of project they're working on together.   It seemed like the umpire drew him a sketch of where he likes to see off-the-plate "strikes", and of course our coach/pitcher/catcher were never let in on the secret.

By the sixth inning, I swear we were playing against this kid and his umpire, who were both trying to figure out how to get their pitcher through it.  

Sooo frustrating, but I had to admire it.

After my first college series of the year, I have another suggestion for catchers:  Keep some Gas-X handy.

I'm new to college ball. Our catcher looks like he has terrets or something. After taking my son out to dinner on Saturday, he gave us some of the catcher to coach signs. Watching on Sunday, we had a whole new perspective on the coach to catcher experience.

Catchers are like mine workers. They do a lot of really hard work but are totally unappreciated.

Now I'll have the added labor of knowing when my son misses location...

The great game within the game!

Bob

As a parent, I have really enjoyed watching my son develop in his relationships with the umps. There are several he knows by name, and vice versa. He really enjoys that part of the game.

IMHO, the catcher's you "make it" are the ones who can't just catch the ball and hit, but can do all the other stuff, (relationship with pitchers, umpire, pitching coach, call defenses, pyschologist for pitchers, ability to think through 100 things at a time). There is a lot of other stuff...

Protecting the umpire from stray 95 mph fastballs on curve ball calls is a bonus.

A catcher working with an umpire is a good thing, especially if he is good at it. As Dash said, don't pull pitches, it just makes your pitcher work harder than he needs to. It's really frustrating when he is pulling borderline strikes, he is just taking pitches away from the pitcher. I like to talk to my catchers but some don't like it, I can roll with what works for him. His ability to block and stick pitches directly affect the consistency of the zone.