Silence is Golden - NOT

[LMSANS]

I'm working the plate in a college summer game. It's the 9th inning, the home team just took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 8th. No runners. 1-0 count.

Pitch comes right down the middle, batter starts to swing, stops, but makes contact, right to the catcher. What did I do? Just signal strike. My partner asked me about it later, he said if I had asked he would have said no swing.

I didn't point that he went (which I thought he did).

I didn't signal foul tip (which he did)

I didn't verbalize anything.

Thankfully, no one noticed except my partner. I got away with one there.

[Umpire in Chief]

With no runners whats the difference in signaling the foul tip.

But even so there seems to be a no harm no-foul situation. Especially with the pitch being right down the middle. So you got away with one and move on.

[SanDiegoSteve]

With no runners whats the difference in signaling the foul tip.

But even so there seems to be a no harm no-foul situation. Especially with the pitch being right down the middle. So you got away with one and move on.

The difference is that it was a foul tip. With a foul tip, you need to signal foul tip. You don't want to make a called strike, since it's a foul tip. You don't point as you would on a failed checked-swing attempt either. The point is specifically reserved to indicate that the batter went around and made no contact. You don't want to just give it a routine swinging strike signal. The foul tip signal supersedes the called strike and the point. By not signaling foul tip, you open it up for the manager to question you. "Was it on the pitch?" or "Are you saying he went around?" is what you'll hear if you get in the habit of not giving the foul tip signal when it's a foul tip.

[HokieUmp]

Pitch comes right down the middle, batter starts to swing, stops, but makes contact, right to the catcher. What did I do? Just signal strike. My partner asked me about it later, he said if I had asked he would have said no swing.

I didn't point that he went (which I thought he did).

Maybe I'm not reading this right, but I'm a little confused. The batter makes contact with the ball, right? So why would your partner have said "no swing" if asked? And why would anyone ask? Or were just mentioning that as part of the detail of what happened?

Sorry if I'm being dense.

[LMSANS]

Maybe I'm not reading this right, but I'm a little confused. The batter makes contact with the ball, right? So why would your partner have said "no swing" if asked? And why would anyone ask? Or were just mentioning that as part of the detail of what happened?

Sorry if I'm being dense.

Just trying to get the details in, but the "swing" was barely enough to get in the zone. The contact was barely noticeable. If anybody had asked, I would probably have thought to give the foul tip signal.

[Umpire in Chief]

The difference is that it was a foul tip. With a foul tip, you need to signal foul tip. You don't want to make a called strike, since it's a foul tip. You don't point as you would on a failed checked-swing attempt either. The point is specifically reserved to indicate that the batter went around and made no contact. You don't want to just give it a routine swinging strike signal. The foul tip signal supersedes the called strike and the point. By not signaling foul tip, you open it up for the manager to question you. "Was it on the pitch?" or "Are you saying he went around?" is what you'll hear if you get in the habit of not giving the foul tip signal when it's a foul tip.

Great point, I stand corrected. And in the OP the foul tip mechanic would clear up the ambiguity because in this situation apparently only the batter, catcher and umpire knew the bat made contact.

[BigUmp56]

I've always believed that properly seeing a foul tip and then signaling it is a testament to great timing on the dish. It shows that as an umpire you're disciplined to slow things down and gather all the evidence needed to make the appropriate call. That, and all that stuff Steve said too.............

Tim.