Another appeal sitch

[blindumpire99]

Tip: Appeal to your partner when necessary, but do not rely on him to call your game for you.

This tip posted on the site reminded me of a sitch I had Tuesday night in the Fall HS League. A typical HTBT sitch..

In position A, pitch comes in, LH batter makes a halfhearted attempt at checking his swing and failed miserably--partner calls it a ball.

Everyone except the offense and the concession stand crew is asking/begging for an appeal of the swing..

Partner doesn't appeal...Even the 1st base coach looks at me:agasp_: and says very quietly, "Ho-leee (defecation)!":eek:

I say nothing nor imply anything

After the half inning is over, I see the HC and AC of the NOW offensive team talking to partner, presumably about the lack of appeal. As I come back to Position A the 1st base coach, tells me, "You know why he wouldn't appeal to you? 'Cause he says that you couldn't even see a check swing over here on the line on a lefthand batter!"

I said nothing but felt like I wanted to:wow::shakehead:

[widac]

perhaps this should have been covered in the pre-game?:shrug:

[BrianC14]

perhaps this should have been covered in the pre-game?

Ditto. No 'perhaps' about it, though. :HD:

[blindumpire99]

Covered in the pregame?? this was an experienced partner, widely respected, I had worked with him many times and we've always worked great together. We never need to signal coverages, because one always knows the other is going to be where he needs to be..We usually remind each other of IFF but that's pretty much it...This wasn't a t-ball game with one umpire and another Daddy ump drafted out of the stands..

It was his call not mine. his perogative to appeal or not and he chose not to. Would I have overruled the appeal? Sure, it was that obvious to me. NOT that I believe 90% of anything that comes out of any rat coach's mouth in a situation like this as to "why" partner didn't appeal in the first place..

No one pregames with every partner every game. Sometimes it's impossible if you have a partner that, for whatever reasons, arrives too close to game time, obviously there's not time. If you are working with the same partners (you pick a number) that you've worked with for ever or you work with several times a week, if you don't know what/where your partner is going to be or do by now something's wrong somewhere. If I, or if a partner has a special problem, i.e. something medical like "back is really sore today", ect, it always gets conveyed by me and if my partner is not initially able to get that same message to me, I can pick up on it and respond accordingly. Nothing wrong with a between innings pow-wow on the sidelines to pass any necessary info back and forth.

No need to even discuss the necessities of working with new partners -- you make time and I say to heck with what any game start time or league officials pushing you to get started so they can get out early, ect..

With 95% of the partners that I work with, little, if any pregame is usually even necessary.

[Dragon29]

blind,

While I understand and appreciate your feelings about a pre-game w/partners with whom you've worked a lot, I must respectfully disagree that '95% of the time' no pre-game is necessary.

I work with pretty much the same group of guys throughout the season but I still pre-game with them before every game. These pre-games are fairly quick and somewhat informal but each guy (incl. me) is a little bit different than the next guy and may have unique tendencies, so a quick reminder of that which you both already know is still a good idea. Also, if anything wasn't perfect in your last game together, pre-game is the perfect time to go over it (again - hopefully, you covered it in post-game the game before)

Granted, you don't need to be as in-depth as you would be w/a brand-new partner, but some coversation is always warranted.

Just my :shrug:

[BrianC14]

blind,

While I understand and appreciate your feelings about a pre-game w/partners with whom you've worked a lot, I must respectfully disagree that '95% of the time' no pre-game is necessary.

I work with pretty much the same group of guys throughout the season but I still pre-game with them before every game. These pre-games are fairly quick and somewhat informal but each guy (incl. me) is a little bit different than the next guy and may have unique tendencies, so a quick reminder of that which you both already know is still a good idea. Also, if anything wasn't perfect in your last game together, pre-game is the perfect time to go over it (again - hopefully, you covered it in post-game the game before)

Granted, you don't need to be as in-depth as you would be w/a brand-new partner, but some coversation is always warranted.

Just my

Now you've got $0.04, because I'm adding my - your post is right on the mark.

Blind: This very situation is precisely the reason that a pre-game is ALWAYS necessary, because you simply never know what might happen.

True - it's your partner's decision to appeal or not. Clearly, he should have, and maybe he even WOULD HAVE had you guys discussed this in a pregame.

[widac]

Covered in the pregame?? this was an experienced partner, widely respected, I had worked with him many times and we've always worked great together. We never need to signal coverages, because one always knows the other is going to be where he needs to be..We usually remind each other of IFF but that's pretty much it...This wasn't a t-ball game with one umpire and another Daddy ump drafted out of the stands..

It was his call not mine. his perogative to appeal or not and he chose not to. Would I have overruled the appeal? Sure, it was that obvious to me. NOT that I believe 90% of anything that comes out of any rat coach's mouth in a situation like this as to "why" partner didn't appeal in the first place..

No one pregames with every partner every game. Sometimes it's impossible if you have a partner that, for whatever reasons, arrives too close to game time, obviously there's not time. If you are working with the same partners (you pick a number) that you've worked with for ever or you work with several times a week, if you don't know what/where your partner is going to be or do by now something's wrong somewhere. If I, or if a partner has a special problem, i.e. something medical like "back is really sore today", ect, it always gets conveyed by me and if my partner is not initially able to get that same message to me, I can pick up on it and respond accordingly. Nothing wrong with a between innings pow-wow on the sidelines to pass any necessary info back and forth.

No need to even discuss the necessities of working with new partners -- you make time and I say to heck with what any game start time or league officials pushing you to get started so they can get out early, ect..

With 95% of the partners that I work with, little, if any pregame is usually even necessary.

You seem to be burning a lot of calories telling us why you don't need a pregame when the sitch you described is something that should be discussed at pregame. All I ever say is:

"feel free to come to me no matter what position I'm in and I'll give you what I got"

or:

"I will come to you no matter position you're in, just give me what you got", simple as that. :shrug:

[BrianC14]

You seem to be burning a lot of calories telling us why you don't need a pregame when the sitch you described is something that should be discussed at pregame. All I ever say is:

"feel free to come to me no matter what position I'm in and I'll give you what I got"

or:

"I will come to you no matter position you're in, just give me what you got", simple as that.

Ding ding! Ding ding! No, you :)

[Dragon29]

You seem to be burning a lot of calories telling us why you don't need a pregame when the sitch you described is something that should be discussed at pregame. All I ever say is:

"feel free to come to me no matter what position I'm in and I'll give you what I got"

or:

"I will come to you no matter position you're in, just give me what you got", simple as that.

Bingo! We have a winner!:HD:

[widac]

Hey I am a double winner and already drinking a beer so it's all good!:shrug:

[arbiter22]

By not checking your partner is picking a battle that doesn't need to get started (yes I know there are situations that come up where a point needs to be made but the are few and far between). Just ask, if your partner says "no" then hey you were probably right. If he says the batter swung well then you got another strike and your that much closer to being done for the day.

During my summer season I'm on one crew so we don't do much pregame after a series or two unless there is some history between the two teams. We post-game a lot. I think if your totally honest with yourselves and each other post-games can make you a much better umpire.

Now when I'm at home working high school and college I like to do a pre-game just to make sure we're on the same page and really doesn't take that long and most do so while they are changing. Think about it even if your partner is running late he still has to put his uniform on. That's 10 minutes right there. When the game is over I like to get as much info from my partners as I can so.

[Don]

Does not matter if covered in pregame. If an OBR rule game if defense asks for appeal then you must go to partner to see. If he has nothing then so be it. Not an option to say he can't tell so you will not ask.

Personally, I am automatic and will say so for pregame, and regardless of rule set, if they ask I go to partner.

[Dragon29]

Don - I agree w/one exception.

If they're asking 'too much', I'll start refusing some of their requests. 'Too much' is defined by game situation - I've only done this once, but they got the idea and stopped the incessant requests.

[Don]

Don - I agree w/one exception.

If they're asking 'too much', I'll start refusing some of their requests. 'Too much' is defined by game situation - I've only done this once, but they got the idea and stopped the incessant requests.

Well, in OBR by rule you have to ask your partner if they ask. In FeD you can refuse. If they are asking too much I will ask the catcher to stop that, or I might play a little game with them till they get the point and hush.:nod: