not sure where this goes

[softballcoach]

I was at a Semi Pro game tonight sitting behind the plate, the umpires (double header) kept giving the count but instead of giving it balls (their right hand) and strikes (their left hand) they were ginving it backwards (strikes right hand and balls left hand) is this normal? I'm used to seeing it balls right hand and strikes left hand.:wow:

[mstaylor]

Balls left/strikes right is the norm.

[jnazz]

balls left strikes right

[calablue]

Signal a strike with the right hand, show the strike count with the right hand.

[Rich Ives]

I was at a Semi Pro game tonight sitting behind the plate, the umpires (double header) kept giving the count but instead of giving it balls (their right hand) and strikes (their left hand) they were ginving it backwards (strikes right hand and balls left hand) is this normal? I'm used to seeing it balls right hand and strikes left hand.

I've NEVER seen strikes left - balls right. Where do you live that this is normal?

[MSPChris]

Well if he's sitting in the dugout, he would see balls on the right and strikes on the left.

Maybe someone could draw a picture to help our coach friend...

[Rich Ives]

Well if he's sitting in the dugout, he would see balls on the right and strikes on the left.

...

Nah - he said which hand was displaying what.

[catoblue]

Balls left, strikes right - the only guys I've ever seen do different are the same guys that give a closed right fist over their head for full count with the "full count" verbal. These are the same guys that are generally ball/strike, safe/out only umpires - anything that involves other rules, these guys take their interpretations from playground ball they played as kids (hands are part of the bat, automatic out on a BOO, one base on an overthrow, tie goes to the runner, a runner's base path is a straight line between bases, it's not HBP if the ball bounces fist, a foul tip is foul, etc.). NOT guys I wanted to see calling my games when I coached.

[softballcoach]

Maybe it looked different to me because I was directly behind him. I could have sworn I'd always seen balls with right hand and strikes with the left from the coaches box/dugout. Thanks for the response guys. Oh, and MSPChris, I don't need a drawing, but thanks for the offer.:)

[Mike Prince]

I worked this weekend with a partner that actually did this backwards. When he showed the count the balls were with his right hand and strikes were with the left. Fortunately he only did the third of our three games together so it wasn't a big issue. I guess the thought is that the coach/dugout will "see" the balls first as if they were reading words on a page. For what it's worth a 3-2 count was a closed fist with the "Full!" verbal. He also came to me between every inning (even when I was BU) to ask me if he got his close calls right...

I actually didn't notice the count thing until he lost the count one time and signaled me for it and then got it backwards. The 1B coach noticed it then and asked me what the deal was. For the rest of the game I echoed his signaled count silently and correctly to avoid any confusion.

[yawetag]

I had a partner at the local field who verbalized strikes first. At one point, the coach asked for the count; partner responded "1 and 3." You can imagine what happened after that.