Stay in the slot kids .......

[Thunderheads]

Perfect example of why you stay in the slot .........

http://m.mlb.com/video/v669186083/?query=umpire

 

[kstrunk]

Amen, and AMEN! I'm relatively young as an umpire, but with enough experience to be able to whole-heartedly concur; but I know these guys are aces, they're in the bigs, and I'm not, so there must be a reason I see SOOOO many lining up with their face centered on the point of the plate (though this one wasn't that severely dead center). 

Worse yet, I see alot of guys in my circles lined up in the slot when the catcher is center of the plate, but as soon as the catcher moves out, the PU will take his place, point of the plate!!! Kill zone right?!!! 

Safety aside, obviously the view is better, but doesn't this moving also jeopardize consistency? Don't we want to see the ball as close to the same way every pitch as we can? 

[udbrky]

Saw this a couple weeks ago when this story broke, but was amazed at the umpire position here - http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/report-jason-groome-suspended-for-transfer-rules/#QoiUHlT7S55SqXPD.97

[Shooter3]

He is in the slot, the catcher slides over and he has to sit up higher to see the zone. Just a case of bad luck and being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Hope he recovers quickly. 

[Stk004]

15 minutes ago, Shooter3 said:

He is in the slot, the catcher slides over and he has to sit up higher to see the zone. Just a case of bad luck and being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Hope he recovers quickly. 

I would agree with that except when I watched it again he doesn't shift at all with the catcher. IMO he was going to set up there regardless of where F2 set up. 

[ALStripes17]

He is in the slot, the catcher slides over and he has to sit up higher to see the zone. Just a case of bad luck and being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Hope he recovers quickly. 

When you are over F2's shoulder opposite the batter, that's bad. I don't care how far they set up inside.

Yes you can go up above the head of F2 when you're pinched, but you stay away from that outside shoulder at all costs. This is a good video to show young umpires as a learning tool.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[grayhawk]

His chin is right on the inside corner where it's supposed to be.  Just a bad luck shot, if you ask me.

 

[Stk004]

4 minutes ago, grayhawk said:

His chin is right on the inside corner where it's supposed to be.  Just a bad luck shot, if you ask me.

 

This is a good point 

[Lindsay]

A dilemma I'm sure we've all encountered is the desire for a consistent view: the same head height, angle, and orientation for each pitch for every RHH and another consistent look for every LHH. This obviously gives us the same relative distance to the outer edge of home plate while keeping us directly over the inside corner, as the image above illustrates.

On the other hand, we have a catcher who, for obvious reasons, doesn't need a consistent view for himself, so he moves around each pitch, which can throw us off too as we get exposed or protected, variable for each pitch.

It's a balancing act, surely.

[Jimurray]

3 hours ago, grayhawk said:

His chin is right on the inside corner where it's supposed to be.  Just a bad luck shot, if you ask me.

 

I agree. What comes to mind is the superslot but when I've had occasion to test it I got the call right but it is really uncomfortable not tracking the ball. I'm going up like he did.

[BalkHawk]

If you think this was just bad luck, you will likely have a spot of bad luck yourself. 

Here's the balancing act: keep self-preservation your perpetual and exclusive priority and you won't wear 90mph in the face and get dizzy. 

Since I'm not an MLB umpire, I need to get set sooner than they do, especially when I'm getting squeezed. I try to go over the catcher's head first, (never on his outside shoulder, even if he's moving late) then move to a knee and get in where I fit in if that's all they're giving me.