Doug Harvey's Advice

[bluejerred]

I'm reading Doug Harvey's biography, "They called me God".  In his book, he gives advice on where to position yourself when working the plate.   Here is an excerpt from his book: 

 

I’ve backed umpires up as many as fifteen feet back and to the left or right to get them to see that what I’m saying is true. Usually I asked them to step three steps back and three steps to the right for a righty batter and three steps to the left for a lefty batter.  The young umpires think I’m crazy, but after the first pitch they’re aware they can see the entire strike zone perfectly.

I also tell my students to stand with the right leg behind the left. That way, if the ball hits you in the mask, it knocks you back and the back leg softens the blow. I have recommended this ever since I saw Eric Gregg, who weighed more than three hundred pounds, take a foul ball on his chin. His feet were side by side, and when the ball hit him, he toppled over on his back like a big oak tree. I wouldn’t want that to happen to anyone.

Was wondering what you all thought. Many thanks! 

[wolfe_man]

My thoughts: 

1. Times have changed. 
2. We're taught to get up close on the catcher, in his hip pocket.
3. We don't do scissors anymore, we're in the slot with heel-to-toe alignment.  The old way was proven to offer more strain on your neck, especially on impact.  The slot is considered one of the safest places to be - and the heel-to-toe positioning is considered to be one of the best ways to take an impact to the mask or body and prevent injury.
4. The strike zone was not graded near as much as it is today.  Meaning no offense to the older umpires who were acceptable or great in their day, but this is a different game today.  Velocity and movement on the ball is up - and now there are a lot of tools grading an umpire's performance.  They can't just judge where it's caught and if it looked close, then grab it for a strike.  The modern umpire must score in the proper percentile to even be considered an acceptable umpire today.  I'd love to see one of the older umpires make a come back and try to umpire in today's game, I'd honestly find it interesting to see how well they'd score.  The game is a different beast today and the umpiring craft is constantly changing. We either keep up and change with it... or we die (lose relevance).  Sure, there are universal truths in umpiring, but many are evolving today.

PS - Meaning no disrespect to Mr Harvey.  He was a great umpire in his day and no one can take that from him now.  But much like Babe Ruth or another great superstar from a different era, his game might not transfer so well in the game today.  I can still respect and appreciate all he did in his time though.

[SeeingEyeDog]

@bluejerred, Mr. Harvey has been retired for over 30 years, passed away for 6 (may he rest in peace) and is one of only 10 umpires in the HOF...we all know umpiring is in a near constant state of evolution.

In your second paragraph, it would be helpful to know where his students were starting from when he then started adjusting their position. I am having difficulty visualizing moving someone 15 feet back in order to properly see pitches. When I was at camp last year, I spent a lot of time working on my depth because I was working too far back. The previous fall I called an umpire interference on myself when I got too close to F2 on a thrown down on a runner so, I had overcompensated. And by overcompensating, the instructors at camp were showing me that by being too far back, I was losing consistency on the low and away pitch.

As for the your final paragraph...yes. Ideally, when PU settles into the slot, you should be slightly turned in towards the middle of the plate. First, we need to get our nose out of our line of sight and yes, if you work too flat/too square to the plate and you wear a pitch, you are taking all of the force of that pitch. We don't want pitches coming in, hitting us and then dropping straight down to the ground. By angling a bit, it helps us take pitches in a more glancing fashion and we don't bear all the force. We want the ball deflecting and continuing past us.

~Dawg

[Velho]

5 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

The strike zone was not graded near as much as it is today.  Meaning no offense to the older umpires who were acceptable or great in their day, but this is a different game today. 

Further along those lines, if I recall correctly, Doug also explicitly talked about the pitch at the front of the plate was the determination of ball/strike.

As Wolfie said, it's a different time. Applies to his attitude towards players and coaches as well - the books title says it all 😉

Personally, I found this biography entertaining more than informative or instructional. 

[The Man in Blue]

The popular opinion can't be wrong . . . and depending on the level you are calling, dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people will let you know the further back you are, the better the view you have.

[Velho]

3 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

The popular opinion can't be wrong . . . and depending on the level you are calling, dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people will let you know the further back you are, the better the view you have.

Post of the year! I can’t stop laughing.