Umpire getting the relief pitcher from the bullpen?

[DevildogUmp]

High School Varsity game the other day, I've got the bases. Head coach (prior college coach, first year HS) comes out to his pitcher and as he gets to the mound, says to me: "I'm bringing in a new pitcher". I said ok and just continued back to the dirt like I normally do during defensive conferences when I'm BU. About 30 seconds go by and he again says "I'm bringing in a relief pitcher from the bullpen", and I am now really confused and I am like you need to let my partner on the plate know and he says "Aren't you going to get him?" Now I'm even more confused and told him, I don't know who it is you want to bring in (there are 4 kids in the bullpen) and he seemed surprised when I told him he could call the relief pitcher out of the bullpen.

7 years of HS ball and I have never had a coach expect me to let his relief pitcher know to come in. Is this a college thing where an umpire goes and gets the relief pitcher from the bullpen?

Matt

[MadMax]

25 minutes ago, DevildogUmp said:

Is this a college thing where an umpire goes and gets the relief pitcher from the bullpen?

Yup. College “thing”. As soon as I read the title of the topic, I knew it was either a current or former college coach involved. 

This is a protocol present in all five levels of college ball. A/the BU goes to(wards) the bullpen to signal / beckon in the incoming pitcher. Why? 🤷‍♂️… I don’t know the exact reason, but it’s one that I have found followed in not only the college ball I do, but the summer leagues I do. 

And since many of us (umpires) here in Phoenix and Tucson do several levels including college, we simply carry the protocol into HS games, too. Always laugh at myself when I (as BU) go towards the pen, looking for the relief pitcher, only to turn around and see the HC handing the ball to a position player, just doing a “positional swap”. 😆 

36 minutes ago, DevildogUmp said:

"Aren't you going to get him?"

“We typically don’t in High School, Fred, but today I will for ya. Which one ya want? The goofy-looking lefty, or the wild-haired righty?” 

[The Man in Blue]

You guys umpire in some bougie areas … I have never seen HS kids just hanging out in the bullpen.  NEVER.  They always come from the dugout and go do their thing.  Nor have I ever seen two pitchers warming up.  EVER.

[MadMax]

16 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

I have never seen HS kids just hanging out in the bullpen.

Oh, we have HS’s here with rather elaborate bullpens, either in DBT and defined by a painted line, or in their own fenced off/in enclosure. The pen-izens favor hanging out in the pen, instead of being the target of coaches telling them to go chase foul balls. Granted, only the big schools can afford to have PO’s and pen-izens. 

Then, you should see when we have our HS “featured” games, held in the MLB ST stadiums around town (we do have 10 of them, donchaknow). Without fail, we suddenly have penizens, and again, without fail, you’ll hear the magical bullpen phone ring/tone/chime sometime in the 1st inning… just to “test it”. 

[wolfe_man]

I'm with the others and haven't seen it.  I've worked on college fields where the pitchers sat in the 'pen and lived it up, but never had to go get anyone.  And I don't think I've seen more than one guy throwing in the bullpen at any one time yet either.

[Jimurray]

3 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

I'm with the others and haven't seen it.  I've worked on college fields where the pitchers sat in the 'pen and lived it up, but never had to go get anyone.  And I don't think I've seen more than one guy throwing in the bullpen at any one time yet either.

I think it’s an instruction to pro umpires to speed up the game. Manager indicates lefty or righty and BU jogs out to signal lefty or righty. The lefty or righty is in the game upon the managers signal. A fill in manager used the wrong arm and had to live with that pitcher. 

[wolfe_man]

3 minutes ago, Jimurray said:

I think it’s an instruction to pro umpires to speed up the game. Manager indicates lefty or righty and BU jogs out to signal lefty or righty. The lefty or righty is in the game upon the managers signal. A fill in manager used the wrong arm and had to live with that pitcher. 

Yes, definitely makes sense. I can see where it would help speed things up too.  It's amazing to me how many players are dragging their butts around, but I'll spare you all the "not in my day" stories.

[The Man in Blue]

Hold it the #!$@ up for a moment …

All the crap Coach VanWinkle is doing over there with his iPads and his hand holds to possibly check on the chance of a replay his staff needs to watch four times and his moseying out to the mound … and I have to go get his pitcher to speed the game up?!

[MadMax]

3 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

and I have to go get his pitcher to speed the game up?!

It’s not as bad as you think. 

OBR-MLB doesn’t have this. They’ve got a set, timed interval – 

Quote

The time between innings and pitching changes is 2 minutes, 5 seconds for local broadcasts, 2 minutes, 25 seconds for nationally televised games and 2 minutes, 55 seconds for tiebreaker and postseason games.

The U’s have nothing to do with it. There’s “people” to handle it. There’s a big-a$$ clock counting it down. MiLB might encourage/direct their U’s to “go get ‘em”, but I think, again, these intervals are timed. 

AFAIKN, the SEC is the only conference in NCAA that is adding timed limits on pitching changes and new-batter intervals: 

• Quote

   

  • Between Batters Clock: A 30-second timer between hitters shall start at the conclusion of the prior play as indicated by the umpire's final signal of "safe" or "out", or other clear indication that the prior play has concluded. Consistent with NCAA pitch clock protocols, the batter shall be alert to the pitcher with 10 seconds or more remaining and the pitcher shall begin the motion to deliver the first pitch of the at-bat prior to the expiration of the 30-second clock.
  • Mound Visit Clock: A 30-second timer on a mound visit shall begin when a coach exits the dugout or when a defensive player leaves their position to visit the pitcher's mound. Unless the coach signals for a pitching change, the coach must leave the mound when (or before) the timer expires. The mound visit clock shall not operate when a doctor or trainer accompanies a coach to evaluate a medical issue. Upon expiration of the 30-second clock, the 20-second NCAA pitch clock shall commence.
  • Pitching Change Clock: A 2:30 (2 minutes and 30 seconds) timer on a pitching change shall begin when a new pitcher who is entering the game, either at the start of an inning or as part of a mid-inning pitching change, crosses the warning track (or otherwise leaves the bullpen area if the bullpen is on the playing field). Upon expiration of the clock, the NCAA 20-second pitch clock shall commence.

   

   

Pretty impressive huh? Ready for this? They even have a 10-run (difference) rule! We’re jell-jelly-jealous! 

But no worries, NFHS likely will never have this “go get ‘em” speed up protocol mandated, although it will appear as a courtesy extended by umpires who also operate in NCAA. Only NCAA does, and as on-field displayed clocks start to precipitate down from D-1 to NAIA & JuCo (2025?), this protocol won’t be (expected to be) performed, either, as it will be time limited. 

[SeeingEyeDog]

It's a shame someone hasn't invented some sort of transceiver with a unit in the bullpen connected to a unit in the dugout which a coach could use to communicate his positional needs direct to his players...

This has got developmental opportunity written all over it...

~Dawg

[Jimurray]

2 hours ago, MadMax said:

It’s not as bad as you think. 

OBR-MLB doesn’t have this. They’ve got a set, timed interval – 

The U’s have nothing to do with it. There’s “people” to handle it. There’s a big-a$$ clock counting it down. MiLB might encourage/direct their U’s to “go get ‘em”, but I think, again, these intervals are timed. 

AFAIKN, the SEC is the only conference in NCAA that is adding timed limits on pitching changes and new-batter intervals: 

•  

Pretty impressive huh? Ready for this? They even have a 10-run (difference) rule! We’re jell-jelly-jealous! 

But no worries, NFHS likely will never have this “go get ‘em” speed up protocol mandated, although it will appear as a courtesy extended by umpires who also operate in NCAA. Only NCAA does, and as on-field displayed clocks start to precipitate down from D-1 to NAIA & JuCo (2025?), this protocol won’t be (expected to be) performed, either, as it will be time limited. 

Apparently they still go get them. There was a signal crossing the foul line. Did they get the lefty by mistake. Later 2 of them are signaling the righty. The righty was in the game as of the first arm signal. CCS is incorrect in citing when an unannounced sub is in the game. this was an announced sub who is in the game as soon as Mevin lifted his arm.

 

[Mudisfun]

On 4/15/2024 at 9:49 PM, MadMax said:

 without fail, you’ll hear the magical bullpen phone ring/tone/chime sometime in the 1st inning… just to “test it”. 

This made me chuckle.

First time working a game at Anaheim Stadium. It is a HS game after all, so there are 200-300 people there, max. I keep hearing this LOUD ringing and cannot for the life of me figure out what it was until I noticed a blinking light in the pen matched to the ringing. Realized real quick that when you thrown 20k-35k people in a building it gets REALLY loud but with only a couple hundred people, that stadium is really empty.

Fun times.