Baseball Pitching Tips--How to Deal With Your Plate Umpire!
Posted: Thursday, February 11, 2010
by Larry Cicchiello
Larwenty Online Enterprises Inc
First and foremost, don't ever put an umpire on display by letting everybody in attendance at the ball park know that you think he may have missed a strike call. Baseball pitching tips require clever use of your mind as well as your body and this comes into play here. Don't glare at them for several seconds or stomp around the mound between pitches. Umpires are regular people like we are and none of us like to be shown up. You will not get any close calls during the rest of the game if you show them up and put them on display. Even worse yet, you may not get the calls that you should be getting ! As a pitcher, showing up an umpire is NOT in your best interest. There are going to be several pitches that can be called either way and you increase your chances of getting those close calls if you don't get the umpire annoyed at you.
Another way to let the umpire know that you think he missed the strike call is to politely ask him, "Where did you have that one, blue?" You have to walk a very fine line here and your tone of voice is critical. If you ask him where the pitch missed in a nasty tone of voice, you have blown it and made a huge mistake. When he lets you know where the pitch missed, give him what at least appears to be a sincere thank you.
Remember, baseball umpires have a very tough job to do and every close call they make is going to make one team happy and the other team upset. Don't ever hesitate to compliment an umpire about his knowledge on a certain baseball ruling or for his hustle on a certain play. Playing a little "politics" will never hurt. Just don't overdo it.
Put yourself in their shoes. What if you have a pitcher who is putting you on "display" on every close pitch that you don't call in his favor. Would you possibly have a little resentment toward him because he is putting you on display in front of everyone in attendance?
One of the better baseball pitching tips to remember is that It is clearly in your best interest to stay on their good side at all times!
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