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Framing

Rule question? Get it answered here.

by rpkell41 » Tue May 13, 2014 6:11 pm

I'd like to hear from umpires. How much does a catcher's framing abilities influence your calls for balls and strikes?

Tks
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by Comp » Tue May 13, 2014 7:17 pm

If the catcher is moving the glove they are doing nothing but telling the umpire it wasn't a strike.
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by hit4power » Tue May 13, 2014 8:31 pm

There was a great post from one of the blues who lurks on here a couple years back about framing. I think it was Irish Mafia - you may be able to search for it...
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by CatcherDad99 » Tue May 13, 2014 9:48 pm

Comp wrote:If the catcher is moving the glove they are doing nothing but telling the umpire it wasn't a strike.


Good framing I think he means. I see so many girls grabbing the ball way off the plate and simply pulling it to the center of the plate. This is not framing and I hate when I see coaches and dads telling them how well they frame. My DD frames and I think it a huge help to good pitchers.
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by UmpSteve » Tue May 13, 2014 10:25 pm

rpkell41 wrote:I'd like to hear from umpires. How much does a catcher's framing abilities influence your calls for balls and strikes?

Tks


A good umpire will call the pitch based on the pitch; if it crosses the plate in the batter's strike zone (top and bottm), it is a strike, no matter what the catcher does.

All that said, the strike zone has to be believable. Catchers that move the pitch after catching it generally create way more doubt about the pitch than they could possibly create interest. Good pitches don't need to be "framed"; if she moves it, she says "I don't think it's a strike, I have to make it look better."

Go ahead and move balls'; no one cares, bad umpires may call that some day. Parents may buy it, still no one cares. "Stick" the strikes; that says "I like it, don't need to move it".

In the bigger picture, catchers/coaches parents that think they are framing pitches take away way more strikes with good umpires than could possibly create. Stop thinking we don't know where the ball was at the plate; stick it and you may get the borderline pitch. Move it (whatever you think is framing), and you will more than likely convince us it wasn't a strike.
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by jonriv » Wed May 14, 2014 2:02 am

Good framing is subtle and an art. It should be barely noticeable and in my experience very effective in influencing close calls
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by PDad » Wed May 14, 2014 12:18 pm

jonriv wrote:Good framing is subtle and an art. It should be barely noticeable and in my experience very effective in influencing close calls

Oh please, educate us about the fine art of framing. What is the proper way to do it and how that helps?
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by jonriv » Wed May 14, 2014 12:36 pm

As mentioned there are those catchers that are obvious in how they pull the ball back or how they move the glove. Oddly, most of the time that you can notice "framing" it is not good framing. A skilled catcher can position their glove in a way that can help in getting a favorable call on a close pitch. The positiong is usually prior to receiving the ball. Have had coaches suggest an ever so slight turn in of the glove. You see it all the time in MLB.

UMPS (believe it or not) are human and therefore can be subtley influenced.

PDad you feel framing is a myth?
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by CatcherDad99 » Wed May 14, 2014 12:49 pm

I could see that some umpires would think framing is about trying to trick them. It’s merely about making sure the questionable or close calls go their pitchers way. If the girl is a good framer she will not frame balls. If you frame pitches that are sure balls you are letting the Umpire know “hey I’m trying to fool you and I think you’re dumb enough to fall for it”. Thats just what you don't want is an umpire who doesn't trust you and thinks your trying to trick him.Like Jon said it’s an art form and you need to be passionate about it. It’s not about tricking anyone.
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by PDad » Wed May 14, 2014 2:52 pm

jonriv wrote:As mentioned there are those catchers that are obvious in how they pull the ball back or how they move the glove. Oddly, most of the time that you can notice "framing" it is not good framing. A skilled catcher can position their glove in a way that can help in getting a favorable call on a close pitch. The positiong is usually prior to receiving the ball. Have had coaches suggest an ever so slight turn in of the glove. You see it all the time in MLB.
I want to see how much you really know about it. You're still short on some details. How should they position their glove and why? FWIW, I saw a couple different styles in the Big Ten Tourney.

UMPS (believe it or not) are human and therefore can be subtley influenced.
Yeah, like someone once said - "Umps are people too."

PDad you feel framing is a myth?

I think good framing is more about not hurting your chances for the called strike. Like UmpSteve posted, bad mechanics really hurt you and good mechanics (e.g. "stick it") don't hurt you. The umps talk about the bad framing where the catcher noticeably drags the ball into the strike zone. There are also bad mechanics where the catcher keeps moving the glove away from the strike zone.
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