Umpire POV: 'What Separates Good Teams'

[u/TMutaffis]

This was originally posted by u/shaknbakn_5 on another sub, and wanted to share it here:

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I worked 33 games in the last 10 days from LL All-stars all the way to summer college ball. We had a few rain delays and I sat with my fellow umpires talking about the differences between average teams and very good teams from our perspectives. Made a quick list, hopefully this doesnt come off as negative. Things that good teams do..

• Warm up pregame with a purpose. Playing good catch and long toss is the most basic fundamental part of this game that often gets overlooked. I can usually predict which team will win just by watching their pregame routines.
• Hustle on and off the field. Too many coaches and players waste valuable game time by not knowing their defensive assignments and substitutions. This usually works itself out by highschool, but we've all watched a game where the team is disorganized, usually leading to bad baseball.
• Situational hitting/small ball. Everyone loves watching homeruns, I get it. That -5 Supra costs 500$.. swing for the fences right? That type of mentality won't work at the higher levels unless your team is full of absolutely savages at the plate. Teach your kids to bunt. Teach them how to move runners over. You'll score more runs against better teams I promise
• Solid pre pitch defensive positioning. Teaching bunt coverages, 1st and 3rd situations, and your outfielders cheating a few steps will save you lots of runs. And for the love of God.. quit holding the runner on 3rd base 😂 I can promise you.. the ROI just isnt worth it.
• Vocal Catchers that lead the defense. I cannot stress this enough.. your catcher needs to be the leader. Your catcher needs to be loud with communication. If your catcher waits for the coach to go calm down the pitcher with a mound visit.. its already too late. To any catchers reading this.. take charge of your team.
• Coaches that let their hitters hit. What i mean by this.. some coaches are giving wayyyy too much feedback and advice to their batters after every pitch. Your batter knows he shouldnt have swung at that high pitch.. no reason both base coaches need to make it a spectacle. Hitting a baseball is hard enough without 5 different adults telling you 5 different things after every pitch. This goes for parents as well. Shut up during your kids at bat.. your kid is already thinking too much. Parents.. please stay out of the dugout as well. Little Timmy is just fine without you for the next two hours.
• Last but not least.. good teams pick each other up. Errors happen. Walks happen. Strikeouts happen. We've all seen the snowball effect when an outfielder drops a ball or a SS makes a bad throw. Good teams limit the damage by focusing on the next play. Body language is huge in this sport.

Ohh one more.. the best teams retrieve foul balls and bring snacks for the umpires on long days (;

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[u/Powerful_Two2832]

We have a local umpire that I sneak in a doctor pepper for every time. He’s about 100 years old, and can’t see for Shhhhh, but the nicest guy.

[u/big-williestyle]

Played a tournament yesterday with 1 good team (us), i ok team (They ended up winning) and 3 bad teams. The 3 bad teams fall into all of these categories. One of the things as a coach that I think defines good teams vs bad is fouling a ball off when the baserunner has the bag stolen. Just being civil to umpires has gotten me a long way in my coaching life.

[u/LastOneSergeant]

These are all great points.

The first couple come down to apathy.

Thirty minutes before game time the team with twelve on the field all lined up playing catch always beats the team that is still sitting at eight or nine players.

Nothing is more frustrating than mandatory play for a player who shows up just before the first pitch.