Umpire, Dale Scott spent more than three decades in Major League Baseball umpiring from 1985 to 2017. Asked about conversations around pitcher’s mounds that and Scott referred to one incident that he classified as humorous. It was a time when Buck Showalter visited the mound.
Buck is a very experienced manager and has made literally thousands of mound visits and is no slouch when it comes to communication. Buck Showalter is a two-time American League Manager of the Year. There are many stories of his interaction (some prefer the term run ins) with umpires. Buck is a former minor league player who never made it to the majors, known for a strong will and an obsession with fundamentals, details and preparation. You can bet he was more than prepared for any mound conversation or interaction with an umpire that was to happen.
In this instance, Showalter visited the pitcher’s mound and started talking to Umpire Scott, not his pitcher. Manager’s sometimes do this for two reasons. One is to give a firm message about the way the manager is viewing the game and the decisions the umpire is making (mostly in disagreement). The other reason is to stall for time in order to give a warming up bull pen pitcher more time to get ready to come into the game.
On this visit Showalter started talking to Dale Scott and said, “Dale, I don’t know what to do here. I could bring a right hander and that would make sense. This guy really pitches well to the next batter but I’m not sure. I’m really in a predicament here. What do you think?” Umpire Dale immediately knew what was going on there. Buck Showalter was stalling and doing whatever he can to extend the time for his bull pen pitcher to get extra warm up time in. Pitchers, whether starters or relievers, need to warm up their body to get ready to pitch. The old adage when thinking about warming up is pitchers should warm up the body to pitch, not pitch to warm up. That’s why Buck wanted more time for his pitcher in the bullpen. That’s why Showalter feigned the conversation with Umpire Scott.
Umpire Scott had a classic, rote for umpires, response to Showalter. Scott replied, “Buck, let’s be clear about one thing. The reason I am an umpire is because I couldn’t play the game. I was terrible at throwing, catching, and batting. My opinion here would surely be catastrophic, so Buck, you are going to have to do this on your own.”
Scott went on to finish, “Here is one thing I can tell you: I have to know your decision right now. (The umpire is charged with keeping the game moving). We need to go. What is it.” Showalter indicated that the Umpire was no help to him in this situation so he would go with the right hander in the bullpen. Buck was stalling using a little bit of humor. Good for him but good for Scott for keeping the game moving.