The old adage “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” holds true in many ways on the baseball field but especially so on the mound. Watch any Major League Baseball game where a pitcher makes even the slightest negative expression on a borderline pitch and see what happens on the following pitch. Admittedly, I haven’t seen any statistical proof, but I would be willing to bet what’s left of my arm that the umpire is not raising his hand to call a strike.
By the same token, a pitcher who consistently takes the ball back on a borderline pitch without reaction will expand the zone by game’s end. Tom Glavine gets an extra inch or two off of the outside corner for two reasons: first, he pounds the same spot all game and second, he is devoid of emotion. If a camera were to focus on his face the entire game, it would be impossible to guess whether he is getting the borderline calls. He is the consummate poker player on the mound.
The examples above hold true at any level of baseball, probably more so at the amateur level. Today’s advice… act like you’ve been there before. The simple and unfortunate reality is that you will never get the pitch you just threw back. With that in mind, why become a drama queen? At best, you might motivate yourself in some strange way. At worst, you will lose the person who needs to be your biggest ally, the umpire.
With apologies to umpires, they are not perfect, hear everything, and as such, are open to rewarding silence. For you younger readers, imagine all of your classmates yelling at a teacher all day, telling him or her that the writing on the board wasn’t neat enough, or that the class ran 30 seconds too long. Inevitably, the teacher is going to talk to (reward) the person who is sitting quietly and not complaining.
Whether to spite an overly talkative coach/dugout/batter or because he truly believes the pitch was a strike, an umpire is going to give the benefit of the doubt to the pitcher. As with everything else in the game of baseball, any one instance of getting a call could change the outcome of a game. The extra inch or two off of the plate results in adjustments by hitters, more favorable counts and most importantly, fewer pitches.