Umpire called pitches for Randy Johnson?

That's the claim former Seattle catcher Dave Valle makes on page 34 of this week's SI.

In Tom Verducci's story about Johnson, Valle claims an umpire asked to call the pitches for Johnson during a game in 1993. Valle said the ump whispered the pitches to him and Johnson threw a complete game.

Now, if true, is that as bad or worse than A-Rod tipping pitches to his buddies?

 

Hmm, I find it hard to believe there was that kind of communication going on and not one batter noticed anything. Not saying it definitely didn't or couldn't happen; I just find it highly unlikely.

 

I find that hard to believe, too.

 

Utter bs

 

At the risk of thread jacking this weeks SI is a candidate for the worst issue ever.

I breezed though mine on 1 elevator ride.

 

In a spring training game? Maybe.

In a regular season game? No way in hell.

 

Sad to say, as soon as I saw it was Verducci, I figured this was, at best, an exaggeration if not an outright lie. AFter Clemens, what he writes holds no weight for me, dog.

 

The umpire in question:

 

Bullshit! Mariners. No. 5. 15-yards. Still fourth down.

 

I thought the same thing. Verducci seems to be following the same plan he did as Clemens approached 300. Put on the knee pads to get the inside story.

 

He's got quotes from Valle, so if anybody is exaggerating or lying it's not Verducci (in this case).

 

I'm sure Gary Thorne's buying it.

How would it work? The ump would touch the catcher's back with 1, 2, 3 or 4 fingers and the catcher would relay the sign?