Leaderboard

I needed to get on here and rant a little about one of the loudest, most ignorant fans I've come across in a while. 12u 50/70 travel ball. (imagine that. loud parents/grandparents at a 12u travel game.) Real leather lung granddad I'm guessing 60-ish. Mostly cheering and barking out instructions to the hitters, when on defense, yelling out situations (Hands back Billy" , "one out play to first " ) junk like that, but loud. He was between the dugout and home, near the coaches, so I figured as long as no coach cares this guy's "cheering" like this, I could care less. No one had anything to say. ...Then it starts... No out, R1. Pop up between F1 and F2. Miscommunication, ball falls, untouched. F2 throws R1 out at 2nd, BR on 1st. Leather lung starts roaring "Infield fly!!! he can't do that." I'm thinking, "do what?" but I just looked in his general direction as I was walking back to the plate and said "no". Then as I put on the mask and get behind the plate he says something like "Looked intentionally to me." Now I'm trying to hold back the laughter and track the next pitch. Now we got R1 one out. Next kid swings at K3, ball gets by F2. R1 takes off for 2nd BR, of course, takes off for first as I'm yelling "batter's out!" a few times in a row trying to yell over leather lungs who's roaring "RUN!! RUN!!..STAY THERE YOUR SAFE" I take a few steps up the line and tell BR he's out as he's standing on 1st looking confused. On the way back to the plate, leather lungs is talking loud to the rest of the know-it-all parents around him. "He stays on first catcher missed strike 3. That's the wrong call" Now I'm getting a bit aggravated at this guy's volume and his ignorance. Lucky for me, Daddy coach asks "Why is my batter out" (because of course, Daddy coach thinks leatherlungs knows the rules better than me). That gave me the opportunity to tell the coach, rather loudly "1st base occupied, less than two outs, BR can't run"...Then while walking back to the plate, speaking softly, but loud enough for Leatherlungs to hear, "Baseball 101". That kept him quiet...Until his team's pitcher throws a ball a good foot or more off the plate and he yells "Keep it there, that's a strike all day". I took off the mask and gave a "death stare" to the 3 Daddy coaches standing in the dugout , and they say, (in unison which was pretty funny) "We didn't say anything" and I said, "No, but it came from this direction and if I hear any more one of you are going." And Leatherlungs wasn't heard from the rest of the game. Thanks for letting me rant. Maybe it was the humidity, maybe I'm just in a rotten mood. But this time I really wanted to just unload on this moron. Took a lot for me to ignore such ignorance from the stands. Venting here helps.

I got the dish in 3 Man! CAN'T WAIT!!!

totally agree w/ @maven Also ....... When I have a guy screaming at me (fastballs) ....I make sure I take a breath (exhale) as he's winding up, and just put his motion and pitch into "slow motion" with your eyes. You'll be surprised at how 'normal' the faster pitcher will appear.

I doubt that the DC "went away happy." I'd guess he thinks that crew is either idiots or a-holes. Or maybe both. PU should have wrangled him when he came out, asked what he wanted, and ruled on it immediately. Demanding pointless hoop-jumping is rude, officious, and crap game management. Absolutely no reason to allow the dog and pony show to get started. Everyone in the ball park knew what the runner did and what the call should be. Let's get it done quickly and get back to baseball, preferably before anyone's blood pressure rises too much.

Ask you partner..."What do you have?" He tells you. Then ask him "Do you want to get this right?" He will look at you kind of funny. Then say "by rule I don't think we have interference on this. I think we need to allow the home run. I think we need to get this play right" Then talk about how you're going to explain it to the defensive coach b/c even though he knows you're right, he's going to ask for an explanation. You have to get that right on the field. I suppose if your partner really digs in his heels there would have to be a stopping point with how far you push it, but if my partner saw a rule misapplication on the field and didn't approach me about it, I not be very happy. We are a team out there.

It's close and those are good shots. What we can't see and I'm guessing New York agrees, is where the top of his glove is w/ respect to the baseball. I just don't see anything conclusive there. As you said if the ball is on the ground there, me, Jerry Layne and New York replay aren't good enough to see the ball on the ground there. Funny though, w/o replay we'd still be having this same discussion. Except in this case w/o replay there probably wouldn't have been an ejection.

12U..........say no more. I worked four 14U games this weekend. Daddy coaches. Two coach warnings. Lots of know-it-alls in the stands. Quality of play and coaching sucked. All my fault. HS regionals 3-man crew, 3 games tomorrow. Expecting large crowds. Lots of unhappiness will be exhibited I'm sure. Great partners though. Both have professional baseball umpire experience. Great way to end HS season. Summer showcases and tourneys and college woodbat season is almost here.

No yelling across the field, period. The coach can yell at me all he wants, but will get no response.If he wants to talk to me he can come out to me and conduct a conversation, not a yelling match. If you participate in the yelling you are contributing to their bad habits, and they will yell at me next.

LL-Jr. not quality baseball, 2:15 time limit Working a split doubleheader at 2 locations (normal this time of year). Game 1 - 7 innings 3-1 visitors, 5 double plays, 1:30 Game 2 - 7 innings 4-3 home in bottom of 7,2 double plays, 1:45

Championship 12U AAA game, R2 and I'm in C. Sharp hit ball to SS and F6 throws it to 1B, but throw pulls F3 off the bag at the very end. I loudly call and signal "SAFE - OFF THE BAG!" 1B coach sees the signal, but for some reason, the runner turns and heads back down towards home, going to his dugout thinking he's out. The 1B coach initially says nothing, and by now the ball has been thrown back to F1. Defense realizes it and starts yelling "Throw to 1st!" and he does, meanwhile OHC is yelling "GO BACK!" and he does but he gets tagged out and I call him out. The OHC goes ballistic screaming at me from across the field (never a good idea) telling me "That's not the rule, that's not the rule!" WHAT? I said "Coach, I made the safe call and signal, he went back to the dugout on his own, so now he's off the base and he's out." He keeps yelling, so I retreat towards A while he's yelling since R2 scored, and coach is still screaming "You need to know the rules!" I say "Coach, he's out..." he yells again and I said "He's still out!" Coach said "It's your job to judge whether he's making an effort to advance to 2nd." I worked hard not to laugh as I said "Coach, 2nd base is THAT way" as I'm pointing towards 2nd, and I said "I never said he was advancing to 2nd - I simply called him out for being off the bag after he'd safely reached 1B." Just when I think I've heard it all, something new comes up.

​I like the Bullfrog too. Getting both sun protection and insect protection is a huge plus. BTW. I highly recommend using sunscreen no matter your complexion. Just because you are not "burning" doesn't mean the damage isn't being done.

Your eyes move much, much faster than any fastball. So the idea of "adjusting" your eyes doesn't have much application. This is about timing, and processing the information you need to get the call right. For a slower pitch, the information arrives in a certain time frame (a few hundred milliseconds). For a faster pitch, the same information arrives in a briefer time. Your eyes have seen everything you need to see; the rest is processing and takes time. Your brain, oddly, needs longer to unpack the information from the faster data stream. So proper timing requires actually slowing down for the faster pitch. So slow down, give yourself time to process the data, and you'll be fine.

I like so many for different reasons. Gerry Davis - He's unflappable. Nobody gets under his skin and he has such a great presence on the field. Always cool calm and collected.Jim Wolf & Jeff Nelson - I think of these guys as the mold for the next generation of umpires. Athletic, fit, great appearance and presence, approachable and handle situations well. Lance Barksdale & Dan Iassogna - I use to say this about one of my all time favorite umpires Tim Tschida too, but Lance & Dan just look like they're having fun out there.I could go down the list and probably point out something I like about each of them.

​The main reason I have more than one chest protector is during summer tournaments where you may do more than one plate in a day I really don't like putting on wet gear. Have two sets of shins also.

I go with the spray, mostly. The regular goop isn't bad, though. I'd advise putting it on well before putting on your uniform shirt. Give it a few minutes to dry and all. Also a slight recommendation to bring a piece of paper towel tucked in your back pocket. This comes in handy in case you need to rub your eyes for any reason, and don't want to get sunscreen in it (I did an entire half-inning with one eye. It's not fun). But seriously. Like the song says, wear sunscreen.

I have no fault whatsoever with Layne's call on this

​^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have 3.....Me, myself & I.

Good call. Don't let coaches yell: the head coach may ask for an explanation, and anyone may address a respectful question. But:

Gentlemen, Im sorry I jumped in hiding posts by a certain sour member yet again. You guys handled him well but I'm still trying to "train the lad" to stop posting irrelevant and sniping comments. He seems to be predisposed to try and start stuff under his guise of sparking thoughtful conversation. (It seems like a losing battle that is just wasting my time but I gotta try.......oh well.) Mostly I just find it annoying as do some of you. Anyway I hid the irrelevant post and the responses. If you want it back PM me and I'll unhide what I've hidden. Play on!

​Then you did what you could to fix it. You were correct to let it go at that point and move on. This call was indeed protestable.

The line he drew was the vertical line in the letter "E". Had he been allowed to continue, he would have completed the whole message "E-J-E-C-T M-E".

​Yes, but with them still trailing by 8, they will have to get the touchdown and go for 2.

One of the only times I've ever spoken to to the other side of the fence. 11/12u I have the plate and the backstop is 10'-12' behind me, R1 advances on a foul tip. 2 guys right on the fence start in on the foul tip the runner has to go back, of course I ignore them. I guess thinking that I didn't hear them it got louder, I ignore again. Now they SCREAM the runner has to go back. I call time, turn around and tell them "You can be loud or you can be wrong, but you can't be both"! Told them it was live and they slinked away, never to be heard from again (by me at least). Do as I say not as I do, don't talk to the crowd.

I don't know if I have a favorite - but I do have respect for: Jim Joyce - ability to control the game, but also loves the game enough to admit errors Jeff Nelson - for hustle My favorites to watch (not because of mechanics, but because of what they do/did) Bruce Froemming - cause he just took a beating every night behind the plate and Joe West, because he has 'the look' and no one seems to mess with him. I also smile when he gets a banger at 1B and he just gives it an everyday out.

(insert buzzer sound here >>>) TROLL ALERT...(insert buzzer sound here >>>) TROLL ALERT...(insert buzzer sound here >>>) TROLL ALERT... Yes, I'm talking about the angry MLB avatar'd member...

​I'm as calm as can be on the field .......... However, with you, ....I have a short fuse because of your history around here.

​It's not that big of a deal woodie.

Bullfrog. The best hands down

I don't wear it in football because of my finger whistle. I think I just got a good reason not to wear it in baseball too. I've done 4 in a row behind the plate. I even had a partner who did 10 FP softball games in a row because we got behind. I was checking with him about swapping but he said he was good and he stayed consistent so we never made the switch and got out of there at around 11 before the 2:30 hour drive home. Using the legs instead of the back in the crouch really helps. I've also done 8 football games in a day. 8 basketball games and then went and played in another one. I'm still in my 30's so I can still pull it off regularly.

​It looks to me like he used running the bases as a pretext for putting a free hit on the defense.

Good on you BillKen and congrats on the QF. Maybe we will work a spilt crew game one of these days.

Jeff, just heard I was assigned a Regional...Rochester HS...

Slow down.

I have mine next Tuesday, then next Saturday .....the best advice I've heard so far is from local guys who have been there already ....and they said: it's just another game....do what youv'e done all year! Congrats!

​you're way better than me then!

I also see a catch. They also saw one in New York too. (or at least not enough to overturn it.)

Couldn't identify a single one, and would never have a "favorite" to watch. You (we) can learn a thing or two by watching them as a group, but having a favorite seems appropriate only for a teenage girl. And, I say that meaning no disrespect to any teenage girls here.

I just tell them "no." Seems to work as well as any of the sprays.

​I can agree with reporting it to the assignor, but an umpire has no business asking a coach why he didn't protest. That would be one of the worst instances of throwing a partner "under the bus" imaginable.

Jeff Kellogg, Jim Joyce, and Marvin Hudson

Ted Barrett, John Tumpane, Quinn Wolcott, Jim Wolf. All have spot on mechanics, though Tumpane sometimes struggles bad behind the plate.

​Casts on the field are illegal in Little League, which I note the OP refers to, per 1.11 (k). If the coach has a cast, he's clearly not allowed on the field. If he has crutches and no cast, I think it logically follows that this is also a problem.

​There is NO irrefutable video evidence that the ball hit the grass. Love how some of you guys swear they missed the call. No better than fans nor Mattingly!

I don't know LL but it's explicitly allowed in HS rules. Some pretty serious liability in violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Well, my high school season ended Friday. I had the plate for a state Sectional game, winner goes to State tournament, loser goes home. Here's how it ended http://wate.com/2015/05/15/farragut-downs-science-hill-3-2/. Great game! Now it's time for summer ball to start. Good high school and college season for me, but, way too much rain!

I wouldn't say it's automatic that they're gone. PENALTY: For violation of f (6), both the head coach and the offending coach shall be restricted to the dugout for the remainder of the game, or if the offense is judged severe enough, the umpire may eject the offender and restrict or eject the head coach. Any coach restricted to the bench shall be ejected for further misconduct. A coach may leave the bench/dugout to attend to a player who becomes ill or injured.

I don't think it "clearly" did anything, and that's the issue. The decision on replay would have been "stands" either way. It might have hit the ground. Shoot, it probably hit the ground. But the umpires in NY need to SEE it hit the ground to overturn the call.

TW on the FedEx truck from TW...will be here tomorrow! That's a 13 day turn! Unfortunately, I have the plate tonight and won't have another this weekend. Pics will post this weekend sometime!

No information to reverse that on replay for me.