kufan1978

You must either have the best zoom and biggest monitor ever or my better than 20/20 vision must be going bad. I see nothing clear in that. I clearly see that back of his wrist appears to be touching him when his foot comes off. There is nothing there indisputable that shows a tag with the hand or glove but I'm glad your not a juror!

Tag specifies with the hand or glove. I don't see any clear evidence that anything was touching him except possibly the back of the wrist when his foot came off of the bag. Your wrist is not your hand. I don't see how under a replay review that is clear and undisputed evidence or meets the rule criteria for an out. The replay has to get honed in this next offseason. As it stands right now, it doesn't work. Period. And regarding the pushing someone off the bag and holding the tag on for an out, that has happened a lot this year. It is something they need to figure out how to deal with as it is not something I think within the spirit of the rules.

LMSANS, see I don't care if a fan yells once in awhile. That's their right. I don't pay attention to it honestly. I could care less what they say. Now, of course if that is coming out of a dugout or from my field then I will hear it and react appropriately. Now I do agree with MadMax that there could be a time where you need to approach a coach about a disruptive fan or someone who is cursing at a youth game and maybe even get a tournament director involved if necessary. I get it. But ultimately, they're fans. They are going to cheer and yell occasionally and sometimes it's going to be about us. It's not that big of a deal. We need to get off of our high horses sometimes and remember the game is about them. If we do our job, most the time you should hardly know we were there. Anyway, this started as a response to Welke tossing a fan. I still just don't agree in a Major League park that an umpires authority extends to the stands. That is why they hire security and have aisle attendants. I can agree that in youth ball there can be a need for something to be handled outside of the field of play but it is not up to us to address the crowd and throw someone out or anything of that nature.

See here is what frustrates me about this umpire forum and I have been on here a long time without ever commenting on anything....a lot of you seem to think you are above reproach and you refuse to admit you can make mistakes and make bad judgments. If you think no fan should ever yell anything about come on blue or anything like that, you are too arrogant to save at this point. Yes, I am an umpire. No I sure as hell don't think umpires are always right because they aren't. They do the best they can but if I were watching a game that my kids are playing in, I absolutely would say something if I think an umpire wasn't hustling or in position to make a call. Maybe you guys wouldn't. Umpires aren't above the law or infallible like I feel some of you think you are sometimes. If you feel like a fan or a coach(even one who is an umpire) can't ever say anything while watching a game when an umpire boots a call or doesn't hustle and is out of position (and I'm not talking about cussing or anything disparaging or showing up the umpire ), then I will just agree to disagree. There are too many hyper sensitive umpires out there including in the major leagues. I have tossed plenty of guys in my years of umpiring but I don't go looking for it. In the last few years, I feel like more and more I see some of these umpires kicking calls and then giving someone a quick hook when they come out to argue. For the love of God, if you kick a call you better be able to take a little bit of heat within reason and make an effort to not toss a guy for your mistake unless they leave you no option but to. Just my two cents......

Rich I had an umpire turn around on my watching a nieces tournament game when I yelled something as a fan just to the effect of be in position to make that call and was told I was removed from the facility. I didn't cuss. I didn't say anything disparaging. If someone is saying something at a major league game, then it is up to parents or people there to complain and let security handle it. That in no way falls in the authority and job description of an umpire. That is my opinion. I do not agree and will never agree with umpires thinking their authority extends into the stands except in issues of player and crew safety.

I just don't agree with umpires having this authority outside of the field of play. Now if there is someone creating an unsafe environment for play then I think the umpire should have authority to have something done. In my 15 years, I have never once thought about ejecting a fan or someone not coaching or playing for a team. If you have rabbit ears, you're going to hear lots of stuff over your career to get your a little peeved. Unless there was some physical threat or some effect to the game, I think Welke overstepped his bounds here.