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1st EJ in 600+


KenBAZ
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13U Utrip game 6 of the weekend. Third game with this team. No problems with this team or really anyone else during the weekend. For this game however the team apparantly had two new asst. coaches. One of the new AC is standing outside the dugout both when they are on offense and defense, team shirt and cap but with cargo shorts. I am BU at C in 2man. AC starts objecting loudly to a looping BB being called a ball by my partner. A pitch that is not called a strike at any level and one he has not called in two days. Along the lines of that's horrible and how can you miss that. I was not happy and should have acknowledged and warned the DHC to get this new AC under control but I didn't. Then the batter gets a hit and drives in an important run. The AC takes the occasion to say loud enough for both benches to hear, "he should have strike out already". I was getting worked up but my partner didn't seem to react so I still didn't say anything. If I had asked for time and addressed it with the HC I might have descalated the situation. The inning ended without further incident. 2nd batter of the next half inning my partner calls a strike on a FB near the top of the zone and the AC says something like, that was a ball when we threw it. I called time and jogged from A to the HC in the 3BCB and pointing out The AC asked the HC if that guy was on his staff. When he said yes I told him I was restricting the AC to the dugout. I went over to the AC and told him he was restricted for arguing balls and strikes and was not to say anything else. I then had to direct him to get in the dugout and stop talking at least three times. When he finally got back into the dugout he still wanted to justify his action by saying something about only asking for consistency. He didn't understand the restriction was to get him to just shut up and he would not stop talking. I then ejected him for continuing to argue balls and strikes. I didn't use any bad language but by this point I was very angry and yelling. It bothered me this guy that didn't know how things worked was disturbing what had been a smooth event and he just would not stop arguing. BTW, last game of the day yesterday we had the team with the AC I'd ejected again. Neither of the Sunday morning AC's was present and we had a tight extra inning game that they won. The game was without incident. The HC was happy with my work as HPU and nothing was said about the ejection. PS - it really has been 600+ games since my last ejection. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

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13U Utrip game 6 of the weekend. Third game with this team. No problems with this team or really anyone else during the weekend. For this game however the team apparantly had two new asst. coaches. One of the new AC is standing outside the dugout both when they are on offense and defense, team shirt and cap but with cargo shorts. I am BU at C in 2man. AC starts objecting loudly to a looping BB being called a ball by my partner. A pitch that is not called a strike at any level and one he has not called in two days. Along the lines of that's horrible and how can you miss that. I was not happy and should have acknowledged and warned the DHC to get this new AC under control but I didn't. Then the batter gets a hit and drives in an important run. The AC takes the occasion to say loud enough for both benches to hear, "he should have strike out already". I was getting worked up but my partner didn't seem to react so I still didn't say anything. If I had asked for time and addressed it with the HC I might have descalated the situation. The inning ended without further incident. 2nd batter of the next half inning my partner calls a strike on a FB near the top of the zone and the AC says something like, that was a ball when we threw it. I called time and jogged from A to the HC in the 3BCB and pointing out The AC asked the HC if that guy was on his staff. When he said yes I told him I was restricting the AC to the dugout. I went over to the AC and told him he was restricted for arguing balls and strikes and was not to say anything else. I then had to direct him to get in the dugout and stop talking at least three times. When he finally got back into the dugout he still wanted to justify his action by saying something about only asking for consistency. He didn't understand the restriction was to get him to just shut up and he would not stop talking. I then ejected him for continuing to argue balls and strikes. I didn't use any bad language but by this point I was very angry and yelling. It bothered me this guy that didn't know how things worked was disturbing what had been a smooth event and he just would not stop arguing. BTW, last game of the day yesterday we had the team with the AC I'd ejected again. Neither of the Sunday morning AC's was present and we had a tight extra inning game that they won. The game was without incident. The HC was happy with my work as HPU and nothing was said about the ejection. PS - it really has been 600+ games since my last ejection. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

Are you quick on the trigger or what?  I like how you at first tried to find a way to keep him in the game.  I do the same.  They will eject themselves.

 

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Stu: Trying to evaluate it as if it were someone else's EJ I would say it seemed a little passive agressive. My assigner and my site supervisor who are both former Pro umpires were less worked up about it then I was. My partner has probably gone more games then me without an EJ and they were laughing about our crew having to run someone. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

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[quote timestamp=1441642937 name="KenBAZ" uid=2897] PS - it really has been 600+ games since my last ejection.

I believe, I would have left this part out of the telling.

Why, It firmly establishes me as someone that has let things go in the past. I understand that it makes me a bit less of an umpire in the eyes of some on the board but it's factual. Also, otherwise this was just a routine ejection. Why was this incident different then the hundreds I've managed without an ejection? I want to understand and get advice on this so I can better manage the next 600 games. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

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Why, It firmly establishes me as someone that has let things go in the past. I understand that it makes me a bit less of an umpire in the eyes of some on the board but it's factual. Also, otherwise this was just a routine ejection. Why was this incident different then the hundreds I've managed without an ejection? I want to understand and get advice on this so I can better manage the next 600 games. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

Sorry for the wise-crack...you are right...it was born out of incredulence that you haven't had an EJ in the previous 599 games. The behavior of the coach makes me think they he/they think that they can get away with this behavior (because they haven't been "taught" not to act that way).

Ejecting a lot is not anything to be proud of either. But if you get after the mis-behavior immediately, they will find out (easy way or hard way) that that behavior won't be tolerated. When you get good at it, the conscientious coaches understand, behave and EJs become infrequent...the bonehead coaches get to learn the hard way...usually over and over again...but nobody should give a crap about them...as you shouldn't feel bad about this EJ.

I go back/forth about whether to intervene when my partner isn't taking care of business. Sometimes I let him take his beating thinking that'll teach him, but usually these kind of umpires don't learn to I-A-W-E and working games with them is a miserable expereince for everyone. So sometimes I find a way to insert myself into the disipline (as you FINALLY did). Some will think less of me for intervening, but sometimes I can't wait for them to think that they can get away with that crap with me. I don't care...somebody has to quiet these games down. 

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Ejections happen. This was a good one. Sometimes there isn't anything you can do other than to flick that booger off. 

Dont sweat this one Ken. I'm sure you'll go a long time again without one until some jackass leaves you no alternative. I've actually been applauded by a coach and player's own teammates and fans when I ejected a father and son dynamic duo from Cincinnati during a tourney once. Several fans shook my hand when leaving the field thanking me for finally doing what apparently most umpires had been avoiding all summer. 

It happens man. 

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Some guys have a short leash...others, such as yourself, have longer ones. There's nothing wrong with being an umpire who makes every effort to keep someone in a game. But even those guys are eventually confronted with a situation where an ejection is simply unavoidable. This was one of them. Nothing to feel bad about, Ken. You did what you had to do. But I have to say that 600+ games without an ejection is a pretty amazing streak. Who knows... maybe in 5 years or so, you'll break your own record.

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Some guys have a short leash...others, such as yourself, have longer ones. There's nothing wrong with being an umpire who makes every effort to keep someone in a game. But even those guys are eventually confronted with a situation where an ejection is simply unavoidable. This was one of them. Nothing to feel bad about, Ken. You did what you had to do. But I have to say that 600+ games without an ejection is a pretty amazing streak. Who knows... maybe in 5 years or so, you'll break your own record.

For me 600+ games was about 14 months. I was pretty upset the guy just would not shut up when I tried to restrict him so I had to eject. My assigner for these events wants us to restrict first but this was the first time I've even had to try it. I've never seen it lead to anything but an ejection when partners have tried it. I guess if a guy is not enough of a baseball guy to know a AC can't keep yapping about B&Ss then he won't be able to take a restriction. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
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[quote timestamp=1441642937 name="KenBAZ" uid=2897] PS - it really has been 600+ games since my last ejection.

I believe, I would have left this part out of the telling.

Why, It firmly establishes me as someone that has let things go in the past. I understand that it makes me a bit less of an umpire in the eyes of some on the board but it's factual. Also, otherwise this was just a routine ejection. Why was this incident different then the hundreds I've managed without an ejection? I want to understand and get advice on this so I can better manage the next 600 games. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

Ken,

DO NOT paint a broad brush stroke and say because haven't had an EJ in 600 games means you let things go too long.  That is an analogy that just is not true.   In some cases, yes, maybe, ....but A does not equal B all of the time.

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Well the 600+ games is a fact. You are right that it does not establish that I let things go I should have ejected for. I'd like to think in many situations I've found ways to manage things so I didn't have to eject. In this situation I couldn't find a way to keep the game moving the way it should without removing the offending AC. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

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Well the 600+ games is a fact. You are right that it does not establish that I let things go I should have ejected for. I'd like to think in many situations I've found ways to manage things so I didn't have to eject. In this situation I couldn't find a way to keep the game moving the way it should without removing the offending AC. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

How about this scenario ......

You just don't get that much crap from people .... which means ..... you're doing SOMETHING right! :nod: (caveat: NOT that you're doing something wrong either)

Edited by Thunderheads
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I probably would have talked to my partner between innings before I stepped on his you-know-what and took care of it. If it became an issue that he won't deal with then I will step up and do what needs to be done. The other thing I want to comment on is the restriction, TD's seem to want us to give them but coaches (outside of HS) don't know what it means. So in your case it just prolonged the inevitable, an EJ. If TD's would explain to coaches what to do and what it means it would sure help the situation quite a bit but then again it might interfer with them whoring for the teams dollars.

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@KenBAZ, it sounds like you gave the guy a chance when you explained to the HC why you were restricting the AC to the dugout. He should've told the guy to keep his mouth shut, so that's on him. 

I have no problem with my partner taking control like you did. Sometimes it's so loud behind the plate with parents offering advice to the catcher, the pitcher, the batter, etc. that the PU doesn't always hear what a coach is saying. The fact that it was an AC is even worse. If I'm the BU, and I hear it, I'm probably going to put a stop to it as well. 

Sounds like you handled it fine  

 

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For me 600+ games was about 14 months. 

I am more amazed by this than anything else mentioned in this thread. That's an average of 10 games a week.

I know I don't have the capacity for such a schedule. For this calendar year I have had 141 scheduled dates between volleyball and baseball. Not all were played and on occasion I think I might be doing too many. I could not imagine quadrupling my officiating work load. .

 

 

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I know I'm doing too many. I know there are guys in warm weather states that do more games then me. Some guys I work with here work more then me but most of them are full time officials. I try and use each game to get better but it can be difficult to bring your best focus every pitch when your doing so many. You do get to practice a ton of game management scenerios. Perhaps that's why this EJ bothered me. The coach's behavior was outside the normal patterns I've come to expect. For example, last night I had a good Mustang game going. I'd had a big but consistent zone all night. I rung a kid up to end the 5th on a pitch that was down. On his way back to his dugout from the 3BCB the HC said to his player, "Cade I have no problem with you taking that pitch, it was down". It was the only thing said all game by either side. The coach is a former ML pitcher who I've worked with before. I knew he wanted me to hear that and he knew I would not lose my cool over it. That is just the way things should be handled. Not standing outside the dugout arguing about pitches you can't see and continuing to talk after you've be warned and restricted. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

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You're not going to believe this but 14 games later I have another ejection. JR HS game run trucks the catcher with his HC in the 3BCB yelling for him to get down. When he went up and out with his arms I just said, "That's malicious, you're out". OHC then coached the runner loudly all the way back to the dugout. Maybe ejections just come in bunches. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

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