Game Management - Ejections

[Guest Fellow Umpire]

How many years have you been umpiring, and in those years, how many coaches/players have you ejected? 

As an umpire, I understand that coaches/players actually eject themselves. 

My EJ total is 4 in my first four years of umpiring youth and high school baseball. 

I have colleagues who've been umpiring for 10 years without a single ejection. It leads me to wonder how off I am in my game management skills. Any advice? 

[LineyNinja]

I agree with some of the discussion that counting your ejections is poor judgment on evaluating game management. I was a part of 7 ejections last season. I personally ejected 2 coaches and 2 spectators. All four of my ejections were reviewed and were justified (I tossed the first coach of my career for balls and strikes I counted with my partner how many CCA bullet points he hit and he hit four of the 13. The bottom line is that UMPIRES DO NOT EJECT COACHES, PLAYERS OR SPECTATORS! THEY DO IT TO THEMSELVES. This likely sounds very cliche but it is true. As an umpire, I did not make that player or coach drop that F-bomb that everyone heard. That player or coach made the decision to use that language. Based on the rules of the leagues I am working, I have no choice but to eject the player. It was their choice to drop the bomb I am simply enforcing the rules of the league I am working. 

 

[Replacematt]

There's no answer. Each situation has to be evaluated on its own merits.

In 120ish games last year, I had nine ejections. That's high compared to a lot, but each one was independently reviewed and justified.

[wolfe_man]

I had one in approximately 85 games last year.  That was my first in 3 years.  I'm not sorry I ejected him, but wish I would have handled it better.  I try to learn a little more in each game I do - each mistake I make is an opportunity to do better and not repeat the same error.

Just as I work hard on my timing, zone, angle, placement, footwork, etc... I try to work hard on my judgments and interactions with everyone on the field.  I should have tossed guy faster - and let him eject himself.  I got upset and raised my voice and I hate that, but I guarantee it won't happen again. 

[BT_Blue]

I won't have any this year due to having to take the spring off (hoping I can get a game or four in during the summer depending on how my knee feels). But I have around 25 years on the field. Some years I have none. Some I have a bunch.

By my count, I have averaged an ejection a year for my career. It isn't anything I am overly proud of. But is something I do like to chuckle at on my own time.

[jjb]

33 years. How many I've ejected? Can't say; I usually forget about them 2 days after. How many I didn't eject, but should have? 11. I remember each and every one of them.

[BT_Blue]

2 minutes ago, jjb said:

33 years. How many I've ejected? Can't say; I usually forget about them 2 days after. How many I didn't eject, but should have? 11. I remember each and every one of them.

Totally agree. One from a few years ago still haunts me to this day. And one from last year where I lost control still gets me. And the one from last year I DID eventually get the ejection.

[ElkOil]

I wouldn't use the number of ejections as a metric for game management effectiveness because it's not an indicator of how good or bad you are at it. Would more ejections automatically mean you're better, or would fewer? Each situation is different. Instead, I'd look at the appropriateness of how you handle each situation in its entirety, irrespective of whether or not you EJ'd anyone. And hindsight is 20/20. If EJ'ing someone bugs you after the fact, perhaps you shouldn't have done it. And if not EJ'ing someone bugs you, perhaps you missed an opportunity.

All my EJ's have been in men's league for the use of profanity -- which is something their league president insists we eject for. I haven't had one in a HS game, that I recall.

[Aging_Arbiter]

4 hours ago, Guest Fellow Umpire said:

As an umpire, I understand that coaches/players actually eject themselves. 

I think you nailed this one.  I have always stood by the contention that I have not ejected anyone.  I have merely confirmed their desire to no longer participate in that days contest.

 

You always regret the one you missed................@MST was it?

[conbo61]

This is my 11th season and I have a grand total of four.

One profanity, two malicious contact and one coach for being a PITA.  He was trying to filibuster in the hopes that imminent bad weather would halt the game.

So three ejections "by rule", one based on judgment.

[maven]

My experience is that the number of ejections per season diminished as I got better and moved up.

It makes a difference that at this point I work only HS varsity, and in a state that levies substantial penalties (in money and time) on coaches who are ejected. I use a fairly credible "that's enough!" which under these circumstances deters most coaches from further misbehavior.

I agree with the claim that total or average number of ejections has no correlation with an umpire's game management skill level. I know umpires at all points of the average EJ spectrum who are good, and even more at all points of the spectrum who are crap.

[BRUMP]

I agree with what maven says that it has no correlation with an umpires game management. Me for example I will have been umpiring for 10 years this september. I have 11 ejections. 2 players, 9 coaches. 3 at the LL level, 7 at the travel/club level and 1 at the HS varsity level. Ive gone stretches of up to 2 and a half years without an ejection, but I also had a 5 week period where I had 4 ejections. What do all these stats mean, in the end I believe nothing. I don't think it has any correlation with my skill level. I will agree with Maven where he says the level of ball will diminish ejections. At the HS level I've only had one ejection in 3 years (a couple weeks ago) and have never really come close until then (except for having to restrict two opposing HCs when they decided that they should have a shouting match from across the field, but again didnt really involve me).

[CJK]

14 hours ago, maven said:

It makes a difference that at this point I work only HS varsity

This is a pretty important point.  If you work regularly in a local league, where there are a finite number of teams with accountability to a board, your ejections are more likely to be few, because there are longer-term consequences for the misbehavior.  On the tournament and travel circuit, where TDs don't communicate with each other (and many are focused on growing numbers over anything else), there are often no consequences beyond tomorrow, and there are coaches who will exploit that fact.

[lawump]

15 hours ago, maven said:

My experience is that the number of ejections per season diminished as I got better and moved up.

This is true at any level of baseball.  One of my former minor league partners got a cup of tea in MLB.  We talked on the phone after one of his games which I had watched on TV.  Joe Brinkman (whom I love (I went to his school and he put me in pro ball) so I'm not throwing him under the bus too big here), kicked a call at the plate.  When speaking about Joe's missed call, my former partner said, "no one said a word.  If I had made that call I would have had to eject the runner, the third base coach and the manager!"  

And that's the difference between a rookie MLB umpire and a 30-year vet!

When the coaches realize that you're going to be there for a while and that (most nights) you know what you're doing, they tend to give you the benefit of the doubt. 

[BretMan]

Ejections per season is kind of meaningless if we don't know how many games you work in a season. If your number is three, but you only worked a dozen games...

I once did some rough math and figured that I averaged one ejection about every sixty games. So, one or two a season, depending on my workload.

Then I got three in ONE GAME last year, which was a record for me and kind of skewed the averages!

[Guest Kckump]

20 year ump and do 80-100 games a year between high school and youth league. High school I average 2 a season. 

Youth league games and tournaments 

I would say I average 1-2 ejections a week. 

[aaluck]

In youth ball 12 years this stretch, one coach. In high school ball for the past 5 years no coaches, one player. Like others have stated I probably SHOULD have ejected several more coaches. Also, like others have stated in HS ball the penalties are stiff so most coaches will stop once you give them a stern verbal warning, or a written warning. At the youth level I shut it down quickly and if I have a guy that is a known problem I go to the commissioner and let him know.  We are very fortunate in that at all 4 parks we cover the commissioners always back us, even when we are not 100% right.

In HS I do my absolute best to set a tone of approachability to both coaches, but let them know that I will listen to their "opinion" (expressed calmly), give an explanation (seek help if necessary) and then WE are moving on past that. Sometimes they need a gentle reminder of my "policy", but usually I find they just want to vent at someone for their players bad play that creates most of the problems.

Obviously I use ejection as a last resort. I have found that an explanation of what I saw or my rule application usually satisfies most coaches, even if they disagree.

[beerguy55]

I wouldn't worry about being at 1-2 per season where others are at zero.   I've seen coaches go 10 years without an ejection and get two in the same weekend.

There are problem coaches, and there are problem umpires.

If you as an umpire are ejecting exponentially more people than the colleagues in your association covering the same leagues tournaments, on a consistent basis, over dozens or hundreds of games, you may need to look in the mirror - are you quick to the punch or thin-skinned, or are you that poor an umpire that you are drawing the ire of coaches/fans/players on judgment calls, or are you antagonistic.

As long as you can honestly assess yourself, that's all you can do.  Ejecting four people in four games can mean absolutely nothing, or everything.  It can mean you had a bad week and had personal problems going on, and you brought that to the field.  And it can mean you just happened to run across a series of pricks.  And a lot of options in between.

 

If you as a coach are consistently getting ejected exponentially more than the others in your leagues and tournaments, you are the problem.  You're not doing your team any favors.  And you're not teaching your players any quality characteristics.   There are coaches I know how can't go half a season without being tossed...the majority don't get tossed over five seasons.

I've been tossed four times in 30 years - once as a player, three times as a coach.  I deserved all four, and two of them I intended.