SanDiegoSteve

You're partner has been hitting the crack pipe too hard. Tell him to stop loading such huge rocks. :rock

I use these along with Reebok plate shoes. These are TOP-of-the-line hockey shins, Reebok 10K's, and as long as you use plate pants and not combo, they work great. I've taken many shots to them and have never felt a thing except happiness that I could trust my shin guards. The only baseball umpire ones I would recommend are the Douglas, which I used to have.

Only Little League umpires must be volunteer, not umpires who work Little League games.

to be perfectly honest, in this particular moment, I'm not quite sure "that's enough" would have gotten the job done, however I do agree that it would have been a proper next step "Pipe down" would have been better. I have lost my cool and told a couple coaches to shut up, and it always sounds really bad. "Knock it off NOW" is a good one too, in cases where "that's enough" won't get it done..

Stephen, I thought he looked pretty good. Agree with Mike about the hands. He hasn't been nailed enough in the hands to worry about it yet, but there is nothing wrong with tucking them under the thighs. This only leaves the softer inside part of the arms exposed, which is preferable to the bony side and the fingers. These catchers he gets to work with are going to get him hurt eventually. Also, on that bases-empty triple near the end, I would suggest when he sees that it is going to be a possible triple and a play at third, he get up that line and move into the cut, and not stay at home plate. Working solo, as you know, means you have to hustle on plays like those. There is no reason a young man in good shape like he is should not get up in there on that one in case of a banger. On the rundown at home, have him clear the on-deck hitter out of the way, as he was standing right in the way of a close play at the plate. I just tell them forcefully, "move away." Really good job overall, and I agree with JaxRolo . Just kidding, of course.

And then you get a coach like Rich Ives and he reams your ass for quoting the wrong rule number or misquoting a rule.:)

You know better on this one . . . . Well, you know better that the pitcher can't raise his hands over his head like he's starting a windup. And I know that he just has to drop his hands before he re-engages. Which is an interpretation, not part of the actual rule as written in the rule book. It is from an interpretation manual of some alphabetical persuasion.

Just follow the guidelines in the link Thunderheads provided in post #2, along with the advice on this page, and you will do fine. Coaches have to be educated about the proper way to act on the field, and learn that they are not in charge of things, but rather you are. The sooner they learn that, the better.

Perhaps you have gained a reputation of taking more crap than you should, since you say that you have only ejected one player and zero coaches in 7 years. I find it hard to believe that all the coaches and/or players you've umpired have been choirboys or angels all that time. As stated, any kind of personal, profane, or prolonged argument directed at you or your partner is an ejection. "You're horrible, you suck, you're horsesh!t," etc. Gotta dump him. Arguing after telling the coach, "That's enough," and walking away, dump him. I have seen too many umpires tell a coach, "that's enough," only to allow them to argue some more. Then they make another stern warning to knock it off. Then the coach will make some other remark as he is leaving, and still not get run. That makes it really hard for the next umpire that works this coach. I want to keep coaches in the game as long as possible too, but sometimes they just gotta go.

Should have been run for bringing up the past. Just like the late Charlie Williams did when Padres manager Steve Boros came out to home plate the next day with a video tape of a call Charlie had supposedly blown in the last game. Bringing up the past is so automatic, and the coach probably knew it was and wanted to go home and have a beer. Here is my rewrite of what the conversation should have looked like: "so, what'd you have on that play down there?" (points toward 3rd) I said, "Coach, we are not going to discuss the past. End of story."

Which one's? Davy, Mickey, Peter, or Mike?

I was going to ask what it was that complemented the game you did, but you caught it yourself. You spelled it correctly, but used the wrong word. You mean Aaron and Matt weren't there too? They all are descendents of Daniel Boone, BTW, so you only missed by several generations.

They don't pay for LL umpires? $35 to 45 here for Majors--one man. When I started it was $ 15 for Minors and $18 for Majors, so it really hasn't gone up much in 26 years. Here, only districts that have their own volunteer LL umpires get free umpire service, and that's fairly rare.

Why would they do this? This is one they should reconsider, IMO. What are they paying the BU to do? Is this because of so many slow umpires or something? BU can easily cover both infield plays.

If an association is contracted to a league, and individual umpires not affiliated with this association take any of their games, they are scabs. If individual umpires can find games that aren't already being covered by an organized umpire group, then it's open season. If someone in an association is doing it to their own association, then string their ass up.

+1. Show them what an umpire is supposed to look and work like and maybe it will inspire some of them.

Not signing the book for score accuracy, just that there were umpires there and the game was officiated.

"Coach, would that have been a balk in the 1st inning?" "Yes, of course." "Then why wouldn't it be a balk in the 7th inning?" Coach was not being logical in his initial argument that you can't call that balk at a "crucial" part of the game. On the contrary, that's the exact time to call it. And the pitcher not coming to a stop from the Set Position with runners on base is not in any stretch of the word "marginal." Not stopping, as you pointed out, puts the runners in an unfair disadvantage, which is purpose for the rule. Great job on calling the tough balk.

The guy sounds like a total douchebag. One question though...if you had a rundown between 2nd and 3rd, why would you expect the PU to go down to 1st base? He either comes up to help you if there is no R3, or stays home if there is. You always box in the lead runner on rundowns. What mechanic has him going down to first base? R1 is still the BU's responsibility during a rundown with R2.

You know better on this one . . . . Well, you know better that the pitcher can't raise his hands over his head like he's starting a windup. :no:

I don't consider it ratting somebody out if they are taking food off my table. These clowns that do this have no moral compass, and should be reported and stopped. Just my :2cents:

It is written right there in the rule: Rule 8.01(a) Comment (3): From the Windup Position, the pitcher may disengage the rubber (if he does he must drop his hands to his sides). Bam, that is pretty cut and dried.

Good for the pitcher! (I didn't say that out loud did I?) I never let the first batter of the inning time the pitcher from anywhere other than his own on deck circle. Period. If he comes down toward the plate area trying to time the pitcher, I point out that in the big leagues if he pulled that stunt, the pitcher would put the next one in his ear hole, and then I send him back to his circle. That usually gets the job done.

We have to keep score on a card for the NABA games here, but it is only to keep the score straight during the game. Nobody has to sign it or even look at it later. My trunk gets littered with them during the season. A lot of youth ball leagues require that you sign the official score book, which is normally kept either in the press box or in the lap of a mom or dad from the home team during the game. It is not kept by the coaches or players, who I try to avoid like the plague after the game is over.

For the travel ball tournaments (USSSA, Triple Crown, Etc) , the umpire is required to keep the official score card during the game. It has the score per inning and the pitchers Innings Pitched. At the end of the game, we are required to tally the score - fill out the Start/End time - final tally the innings pitched for all pitchers and THEN have both managers sign it indicating everyone agrees. Now, I'm not saying I agree with it all but it's a requirement for working the tournaments. You have to do what your assignors require. Heck, I have an assignor that makes us walk through the "Good Game" line and shake hands with all the players/coaches after the game. Again, I don't agree with it but if I want to work and keep him happy I have to do what I have to do. That's okay. I just needed a good rant, and this seemed like a good one to rant about!:)