Paperipper17

Got a call today to work a make-up game between two 10U teams. I didn't work yesterday, so despite the location (Sans Souci, Jax, a park notorious for bad parents and coaches at that age) and the fact that I'd be flying solo, I said sure, why not. I'm so glad I did. I literally heard everything a rat can yell that is unmistakeably wrong to anyone with any sort of grasp on the rules. As luck would have it, the home team is the worst of the bunch, a team I've had once before. Away team is ok, and the AC is one of our association's senior umps. Nice guy. So we get started (After the plate meeting, in which home HC asked "Where's your strike zone tonight?" "Same place it always is, Stephen." ). Ok for the first frame. There's a Coach Dad in the stands that insists on yelling instructions to every hitter and telling me where each pitch missed or didn't miss. But he's outside the fence, so whatever. Also, he thinks it's hilarious to call me "Red" instead of Blue, as I wore my red shirt, then laugh uproariously each time while nudging his buddy and saying "Get it? 'Cause he has red on." Ass. Second inning, R1 and R2, one down. VT at bat, BR chops one to F5, which gets through his legs and rolls into left. R2 and F6 get tangled up so I call obstruction, then wait for the play to sort itself out. Well, OC starts yelling for his runners to keep running, but they freeze at the next bag, I guess assuming it was a dead ball. Here comes Coach Dad. "If you called interference(ha.), they gotta go back! It's a do-over!" Right. The do-over clause. I forgot. Next half, HT at bat, and there's a banger at first. Out. "Tie goes to the runner! Tie goes to the runner! You need to read the rulebook once! You costing us this game!" At this point it's all I can do to keep from laughing. Besides the ridiculous rulebook reference, they were down 13-4. Also, he had seen my girlfriend and I walk in together, so he made sure to set up his chair right behind her when he went into personal insults ("You too tall to be a umpire! Go do basketball! You too tall! You can't see nothin' from that far up! Quit makin' mistakes! You terrible! Go get some glasses!" ) Here was my favorite though. Bottom 3, his son was up with two outs. Watches two right down the cock-two pitches so good his rat ass couldn't even argue-then swings at one high and in. Ball hits his hand. I HEARD it hit skin. SAW it hit the hand. "Time! Batter's out!" This is awesome. First, everyone's cheering. He starts to run down to first. So, I repeat it. "WHAT? Red it hit him! It hit his hand!" Well, he isn't on the field, so I'm not talking to him. HC runs over. "Blue, it hit his hand." "I know, Stephen, but he swung. That's a strike." "But it hit him." "But he swung, Stephen. He's out." "Ok, so he swung. Well, the hands are part of the bat, right? Foul ball." Behind us, I can hear the visiting AC, the ump, start to crack up. I (barely) kept a straight face. "The hands are certainly not a part of the bat, he's out. Swinging strike, dead ball. That's all, Stephen." And walked away giving the "out" sign. Enter Coach Dad. "The hands is part of the bat, RED! LEARN THE RULES!:blah" Well, visiting AC is tired of the guy, so he walks by and explains the ruling on his way to the 1BC box. As soon as he walks away, he starts again. "It hit the bat first, Red! We could see it here! It hit the bat! Foul ball!" There was more but it was the same ol' , just ad nauseum So that was about it, besides a few gripes about my zone . Anyway, just thought you guys would enjoy this hodgepodge of no rules knowledge. In case you skipped over it: in one game, I heard- Interference, not obstruction. Interference/obstruction is a do-over for the offense. Tie goes to the runner. Swinging strike hits the batter means the batter gets first. Hands are part of the bat. No, wait, it didn't hit the hands, it hit the bat. :rollinglaugh::crazy: :givebeer::givebeer:

These things...they put them on the knob to either force the hitter to choke up or take away the sting of a miss-hit ball (). They also come in colors, and some don't extend up the handle at all, just cover the knob. I never knew anyone that used one but I saw a few on other teams in HS and one or two in college, usually a smaller leadoff guy who used it to force himself to choke up, but no one ever said anything. I'm not sure how it makes it an illegal bat.

I posted a while back and mentioned a coach that told me twice "Call it both ways." The general consensus on here was that that was a remark meant to question my integrity and worthy of an EJ...but opinions were divided as to whether I should warn the first time. Of course, this was a 10U game, and the rat probably didn't know any better until I warned him. In an upper-level game, he knows exactly what he's saying and it's meant as an insult, plain and simple. Whatever you do, don't try to address it in pre-game...that can only backfire and will certainly set a negative tone for the rest of the night.

Mine has the rivets...taken a few shots but nothing straight on, and haven't had anything go wrong with it. Still trying to figure out how to clean it :crazy:

Working with the same partner on a regular basis is a huge plus. In the fall I worked almost exclusively with an umpire named Jose, who was largely unpopular with the coaches but knew his stuff and was great to work with. This season I've done 12 or 13 games with JaxRolo, and it's nice to know exactly where he'll be and what he'll cover on a particular play. It really allows me to be a lot less apprehensive about rotations, coverages, and calls.

Wow. What a moron. Typical umpire-hater. Someone with no idea how difficult that job is. He needed to be fined for that crap. I want the announcer to announce the game, not flood me with his half-brained opinions.

First and foremost, probably making him forget everything he knows about the rules I'd start with positioning, rotations, and mechanics. The hardest thing for me to do was to stop reacting to what I thought was going to happen and instead just following the ball and letting the play develop. However, if there's one thing every beginning ump should carve into his arm, it's this: SELL IT. We all know this rule, but until I learned it I'm sure I looked pretty hesitant. Tell him that no matter what call he makes, even if he KNOWS he blew the hell out of it, stand with it and defend it. To me, the worst enemy of an umpire isn't coaches or players or even surprise, it's indecision and doubt. A surprised umpire can still make a call, and if he got any look at it at all, probably a decent one. But if that call is made weakly or shakily, he just shot himself in the foot. Someone posted on another thread that you have to be a badass out there, and that's the truth. Be a badass, sell every call, and the road will be much smoother.

Exactly. And of course the stakes are that high. HC didn't get his trophy to put on his desk because the ump was being a power-abusing bully. :rollinglaugh:

You said the kid had been warned. By definition, a warning precedes an EJ. Regardless of how good the player was, or his role on the team, if the umpire felt that it deserved an EJ, then it did. In some leagues or associations, it isn't up to the umpire at all. After the warning, if it happens again, no matter who it is, he's gone. Thrown bats are dangerous to everyone within range, and if that EJ is what it took to teach him he needs to stop, then it was the right call. I wonder...If it was the 11th batter who played right field every third inning, and the team was better off with him out of it for the next game, would the same question have been raised? :rollinglaugh:

and if the bat stands on end, a la Rafael Furcal, home run.

I could be interpreting this wrong, but according to rule 8-2-8-a, the following runner is only out if both runners are tagged while occupying the base. Since R2 was not tagged until R3 had left the bag, I don't think you could call him out.

God. If it's the Rotary I'm not even semi-surprised. They were jacking up registration fees the year it opened.

Definitely not a good feeling. On an unrelated note, you guys are doing 13-15 solo down there? I need to come home...:BD:

I do this myself. I'll call time, ostensibly to sweep the plate, and tell F2 to relay the message while I do it, Or if I'm in the field, I'll do what you do and send it in via an infielder. You're right, it takes away any argument later on.

I had a walk-off D3K last week. Bases loaded, 2 outs, HT down by two, full count, batter chases a curve that gets away from F2. R3 was two steps from the plate when F2 got his hand around it, so he throws it into right field, R1 was off on the pitch and beats the throw to the plate. Pretty wild play...reminded me of that line from Summer Catch... "Whoa, somebody put a quarter in the merry-go-round!"

He hadn't arrived until the second inning. The AC was at the plate meeting. To be honest, it fooled me. They all huddled up, and when they broke, F1 went right to the rubber. I wish I'd noticed the exchange, but it must have happened while I was brushing the plate.

If a coach is acting like an ass, don't give it back to him. Nothing makes him look more like an ass than you being calm, cool, and collected. :D

and he's at every game.

:bang:I did not know that. Found it, rule 5.1.4. Now that I think about it, I should have been on top of that. to me on that one.

12U game, top 4, I'm PU. F1 is laboring, but has already picked off two runners at third and had two easy picks dropped at first. He walks a batter, giving us R1 and R2 with one out. Coach comes out to talk. I grant time, brush the plate, zero out my indicator, and signal IFF with my partner. Coach leaves. Pitcher is over, but not on, the rubber, and looking in. I point and say "Play," and get ready to drop into my stance. Suddenly, there's a commotion at first. Apparently, Coach thought this was a great time to pull the ol' hidden ball trick. No signal from my partner yet as to out or safe, and I call time and sprint out. Partner: "Did you put it in play?" Me: "Yep. Did he throw it and I missed it or did they pull hidden ball?" Partner: "Hidden ball." Me: "Ok. (Loud) That's a BALK!" and award the runners. Here comes coach. "What happened? He was out! You can't just call time and decide it was a balk!" "Coach, I thought it was right away but I wanted to be sure. That's why I went to ask him if the pitcher had the ball. When he said he didn't, that's when I called it." "But he wasn't on the rubber!" "He doesn't have to be. He was straddling the rubber and looking in without the ball. If he is within five feet of the rubber without the ball, that's a balk. If he's simulating any pitching-related activity-like the stretch position-without the ball, it's a balk." We go on in this vein for awhile, him insisting the kid wasn't on the rubber, me explaining he didn't have to be. Then he gave my favorite line of the night. "You can't call time and go ask him for help! You have to wait for a coach to do that!" Right. "Coach, that's why there's two of us. I can ask him for help on any play I need help on. Look at it this way. I can ask him for help on a check swing, he can ask me for help on a swipe tag or a pulled foot." "But you have to wait for the coach to ask him that!" I killed the conversation and walked away shaking my head. Here's the kicker: Between inning, the coach that arrived in the second inning walks up to me. I thought he was an AC. Nope. "Blue, that :censored:hole gives you any more , dump him. He's my assistant. I told him ok, but if I'd known he was only an AC, he'd have been gone already for leaving the dugout to argue a call. He told me he was surprised I hadn't anyway. Apparently, I found out after the game, all the muttering in the stands during this debacle wasn't ump-bashing...It was parents genuinely embarrassed at his behavior and hoping one of us would toss him. Pays to have a spy in the seats So. did I interpret rule 6.2.5 correctly here? And should I have dumped this rat when he didn't go away after the third time I explained it to him?

Bought it yesterday, and I've loved it so far. Second chapter dragged on a bit, but once he got into the clinic the book really hit its stride. Definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to give it a shot.

reminded me of this... But MUCH better orchestrated. That was awesome.

Hahaha cold, guys...but well played In between pitches, sometimes I come up to that position. I'm a tall guy, and if I've done a few plates my lower back gets stiff...so it starts to hurt to stay down with my hands on my knees the whole time. I'm waiting on my girlfriend to snap another one so I can put it up instead.

that's the one! I was looking and couldn't find it. You got the ESPN clip though...I was watching it on Sunsports and they are decidedly homer in their calls . That is a pretty cool design for an awning, I must say. I hadn't seen that. I'd be interested to see how it actually works. I've heard some great things about Kauffman...a buddy of mine played AA for the Royals and got to go to a few games and said it's really a shame more people don't go, as he loved the park's atmosphere.

Red Forman Sez... The more asshats, the merrier...