plateumpire29

"We sat here the rest of the game admiring the size of your balls for making that call."

Hey Warren, you still have that old cap? We have some clowns in our association who could use it to replace the rags that they're wearing.

'Atta boy!

I had a batter draw a line 4 inches inside of the plate after an inside corner punchout. I said, "excuse me, may I see your bat?" Quizzically, he complied. I told him to follow me. I then drew a line from the plate to the dugout, at which time I handed him the bat and gave him the big heave-ho. Lesson learned.

If I hear a discouraging word from an assistant, I tell him to shut up or he's gone. Haven't had to toss one yet.

@ Pete. Years ago I was working a Memorial Day Tournament championship game behind the plate. It was 13u, two good teams. In a tight game, the left fielder drops a fly ball to allow in the goahead run in about the fourth inning. With a look on his face like he wanted to kill this kid, the coach got nose to nose with him at the end of the inning. The following inning, it became apparent that the kid was deathly afraid of making a mistake and let several balls drop in front of him. The enraged coach yanked him before the inning was over. The kid ran off the field with tears streaming down his face. I was so disgusted with what I had witnessed that I baited the coach and ran him. Had that been my kid, me and that coach would have been dancing in the parking lot. I don't justify my actions and don't give a damn what anybody else here thinks of what I did. That piece of s$&) probably ruined that boy as far as baseball was concerned and didn't belong in the position he was in.

Out of the 28 or so high schools that our associaton serves, there are maybe three or four that have us work their JV or freshman games solo. During the summer, there's some rec ball and eight and nine year old travel that is one-man. That's about it.The rest is two man. I can count on one hand the games I've worked solo in the last 20 years.

Generally, when a coach yells out, "that's two", I come back with "let me know when it's three and see what happens." That's generally warning enough.

In a game that's already decided, no way I'd take it away from the kid. If it turned the game, I'd have to.

@ Umpire-Scott; you need to realize that, whether the age is ten or 35, we are dealing with a child's mentality. We are the ones in authority. We are the people who must lay down the law and make it clear that certain behaviors will not be tolerated. It really doesn't matter how it is said. In my example, the offending party was straightened out, and no one watching had a clue what had just happened. Once I had a coach chirping and I pulled him aside and said,"you realize, of course, that what you're saying is going in one ear and out the other." (The message? Moaning and groaning ain't gonna change a thing. I'm keeping it friendly, for now.) There were laughs and he knocked it off. Experience. 25 years of developing a no-nonsense reputation. When coaches know an umpire can't be pushed around, they generally don't try. My strictest rule for myself is to mirror the way I'm being treated. If I'm given courtesy and respect, I respond in kind. If not, it could wind up being a long evening and it is one that I will not lose.

Generally, in an upper level game, if the volume is such that only I can hear it I'm a little more lenient. If it's turned up to "11" where everyone in the park can hear it, then I'm issuing a ticket to the parking lot. If I have a pitcher who is demonstrating, and the level doesn't matter here, I send the catcher out to him with a stern message about being forced to throw the ball into a teacup if the antics continue. I can't remember that message ever being disregarded. It all has to do with cumulative experience when it comes to knowing the right time to eject. This year I tossed a college coach three pitches into a game. I was in "A" and he decided to stand at the third base line and scream at me about the opposing pitcher's mechanics. When he disobeyed my directive to go back to his position and keep quiet, I dumped him. When he came out to get his money's worth, I explained to him that I wasn't going to listen to that garbage for two hours, and that the conversation, as far as I was concerned, was over. The rest of the game was played in sweet silence! I knew, from experience, that if I didn't eliminate the problem, it would be just that for the remainder of the game.

Froze mine and the charge seems to last longer.

This summer has been one of the hottest on record in norhteast Ohio. We've had several guys go down due to the heat. I'm on BP medication so I am definitely vulnerable. Picked up the Rite Temp cooling vest in the beginning of July and wished I had heard of it much earlier. It will completely discharge in 1:30 to 1:45 in 100 degree heat, but it does me good enough to where I can easily make it through a long game in that kind of weather. I definitely recommend it.

Why all the arguing? There's is no need to scream it. Saying it loud enough for those in the immediate vicinity to hear is sufficient. My thing is that if one does it every time in every situation, it becomes habit and eliminates one more nasty situation in which one can find oneself.

From the angle and distance, it's hard to tell if the slide is clean. To me , the catcher appeared to move into the runners baseline to field the throw. The runner and baseball arrived at the same time. If I think I've got a clean slide, I've got nothing. My positionining would have been third base extended at roughly a 30 Degree angle toward first base to the third base line. This would have given me a pretty decent look at the slide.If i've got an illegal slide and MC, the call must be made with good timing and it must be sold, as the plate guy in this video did.