BlueZone

Had a fun one this week, LL Majors R1, R3, 1 Out. Pop fly to F4. He drops it and we are off to the races. 2 bad throws later we have 2 runs in and BR is at 2nd. Now the coach is a newbie and doesn't say anything, but the " baseball " dad in the stands starts yelling, "Infield Fly, Infield Fly". Coach calls time out and walk out to ask me what was up with the call. Spectator is still yelling IF. The coach looks at me and says, " What he Said" while he pointed at the dad. I politely said, "we do not have an IF, There is an Umpire Clinic coming up". He said OK and walked away. The fan came to me 2 innings later and with a page 7 retraction said, "Sorry about that". I guess he got his rule book out. Rick

To add a little more to the story. The home team had a big lead early (something like 9-1 in the 4th) and it looked like we were all headed for an early day. Then they started giving it away. Before you know it we are in the 6th and it is close. Then came EJ #3 and everything was my fault at that point. Now I know all of theses guys, and I am generally regarded as a good umpire around these parts. The visiting dugout started blaming me for things that happened in the 3rd because I didn't have help. It got a little ugly. I finished the game and left through the winning dugout and got out of there. This happened last May and I just saw one of the coaches this week and he was finnaly over it.

Just to preface, I have a total of 6 ejections in my career including these 3. I was called at 12:00 noon to do the plate for a LL Jrs game 2 cities over at 6:30 PM that night. I agreed and proceeded to change my schedule around so I could be there on time. I had been told that I was going to have help on the bases from one of the coaches in the league. So I get all of my gear ready and show up to the field at 6:00. Check out the field and start getting dressed. 6:30 comes, no help. No problem lets play. Game is progressing with no issues when during the bottom of the 2nd some guy starts walking onto the middle of the diamond. Let me paint this picture. The guy is dressed in baggy jean shorts with no belt and I can see about 5 inches of his boxers. He is also wearing a skin tight white tank top and a ball cap on backwards. As he walks away from me I noticed his wallet is on a 2' long chain. I called time and motioned him over to me. I asked him, " Who are you?" "I'm the ump" was his response. I quietly said," Please do not walk out onto the field without checking in with me". His response was very loud, " Don't talk to me like one of these kids, I'm a man". I, still being very quiet, said, "Get off of my field". Now he start a rant that is loaded with foul language as I just walk back to the plate. He left the field and we continued. In the 5th inning and the home team batting, I called a 3rd strike. The batter lifts his bat above his head and slams it on the ground next to me. He immidiately looks at me and I quietly say to him your gone. Noone has anything to say about this, and the player even tells me "sorry blue" before he walks away. We continue the game as the player gathers his things and walks out and sits on the bleachers. Now in the 6th inning with the visiting team batting and 2 outs I have another called 3rd strike. The batter leans back in dis-belief then underhanded tosses his bat 60 feet back to the dugout as he mumbles under his breath. He had to go. Now in hind sight I think I probably should have let the 3rd one go, but the other 2 guys set him up. let the pain begin Rick

I would like to say hello and introduce myself. My name is Rick and I do most of my umpiring in Little League Baseball and Softball in Florida District 17. I also (when asked nicely) support the travel ball leagues and I even got pulled into a HS JV game because one of the umpire got sick right before the game and I was friends with the PU for the game. I got into umpiring by asking 1 rediculous question. While attending a mandatory emergency coaches meeting when my son was in T-Ball that revolved around the district wide umpire shortage, I raised my hand (1st mistake) and asked, "What do you have to do to get certified as an umpire?" The very aggressive moderator of the meeting with a big pionty finger said, " YOUR AN UMPIRE". At the time in our league the majors division coaches had a very bad reputation for being a big pain in the ass for umpires, yet I agreed to give it a try and I guess I did OK. That was the day I realized I needed to get out of coaching and become an umpire. 10 years have passed and I am finally out of coaching for good. I am looking forward to geting to know everyone and learning more about what I already know everything about, (right). Rick