Jeff

You know I wouldn't be surprised if there was a little noobish ignorance coming out of me but I can honestly say I'm a really easy going and flexible person. I just don't have the reputation or the confidence to say "No I handled that decently, that coach was looking for a fight". I've got a DH on Saturday and games Mon-Tuesday so I'll see how it goes with all this new info I got.

Keep the comments coming guys, its really helpful. My sit down with my Dad's boss went really well and he had a lot of tips for what to do and not to do. I have a feeling that if I start getting better with game management and plate meetings that it will become obvious whether or not I'm cocky or the coaches are misbehaving. For now I'll cautiously err on the side of "it's me".

Lots of good advice that I mostly agree with. For starters, yes my league just threw me out there and for the most part I haven't had any issues. These two coaches have been looked at by the league and a careful eye is being continually kept. As far as 8.02a, PONY suggests for umpires to show the pitcher when he is doing something wrong that way he can properly correct his mistake. The Andy Pettite comment was right but he was also just doing something he hadn't done before and it looked odd. I know I was probably reading way to much into it but I've also read a lot of you on here say if your gut is tugging at you, don't ignore it. As far as the Mom telling me what count it was, she was about as derogatory and nasty without being vulgar as I have ever heard which was why I made the warning. I've done a couple 18U games already and have another one next weekend and if there's a count question usually the scorekeeper will ask me and I have NO problem with that. I know I'm leaving some more stuff out so I'll just keep responding as I see more feedback. Finally, I'd like to add that I really don't feel cocky in all of this. I try to be flexible given the age levels I handle. I have no problem with a coach having a question, wanting a play explained, etc. I just don't know how in the bleep I'm carrying myself in the wrong way because every coach I've calmly explained something to has given me no end of grief. I'm 20 and 5'7ish and most of the coaches stare down at me with an utter look of disdain. I like my UIC a lot but he is a busy guy and doesn't have a ton of time to work with me. I work my games, read my rulebooks, I'm on here ALL the time, on YouTube and after I hit send I'm going to my Dad's work because his boss is an NBUA ump and he said he'd love to sit down and try and help me out. I love this and when I get through this season and get some more experience I think I need to move up a level or change leagues. I like PONY but some of the coaches are a$$es because of geographic location if you catch my drift. -Jeff

I'm new here and new to being an umpire as well. I started working for PONY baseball in WA and so far I really enjoy it and would like to pursue it professionally. I would like some feedback on an ejection I made last week plus a coach issue earlier this week. Apparently coaches I've dealt with so far that have given me crap have said to my UIC that I'm cocky but i don't feel that way. I've been reading these forums for a couple weeks and trying to take away all the good information and it seems to me like you guys believe in being calm and giving chances where appropriate but not putting up with bad coach behavior at anytime. This was my email to my UIC about Monday's coaching issue. I had Coach Lee and his team a few weeks previous and he gave me no end of grief then as well. Tonight, Coach Lee for Bronco team 3's behavior was awful. At the beginning of the game he was very sarcastic in what was a normal, low-key pre-game meeting. During the bottom of the 1st inning there was an overthrow at first and the ball went behind Lake Francis' (the field we were at) fence line but still playable. Coach Lee came flying out of the dugout which is right near the backstop asking "Blue, that's out of play I get two bases right? RIGHT?", I responded "No" and he started to argue about how thats normally considered out of play. I explained to him that while I can understand his frustration, my judgement was that the ball was playable and that most if not all balls aren't going to go so far out of play that it would cause a cheap run. Also, the fence line is not parallel with the base lines and I felt it would be too arbitrary to enforce a non-existant fence line than to just let it play out. Finally I told him that if the ball went as far out of play as he was suggesting might happen, his runner was most likely going to get 2 bases anyways. He continued to argue and I told him that was enough. He continued again and I again told him "Enough. Let's Play" and directed my focus back at the pitcher. Play resumed. Top of the 3rd and there was a passed ball and a throw down to 3rd on a steal, the throw beat the runner by a mile and the tag beat the runner by a fairly wide margin give the fact that the runner froze in the base line. Lee came flying out of the dugout again, saying "BLUE THAT WASNT EVEN CLOSE!". I told him to watch it and he said "that's a horrible call!", at that point I said "warning!" and pointed at him. During the top of the 6th, I was watching a play at 1st while keeping R1 in my peripheral. Team 3 made the out at 1st base and after the play, Coach Lee came out of the dugout again saying "the kid slid headfirst into second he's out". I said "No" and again he raised his voice in an agressive tone as he asked "why the hell not?" I said that although that wasn't covered in the pre-game meeting, both teams had slid that way so far in the game and nothing was said. Also, I didn't get an excellent view on the play at 2nd due to my angle but I had R1 sliding in feet first which the base coach of Team 2 yelled back to Lee in protest. As Lee continued to argue I told him, "that's enough and I don't want to hear another negative word for the remainder of the game". EJ report from last week: Tonight's game started as well as any. At the beginning of the game I told the coaches since it was a practice game I wasn't going to worry about normal procedural stuff as much as I understand both coaches want to make a lot of pitching and defensive changes as well as possibly taking more visits to the mound. Coaches shook hands and all was well for the first 2 innings or so. During the bottom of the 2nd, there was a lot of comments from players in the dugout of the VT along the lines of "that's not a strike", "Blue doesn't know what he's doing" and "doesn't he know it's where it crosses not where it lands". I didn't take the comments personally at all as most of the kids at this age don't really seem to actually know where the ball is. However, between the bottom of the 2nd and top of the 3rd I went over to the coach of the visiting team and told him that even though it was a practice game I was issuing a bench warning just as a preliminary measure if things got out of hand. The coach asked why and I told him that while I understood the nature of the player's comments, it was still unsportsmanlike and needed to stop. The coach then replied "Oh that's lovely" in a very sarcastic tone. All was fine until the bottom of the 4th when the pitcher of the VT was in my judgement covering his face too much with his mitt as well as positioning his hands in a way that was distracting to the batter. I felt that this was enough of a violation of MLB rule 8.02 a that I called time and requested that the pitcher change his motion. The coach of the visiting team said "what the hell are you talking about blue? I've never heard of that!" after which I told him why I made that judgement and he continued to argue. I said "coach you're done" and then resumed play. After the next pitch there were a few gentlemen off to the side of the of the backstop on the HT side of the field making more belligerent comments about my judgement. In between pitches I called time and asked for the comments to cease. After play had finished in that half of the inning one of the gentlemen beckoned for me off to the side and said "we were just talking, you don't have any right to tell me what to do". I responded by saying that while I try not to engage with spectators, it is part of my job to control the behavior on the field and I felt that his comments were out of line. The man said something negative under his breath that I couldn't catch. At that point I announced to the field that I was issuing a full bench warning to both sides and that unsportsmanlike comments have no place in this environment. The coach of the home team was surprised at this announcement and asked why I was issuing the warning. I told the coach "I've had no problems with you but your parents are a little out of line" at which the HT coach hollered at his bleachers "hey parents... guys... SHUT UP, knock off the comments". In between innings the coach of the VT came up to me and said "if you would have noticed, all my pitchers do that and I've never had another umpire make the statement that you did". I told him again why I felt it needed to be brought up and added that it wasn't a big deal, more of an "instructional moment" and in further that I didn't want to hear anymore about the situation or have anymore arguments. Bottom 6, 2 outs. I momentarily spaced out while tracking a foul ball and forgot to add a strike on my indicator so when the HT base coach asked me for the count I replied "2 and 0" instead of 2 and 1. A parent for the visiting team began yelling at me "HEY WAIT THERE WAS A FOUL IT SHOULD BE 2 AND 1". I then remembered the foul ball I forgot to add and said "okay no problem the count is 2 and 1 but for future reference please do not tell me what the count is". At that point the VT coach came bursting out of his dugout and said "what the hell blue?". I told him that I was fine modifying my count but that the way it was requested by the parent was out of line and he needed to go back to his dugout. He responds "what the hell man, you wont take anything!!! I've given way more crap to umps before over less stuff, you need to figure it out". I said "coach you're gone, go to your car". At that point he said "man you suck, I've been coaching for 4 years and given way more crap and you just don't have the right stuff man but I'm not leaving the field". I then instructed all the players to come off the field at which point the VT coach said "fine I'll leave". After that the entire bench for the VT booed every single call I made after every pitch for the rest of the inning (2 more batters). After the inning had finished the home team decided to call the game.