HokieUmp

Which is why I loved the setup in my old group in Virginia. We worked a fair number of "house leagues," but between being a decent number of those leagues, and the number of guys in our group, we were never steadily at the same place a lot. Enough to get recognized, but it kept the familiarity factor down. Here, now that HS regular season's been done for a while, and that group is HS-ball only, I'm pimping myself out, to keep working games. (Side note: Ice-T was right. Pimpin' ain't easy.) So lately, I've been going back to the same facility night after night. I liked the old gunslinger life better - come in, crush dreams, ride out. But to @yawetag's point - I try to do the same kind of thing, so as to avoid throwing other guys under the bus. Usually prefacing it with "I wasn't there, but...." type statements. Not to mention, even when you THINK you know how you'll handle something, it can be very different when you're in the moment.

Look at me, Ma! I'm moderatin'!! Done.

I always thought reddit was the Internet's version of "White, windowless van down by the river." Have I been wrong all these years?

Mr Nair, I *really* hate to tell you this, but while this is an umpire site, it's a *baseball* umpiring site, not cricket. I'm probably one of the only ones on the site who know that much about cricket, and/or actually enjoy it, and I DO know what Duckworth-Lewis Scoring *is*, but even I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to answer your question. I actually understand what you're asking, but I don't know how those numbers are calculated. I'm sorry we can't help you here. I ALSO find this question arriving on this site to be completely - if unintentionally - hilarious. Cheers, HokieUmp

What's ironic, to me, is that no one's bothered to go through that manual and edit it. "Rulebooks don't come out on the field" has been A Thing for a long time, so there's no excuse to keep that in there. Also, the phrase "knotty problem" probably hasn't been said or written since maybe 1894, so .....

The phrase "that's a $40 call, there" comes to mind. (Or whatever dollar amount is appropriate.)

Oh, I don't take it as downplaying. Actually, as cancer goes, this wasn't .... so ... bad? That really does seem like a strange sentence to type, but it's sort of true. I mean, it WAS cancer, but I'm on three different FB groups for my deal, and I know it could have ended MUCH worse than it did. Post-chemo, it seems like my feet bother me more, but that could be diabetes, and I have increased tinnitus - and that might not be the chemo's fault either, since the drugs I was given aren't known for that as a side-effect. (It could be just being 53, having played the drums through college, and making Bad Choices regarding radio volume in the car sometimes.) But just had my second CT scan in the last eight months, and it was good enough for the doctor to lengthen the intervals. So, moving forward there. And I know you weren't talking the plate for ALL the games mentioned. I'm just talking that many in general. Even when I wasn't a shadow of my former self, the idea of 5+ sounded hideous to me. Yet I see people doing it all the time, and sometimes those kinds of numbers of BOTH days of the weekend. For me, that's just a recipe for disaster. I think my focus would waiver, intentionally or otherwise, to where it would lead to trouble on the field. Of course, with numbers dwindling, and fewer young'uns getting into it, people making that kind of effort are still needed. I'm just amazed it can be done.

Not picking on you, @kylehutson, so I'll ask any of the "tournament guys": how on Earth do you do that many games in a day, and then manage to walk? Right now, I understand why I'm still a weak little doe of a human - as they say, "cancer changes a man," and I'd argue chemo does even more. I feel generally okay, and I'm out walking the dog for a couple miles a night, but I'm nowhere near what I'm seeing people put down. Here, since the schools seem to have the umpire groups by the throat, the HS sked is primarily Tuesday and Friday, and then most of our assignments end up a DH of some sort - either a freshman/JV, JV/JV, JV/var or a varsity DH. Freshman and JV games are timed, so you generally know it's about 1:45-1:50. Two of those I can do, and did all this HS season. I put my hand up to help our assignor with a 13U tourney, and said I could give him three, being all cocky from working two at a time. It wasn't a mistake, since I made it, but after the hour drive home, unfolding out of my car was ........ interesting. And those were all time-limited, no new after 1:40, so likely less than six hours on the field. But even before The Cancer, I think I did no more than four in a day, and bloody well felt it. How do you guys do it? I hear people talk about five, six, seven games in a day, and doing it both weekend days. What am I doing wrong, other than being genetically/athletically inferior to you all? And how the hell are you fresh in those late games, more importantly - being accurate on the plate, or other calls?

Lab coats - AND fedoras!! I prefer rugby league, when it comes to the rugby family.

No, I GET the point - people don't want the stronger sticks getting passed over. That's fine. But the point I'm making, and seeing, is more an example of "rules being cynically manipulated by adults, yet under the guise of being 'for the kids'."

Sure. ExCEPT..... the alleged point of a pitch count is to save young kid's arms. Sure, counting pitches that never happened DOES save some wear, but considered the counts have been parsed down a fine point, to get "perfect" numbers, why would you take yet more pitches away from a kid? Especially when teams seem to have trouble having enough arms as it is? Also, it might make coaches learn how to set up a batting order better. You can't completely hide Milquetoast - never liked that kid, by the way - but you don't set up situations where RBIs go to die, either.

*PEDANTRY ALERT* *PEDANTRY ALERT* *PEDANTRY ALERT* That's not a linesman. That's a goal judge. And Aussie Rules Football is a pretty awesome sport. Go Sydney Swans!

I "give" them one, because I want to see if it's a habit or not. And around here this year, I found a LOT of catchers seem to want to hold it out there, even after I've made my verbal. Then I do the following... "Time!" [pull off mask/pull out plate brush/walk around F2] "Son, you're gonna want to get that ball back to the pitcher. You keep holding it out there like that, and you're gonna have a LONG day, and won't be getting much." [cleaning the plate during this, although I'm usually already talking as I'm walking around him] Now, honestly, I have a pretty short memory working the plate, and don't really think about calling a pitch any other way except on its own merits. Meaning: I'd forget to apply any vendetta that I promise, even to myself, if there's been a particularly dick-ish player. But the beauty of this is - THEY don't know that. And I have yet to get called out for it, because it seems that once I give that little speech, suddenly F2 learns how to pull it in and throw it back - an Easter miracle! Is this the best way? I don't know, but it seems to work. The speech varies. I try not to swear, since it's still HS, but it's hard, since I swear enthusiastically, normally.

At the risk of "avoidance," I can't really address exactly what it was. This was something my partner mentioned to me, and since it's been a month since it happened, I don't remember when he told me. I FEEL like it was part of the post-game discussion of all the [bleepy] events at the end, and he said something about it. He's fairly experienced, so I don't know that it got to a level he felt like needing addressing. I heard nothing, and didn't even see anything at the plate that would have hinted to it. Having said that, here in Texas there seems to be more .... commentary, for a lack of a better term, by teams. I suppose not TECHNICALLY addressing them directly, but c'mon. I'm not stepping in, for a couple reasons: one, it's not like it's one-sided, as every team seems to be talkative; two, at least it's not the damn singing and chanting they do in softball; and three, not a single partner (almost always someone from the area, or at least a long-term official in the area) has either mentioned it in conversation with me (pre- or post-game), nor addressed a team about what they say - meaning, it looks to be part of the "local culture," or whatever. But I can't help but think there'd be a not-insignificant percentage of observers that would consider it "bench-jockeying" by Fed standards. It's strange, adjusting to a new area.

You made that name up.

Well, sure - he'd be the one guy, ever, called out on the "travesty" clause. FINALLY, we'd get to use it.

Why would they? He was just ..... ....... driving home. [YEEEEEAAAAHHHHHH!!!]

I'd like to think that somewhere in this big old world, there are HS pitchers/catchers that either know the game well enough to do it themselves, or just throw the ball and see what happens. I especially think that thought while I wait for the pitch to be relayed Every. Single. Time.

Everyone else can handle the measured responses; I'm gonna run more to the "Dump 'em all, and let God sort 'em out" end of the spectrum. First, a question on that first sentence I quoted: are they LITERALLY running out on you? If that's actually true, dump them at that moment, and never mind what they say. Eff those guys. (Please note: "Eff those guys" is NOT official language from the Fed rule book, but it IS ejectable - somewhere in the 3-3-1 rule, I think - for charging an umpire.) And yes, fresh meat is a scent coaches are finely attuned to (mumbles: "like the rats they are...."). And it's not always because you're a rookie - if you're a rookie to them, you get tested. I'm in my 17th year, but this is my first year here, so I'm making all KINDS of new friends in the greater San Antonio region.

Oy. Well, I'm living in the "crazier" part, from what you just told me - San Antonio. I'm still wrapping my head around Texas and its HS sports thing. Having fans at games, and charging admission to games, spins my head. And coaches seem to be a little more personal, or nasty, or something, when they are unhappy. Not crossing the line initially, but it's like they want to head for the line quicker. Maybe Virginians really ARE more genteel and cultured than other parts of the South. (I also acknowledge - before anyone jumps in - that no small part of what I'm seeing is the "hey, we got fresh meat" thing, since I'm seeing all these places for the first time.)

/Calls real estate agent and asks how big a bath we'd take, selling and leaving inside twelve months..... /Gets answer, sighs deeply.... So, I don't know where this "Somewhere in Texas" is at, but you're not exactly filling me with a lot of confidence at the upcoming tournament/travel ball season. Not that I'm going to shy away, but I'm more concerned my rotator cuffs won't hold up under all the ejection motions, or that my carpal tunnel will flair back up on my report-writing wrist. (And I'm ALSO concerned about my responses - post-cancer-HokieUmp seems to be losing what few filters he had, which is something that should concern a LOT of people.) I LOVE the way you wrote this, because the twist ending - that it was 11U - had me genuinely surprised. Well done. I'm already a little surprised at how tightly people are wound for HS ball here - not that Virginia was a always a model of genteel behavior - so I'm bracing myself for the rest of it. For what it's worth, I'm down with the way you dealt, to INCLUDE the snarky line. I hope that when you told him it was a "time out," you had the proper sarcastic tone with it.

There's ALWAYS gonna be a 'next time.' It's just what KIND of 'next time' it turns out to be, is the issue.

I'm sure this a regular series, but this is the second one in just a day or two that I specifically remember. It leads me say: Dude, you married up.

It turns out we not only did one report, we got to do *two*. Each. I'm not sure why the local leadership said on the night "you don't need a report," unless that was more along the lines of ".... at this moment" sort of sentiment. Because the next day, we were sent a link to the TAPPS form (that's the group that handles private school sports), and by Saturday, we had an email with a link for a TASO form (that's the state officials group - our "union," as I lovingly (sic) refer to it. And we BOTH had to do one. So we went from no reports to a total of FOUR. Good times.

I'll wear that. There's no doubt we were lucky that it hadn't gotten so bad - once the initial "bull rush" was headed off, things got calm pretty fast, and as we talked, players drifted back away (helped by ACs). The decision-making part of the proces wasn't QUITE as instantaneous as I first described it, but we also didn't consult all that long, either - mostly because I fully agreed with the decision, and what it was based on. I'd SAY "we'll handle it better next time," but I'm REALLY hoping there isn't a 'next time' to be had.