HokieUmp

Well, and maybe their moms. So (7.4B - 4), probably.

Rich might be right, but I'm going to disagree. I believe in this case it's not "we could terminate" the DH, but you have to terminate the DH. Yes, there's not to be a penalty for EH manipulation, so let's ignore that. Remember, the DH under NHFS rules, isn't position based, it's player based. So the DH is batting for Smith (we'll call him), and Jones (for another original name) is F7. You can move Smith all over the field, and Doe (the hat-trick for names!) would still bat for him. But now that Smith isn't playing a defensive spot, there's no one for the DH to bat for. So the DH is terminated, and you HAVE lost a spot. (Alternate theory I just thought of, but don't think you can do: could one then argue that the starting F1 is the "free player?" I mean, if you can swap the EH in defensively, that makes guy he replaces the "extra" hitter during that time. But - to counter my own counter - since the starting F1 is the DH'd guy, he's not "supposed" to bat, so he can't really serve as that extra hitter - he violates the "hitter" part. So I think I just shot down my own alternate theory, and you have no choice but to lose a batter, because of the player for whom you substituted.)

That's one thing, Rich - that CAN be fun. But telling a coach on other team to 'take the d--k out of his mouth"? That kid SHOULD be waking up up from the floor of his dugout with a sore jaw, but judges, for some reason, don't like minors getting their a$$ handed to them. I mean, I agree it's not the umpires job - unless directed at himself - but I'm not sure this is a "relax and smell the flowers" sitch. On the other hand, I'm not all that surprised, because in this area, LL Jr and Sr is some of the worst baseball played, and most of the players at that level act like they're there because it was part of their probation deal.

.... go get your [redacted] glove, Lou Brock.

Not too different from my beginnings. My first umpiring was softball - may God have mercy on my soul - when I lived in Hawaii, because a co-worker was an umpire AND had a kid in the league. My baseball beginning was in Australia, in a town of about 25,000, so everyone in the baseball community knew everybody else. You do what you can, and try to expand your 'world' beyond the local house league. I have no doubt you'll do fine. Being on a site like this, and getting your experience expanded by the solid umpiring minds here (not me - the other guys; I'm here for comic relief), will sharpen your learning curve. And being on a site like this shows your willingness to get better.

Maybe this OP doesn't fit that bill, but if there's a "balk" that I don't get, and that kind of time has passed, it didn't happen. Unless it's literally something that can be pointed to in a rulebook, black/white, that matches the rulebook - in other words, where I misapplied the rule - it didn't happen, and it's not going to happen in reanimated form later. Granted, I'm kind of thinking mostly about start/stop balks; I have a feeling I'm more relaxed about what "didn't stop" means. I just think I like the idea of showing players/coaches they can talk a call to death to get you to change it A LOT less than I like the "get the call right [at all costs]" wave.

Keep at it, man. Glad to hear the feedback is good, but don't put a lot of stock in the coaches and league official feedback - don't get too high, or too low, is what I mean. Those guys can, and will, turn on you in a heartbeat if they feel you wronged them.

I'm telling you, man. I'm from the DMV area, so I grew up an Os fan, and have also added the Nats to the "my team" list, and we get MASN down here in Tidewater. But when I think of F.P., the first phrase that comes to mind is "oh, THAT [redacted] guy." I know, I know - the color man has nothing else to do but be the "homer" in the booth, and to just be the worst. But F.P. seems determined to be the worst of the worst.

You and I are in violent agreement on this. I mean, the league ENFORCED it correctly, in the sense that, since the BR didn't make it to first safely, nor did the runners advance, then move R2 to 3B and let R3 score. That is, in fact, the penalty for a balk. All that is just terrific. The problem is the X time elapsed before a stupid balk is called, where X = {10 second - 5 minutes}. (Sorry, took a lot of math in college.) That's just bullcrap, all there is to it. It's stupid [word for excrement] like that, that makes umpires everywhere look bad. You can't just go back, after that kind of time, and retroactively call that. And I don't want anyone trying "well, they misapplied a rule" - looking at you, @Rich Ives - because if they didn't see it as a balk in real-time, they made their decision. "If you choose not to decide, you STILL have a made a choice [drum fill]." I mean, that's like calling an out on an attempted steal at 2B for the third out, and then saying "Wait, wait .... that wasn't right, c'mon back out here, sport!" I wrote this in my first response, but deleted it. Here's a short, one-act play I wrote of how it should have gone: -------- [Beautiful, sun-lit day. R2, R3, 2 out. Tie game. Pitcher delivers [no words are spoken], batter lifts a fly ball to RF, which is caught.] R2: "Hey blue, that was a balk! He can't do that!" BU: "Go get your [redacted] glove, Lou Brock." ---------- annnnnnd, scene. Tony award, please! ("Hamilton" can just suck it....)

It doesn't "get handled." Since it wasn't called, it never existed. Therefore, there's nothing to handle.

I've had some in the past, but I definitely missed an opportunity two Sundays ago. (And yes, before I tell the story, you're right - you always pine over The Ones That Get Away.) Youth tournament, 13U - it was called the "Virginia State Championships," but only for THAT sanctioning body. Bottom 7, home team chasing 2. The first batter hits a grounder that F6 turns into a banger. I get the out; the usual moaning and groaning occurs. I don't really think anything of it, since it's normal. Then I hear it: "Oh sure - you just want to go home." Truth be told, he's not wrong - after six games over two days, with weird tie-breaker rules and rain delay, I've spent my entire weekend at this field. Thing is, this heckle was coming FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE DUGOUT! I'm used to hearing it from outside the fence, but not a coach - and certainly not that clearly. I burned the dugout briefly, but decided against tossing. Problems were 1) I wasn't sure of which adult it was (although I'm pretty sure it was the coach in shorts and flip flops, and if I *HAD* tossed, it would have been him, on general principles); 2) we were two outs from the end, and I didn't want yet more delays, in case the EJ led to more dumb-assery; and 3) to what end? Again, with these travel ball weekend circuses, what frigging difference does it make? The coach misses the last two outs, and nothing more, it doesn't carry over anywhere, and next weekend, he's in some other location altogether. But it was a clear ejectable offense, for me: he's just told me and everyone around that I've cheated his team, just to expedite the game. Hate my call, if you think it's wrong or have your own bias; don't suggest, though, that I make a call based on a clock or a situation. So, yeah. Ultimately, I regret not getting that one.

If you can down one .... Remember the fax machine scene in Office Space?

You handled him fine, but I like my DVD alternate ending better. Less talking, and reinforces the "don't bring a rule book on the field [unrequested]" thing we do.

Suggestion: as stated, don't suck. Logistical question: where you at for this? I'd consider going, depending on the locale, but I'm at William & Mary all day for showcase games. Does VHSL do any streaming or anything?

If it's all you have, and you still want to do it, then one does what one must. Follow your bliss. (I'm fortunate, and I know it, in that it's better here, and that I could walk away if my enjoyment factor was sharply reduced. And, typing that out, I'm surprisingly comfortable saying that last part.) I just know there are "Ejections" and "War Stories" posts - and the occasional "Free For All" (not to mention THIS massive hijack) - that start with "Dear Penthouse Forum, I never thought this would happen to me, but I was working solo and ..." then something bad comes next. Probably what irritates me about it all is that teams/leagues want to go cheap on the officiating BUT then get even more unreasonable about umpire judgement, knowing they've put them in a bad position to begin with. Especially on a full-size field. Again, I'm not trying to attack umpires; I just think, where possible, people should push back against those conditions. It's not always possible. (And to answer the question someone asked: the biggest field I can recall working solo is LL Majors (what I used to just call "Little League" when I played in the 70s), so a 60' diamond. And it was in the fall season, where everything's less intense. Better still? That was also my last EJ, that I can recall.)

"Okay, pitch - here's the situation... You have this white, round thing, and you throw it to that guy squatting down there [points]. That guy [points] will try to hit it with that stick. If he does, there's a lot of running around and shouting. Then another guy will show up with a stick, and you do it some more. At some point, all of that will stop, and you'll go to that shack over there [points]. Go get 'em, tiger." ...... too much? not detailed enough?

[Please note: I'm going to sound like an asshole in this post - and I'm okay with that - but I'm not trying to pick on anyone. Just feel strongly.] Well, I guess then I'd stop working. Places remain 1-man because: 1. Leagues/teams are cheap bastards - even though kids will walk around with $300 bats that will die of loneliness before they get overworked; 2. People are willing to be scabs, and not make things better for everyone; 3. They DON'T take pride in what they're doing - there might be holes in the 2-man mechanics, but there are A LOT more of them in 1-man "mechanics." And I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want to step on the field and half-ass it. I love doing this, even though as I age and fall apart, it hurts more. But if I were faced with doing full-sized fields and doing it alone or quitting, I'd quit. Now, if people are also doing it because they need the income, then that's fine. To me, even though the money is not bad, it probably wouldn't survive a clear-eyed cost/benefit analysis, so stepping away from it would arguably be an improvement. Luckily for me in this area, the standards set by our organization and/or people wanting the game played and officiated well, keeps us from a bunch of 1-man circuses. (Would that be "circii??!?") People want to take 1-man work from me? They can have it.

I feel you. And knowing my smart-ass nature, my response to that runner, regardless of age, would be "You wanna be safe on that play? Pony up the money for a 2nd guy, sport."

For the blue part, that [doody] will happen once. Looking back and/or eye-rolls, I'm not so worried about; the hand waving is a different animal altogether. For the main question: at that age bracket, there's no "lost art of talking to the ump." And that's because there's NO art of talking to the ump at that age. Nor should there be. If you have two strikes, and the pitch was close enough to ask some nonsense about 'as low as you'll go,' or nipping the zone? Then swing the bat, Hank Aaron. What good does the question do? If everyone was watching, as they should be, they saw the pitch. So there's their tip on the umpire's strike zone - a pitch like that is a strike. Done.

So, you've already been briefed on the other stuff. I fully understand why you'd call time, given that you're down at 2B, and need to get back behind the plate. So here's where I offer a different piece of advice: Don't work solo. If this was 13U, I'm guessing we're talking about a 90' diamond. Therefore, you should NOT be working alone, nor should any organization expect you to, whether they believe in paid or volunteer umpires. If you're like the rest of us, you love working games, but this is where you - and the rest of us - should be thinking with our heads, not our hearts. Players and coaches don't care, because they have a dugout to use. and/or are only on the field half of the time. And when the 'third team' on the field is a solo effort, things can get ugly quickly. That player or coach you had a good rapport with, will turn on you the first chance he thinks he's been done wrong. Sorry, this is my second post in a row where I mention this, and I don't want to be the Norma Rae of the site (wikipedia it, if you're younger than me), but DON'T WORK BIG FIELDS ALONE.

1. Don't work solo for adult baseball. Ever. It's a lion's den, and you should never be there alone. 2. In the 'background' game, you let the SS stay in the game way too long. Letting him 'continually' question everything, you basically told him that he could say anything. But the moment he went racial, you DEFINITELY should have tossed him. 3. In the main game, the manage, depending on what he said, should have gone. 4. Manager's brother should have probably gone. Demonstrating? Leaving his position to argue balls and strikes? Textbook. 5. If they DID try to get personal at least twice, then someone should have gone each time. My opinions.

That last part tells me you're a MUCH better human being than I. Personally, I would hold a grudge until The End Of Time on that guy. Not on the field with calls - I have my integrity, if not dignity - but I don't ever think I could be an acquaintance of someone after something like that, never mind a good one.

The calls are coming from inside the house!!!

Since EVERYone knew this was coming, what exactly were the clubs going to be told? C'mon, man. One EJ in one game, over a 162-game season. Step back from the ledge. It's not even like it was even CLOSE to being argued as "uh, it slipped?", so there's not much to stand on.

I'm not sure I buy into that. The part about not getting players hurt is fine ("even if they DO act like jerks sometimes" he mumbled under his breath), but the other part. Since the coach seemed to be "playing to the audience," if you will, and taking a shot at the umpire whilst doing it, I have no problem with MO doing the same thing, without calling him back over. Good for the goose, good for the gander - that sort of thing.