HokieUmp

Rikers Island Intramural League.

I hope that Warren can figure out a way to stream the confirmation hearings... Woah woah, I was his SAIT, I get the title! Hold on, now. Much like how one does not simply walk into Mordor, one does not simply assume the title of resident smart ass.

Dear god no... ANYTHING but Rush, Listening to geddy lee sing is like listening to a cat in heat whilst the it rakes it's claws across a chalk board. I would sooner listen to the turd from stratford, Justin Beiber, no exageration. You .... I .... There are no words. I might have passed this off to "everyone has their own opinion," since I know not everyone likes excellent musicianship. But to throw that last sentence in there so blithely? You, sir, are dead to me.

Depends on how it's said. In a conversation to me, you're right. If it's loud enough for everyone in the stands to hear - that in of itself is enough for me to EJ. Even with absolutely nothing else. is it prolonged? Profane? Personal? Exactly what criteria do you base the EJ on? Sorry to step in a month later, but: "prolonged." You don't get to bring up past calls, skip. And, happily, the one coach I launched for that had decided to yell it from the 3B coaches box to me in the B position, so it was certainly loud enough to activate Mission Control.

Warren, That wasn't the Senators, by any chance, was it? My "favorite" NABA F2 played for them.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! This. So very much this. Coaches and players are your friends, right up until the moment they aren't. And that moment tends to be around the time things start going pear-shaped for them during the game. It's why I kind of liked my last association - and look forward to going back. Given where their games are, and my workplace, I live at least 35 miles from the nearest ballfield I work. I know no one, and prefer to keep it that way. (Eventually, at varsity games, you see teams enough times to get vaguely familiar, but that's about it.) New bumper sticker for BigUmp, then: "Show up, crush some dreams, drive home." And I don't know if it's red-assed or not, but the last time I remember being asked about where my zone is at a plate meeting, I replied "We'll all find out in about five minutes, won't we?" Again, might not be the best answer in the world, but since it's certainly not one the coach expects to hear, it tends to end that line of questioning quick smart. Which is what we want, after all.

And Rich knows it, too. He's just doing the coach "throw words at everything" methodology. Or the "yeah-buts," as my kids used to do.

Maybe, Rich, it's because the other 99% of the time, you'd be That Coach that would a) want to know what we're saying to your player, and b) telling us not to talk to his player. In Daddy-Ball Land, this happens. Taking the contrary position from the umpires on this board, JUST to take the contrary position on the board, gets old.

Yes, the Wide Brown Land does have baseball. Mostly around the edges, which happens to be where most of us are. We play at opposite times of the year, and run the bases in what you would call the "wrong" way around, but it's here. Hey, don't forget the Centre. Genuine red dirt on those fields.

Right, so here's how I do it..... Ties are not possible. Therefore, they do not occur, giving them to neither side. As it does not exist, your argument - valid or invalid, I care not - is moot, and vanishes in a puff of smoke. If you continue to contest that on a field of play, in a prolonged, personal, or profane manner, YOU vanish in a puff of smoke. QED.

If this was literally a middle school league, sanctioned by the school system, your next step is a letter/report to his principal, cc'd to your association head and the school board.

By all means, call the association and discuss the fact they have a member that's in need of training and rule knowledge, if it's that egregious. While you're at it, make sure the report the other umpire as well. Why? For being a terrible, terrible partner. Actually, you just tell him the eye-rolling, and the coming-up-to-apologize, and he should understand what to do from there. Look, I've had partners that were truly awful lacking in key abilities. But there's no way I'm signaling that to either team when I'm out there on the field. Even if I think a call is dead wrong, I handle it as I'm supposed to: by staying the hell out of it unless/until my partner calls me over. Even then, IS the call dead wrong? Not necessarily - it might not look right from where I am, but if it wasn't my call, then I'm not in the best position to make the decision, either, I'll tell him what I saw, but the decision is still his. And as for the apologizing..... [bleep] that guy for doing that. That s--- is wrong, period. Even if I have a partner I'm not 100% confident with, he's STILL my only friend at that field. So I'm not throwing him under the bus to the coaches, no matter what. Even if it's as bad as you say, there's no way in that environment I'm giving you more sniper ammo. I post-game - away from you guys - and find out what happened. If it's a rule he doesn't know/understand, I fix it. Off night? You try to support them so they don't spiral into a bad run, while trying to put the boot up them, too. Sorry to divert the point

1. Grasp the back strap of the catcher's chest protector with the hand that's usually behind his back. 2. Wield catcher as a shield. 3. Repeat as needed. (Or, do it like everyone else is saying, and just 'lock in and trust your gear.' That is if you WANT to be a conformist, or something.)

Eject early. Eject often. Repeat as needed. Let them complain or call their phone numbers. Here's the thing - either a) they learn to shut the hell up, so they can actually see the end of a game, or b) you're blackballed, and can go work for a league/organization that doesn't suck supports its umpires. And don't try to be nice by talking about 'developing balance.' It's like raising more kids - give a hard-line boundary, and when they cross it, drop the consequences on them. You want to warn? Fine - once. Then launch. With the section labeled 1) in your post, think of yourself as a modern-day trebuchet. And if you get the "you're out to get us" crap, that's an easy EJ report: "Coach questioned my integrity and accused me of cheating." Report written, with plenty of time for wings and beer afterwards. Growing up an Orioles fan, I love Cal, but I'm beginning to think I'd rather work LL games than do anything involving Ripken baseball. It (Ripken) may have an organizational structure, unlike the traveling carnival of AAU, but between these stories, and the Tale of Mitch Williams, it sounds like they're more interested in developing terrible adult humans than giving kids a sports outlet.

Don't we all? WWJD, of course ...

That's pretty dangerously close to what I've told umpire_scott - on this very subject, for that matter. I'm skipping "Ignore" and going straight to "Acknowledge." And it's: "If it's you versus the world, take the world plus the points."

Oh dear Lord, no, this post alone could turn this into a 5 page marathon. So: don't. Just don't do that.

As I'm sure you know, that's a local league add-on rule. The applicable LL rule just requires that the runner slide or attempt to avoid contact. 7.08 - Any runner is out when - (a)(3) the runner does not slide or attempt to get around a fielder who has the ball and is waiting to make the tag; Our local LL has the (stupid, IMO) "must slide" rule. 7.08 (a)(3) should do the job just fine without them needing to meddle with it. So what happens when a kid breaks his leg because the umpire said "I have to slide"? Who do the parents sue then? First of all, an umpire doesn't tell anyone to slide or not, just as we don't tell anyone to "pick that ground ball up and throw it to first." What we DO do (heh heh, I said 'doodoo') is judge the play, based on the rules we're provided for that age/group. In this case, since it's a league rule that says "must" slide, then sue the league. Now, in reality, what the parents should do is stop being helicopter parents, take lawyers off their speed dial, and live their lives by the One True Gold Rule: S#!+ Happens.© The kid broke his leg 'cause he doesn't know how to slide properly. Or because maybe he hit the inevitable divots that are in the RH batters box. Or maybe because it was just dumb, bad luck. Whatevs. People don't need to sue over every thing that happens. That's why one carries insurance. (Please note that I have copyrighted the One True Golden Rule, and in an ironic turn, will sue for its improper use.)

But I can see the lights from here. After about a four month period of "am I staying or am I going?" - which is far too long to tell here - I finally ended on "leaving." The best part is, I was able to get an assignment back at my old office in Virginia, so I'll be able to re-join my old association, assuming they'll have me. After averaging like 80 games a year or more, I've spent the period of August 2011 to now having worked all of maybe 30-40 games, and that's probably including the softball I did in 2012, just to occupy my time. So I'm sure I'm rusty. And I KNOW I'm fatter. So it goes. But over the last eight months or so, it was hard to even come here to read, since I no longer felt like an umpire. Still don't - in the sense that I've worked all of six games this year - but now that I know that my exile is nearly complete, I started 'feeling it' again. Lurked for a few days to catch up as best I could. So, you may see me posting again at some point, although I never had a high-rate-of-posting. I just figured I drop a note to say hi. So....... Hi.

This one is going to be a 5.56/2.23 Most of the lower assembly parts are in. I'm on Furlough so I will start building this week. Now I need to save up for upper assembly parts. Oh dear.... Let's put this together, in context, shall we? "I'm on furlough, so I'm building a weapon." Can't see anything going wrong with this.........

Okay, so wait. --Marylander --Umpire --Rush fan Are you .... <that's a pause for dramatic effect> me?

I went to HS in Maryland in the late 70s/early 80s. Our 'burnout competitions" were COMPLETELY different than this.

My excrement stinks. Just ask my wife! You should switch to a vegan diet. That's a good idea - vegans are delicious.

Since "NFHS" appears in the thread title, you want to be citing FED, not OBR. The rule is the same, but FED 8-3-5 includes this helpful remark: "For purposes of this rule, the act of ­fielding is not considered a play." Don't forget, though - afaber12 is lucky in two ways. 1) He lives in Australia, and 2) They use but one set of rules there. They don't have the bullcrap of multiple rule sets. And NHFS is a curse that only we 'Mericans have to bear.