bluejerred

Did this coach/team have build a poor reputation in the tournament before this game?

This is where you will see AC's or HC's asking you "don't I/they get a warning first?" once you dump an AC. Other than that, read "Verbal Judo" - gives you a lot of tools and confidence to deal with high-stress conversations.

Any private games or "friendlies" I do go through my assignor/mentor for CR/BRL. You don't want to pay - fine, I don't need the money. That being said, I will send word back to my assignor and your reputation will spread like wildfire. Umpires talk, and it's only a matter of time before we see you again in a game that counts.

I found this site that had some crazy cheap prices for umpire gear. Made me think it may be a scam. Have any of you used this site? https://www.stripespluss.com/

Gents, In my journey to find the end of the internet, I found a YouTube channel for a baseball team called the Covington Lumberjacks. They record their games and the camera angles they use allow for a great view of all 3 umpires as they go through their mechanics throughout the play. Thought I would share for anyone who is interested.

Babe Ruth League

Wreck ball. 13 year old players (BRL Prep). Pitcher has athletic skill but no discipline or mental toughness. Same goes for the catcher. In the 2nd and has been a crybaby since the beginning. Pitcher fires a very hard fastball that his catcher totally missed. Nails me right in the forearm. It hurt and I take a few to recover. No apologies from pitcher or catcher. I tell the catcher that if he can't catch it, don't call for it. Next batter, pitch close but outside the zone, I call ball. Pitcher steps forward and throws his hand up in disgust. At this time, I chew some major ass. I tell the pitcher, while giving a quality knife hand, "DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN. YOU HIT ME WITH A FASTBALL AND THEN YOU THROW YOUR HANDS UP LIKE THAT THE NEXT BATTER? THAT'S WHAT YOU DON'T DO!" Inning finishes, their head coach comes to me and says, "I know you got hit, but you can't tell at him like that." I told her "I can either chew him out or throw him out. Nobody on your side did anything to correct him so now it falls on me. He's not a victim, he's still in the game, and it's done unless you're telling me it isn't." No problems the rest of the game, everything went good, still called a fair game (including for the kid in question when he came to bat). Their coaches didn't talk to me the rest of the game, which is fine by me. Now you guys can chew my ass on my approach. Ready, set, go!

Situation: BRL. R1, 1 out. Pitcher is in stretch. R1 steals while pitcher is set and reaches second prior to the pitcher starting his pitching motion. Batter swings and fouls off pitch. I looked up the definition of "pitch" in the BRL rulebook and it simply states that a pitch is a ball delivered to the batter. My question to the group is when does "time of pitch" start? Is it when the pitching motion starts, when the ball is released, or when the pitch is completed? Thank you! At the time this happened, we sent the runner back, which now feels like an error on our part.

This fits them exactly. Honestly, I couldn't have described it better. Update: Apparently last weekend, the coaches in question were well behaved. So at least I can say I didn't pass my problem to another umpire. I'm assuming the confrontational attitude described above is an attempt to take control of the game and sway close calls to go their way? My coach in question was as described above, but he wasn't stupid. I got the impression he knew exactly what he was doing.

If the winning team was the home team, I'd understand getting the runs to get the run-rule. They were the visiting team and what they were doing was extending the game. We were at the no new inning time limit anyways.

Blowout game, 10u travel. Top of first, winning team already up by 5. Pitching coach requests time after a walk. 1st base coach (AC) starts yelling about how time can't be called until his runner reaches first in the direction of the DC. They start to jaw back and forth, I come up first base line to get between them and shut it down. Next inning, runner coming home while winning team on defense (up by 10 at this point). DC asks loudly during the play if there was batter interference since the batter moved out of the box while ball is live. I give a safe signal and say "no interference" loudly since it was loud. After play stops, he tells me that he's just trying to ask a question and I shouldn't be yelling at him. I tell him that he asked during a play and I'm trying to keep everyone informed while people are yelling. He thinks I'm talking down to him and asks to be spoken to as an adult, which I then just look at him with confusion and walk away. Last inning, the winning team is up 16-1 and is breaking every baseball etiquette rule there is. Stealing, trying to run up the score, etc. This is causing friction between the coaches and they start chirping at each other again. AC at 1st base is yelling over at the HC's on the 3rd base side, things are escalating, I hear the winning team's HC getting loud. I call time and toss the winning team's HC and AC forcefully (very loud "You, you're done" - I saw them as the agitators mainly because they were chirping loudly throughout the game and I heard them escalating. They protest, AC tells me I've had a SH*# game all night. HC calls me a racist as he was leaving. Winning team AC took over as HC and informed me that the coach on the losing team was calling them bush league (I did hear that said). I went over to investigate, told them I heard bush league, and the HC admitted to saying it. I calmly ejected him as well. Game finished up nice and quiet. Even the parents were telling me good job because they were tired of hearing it from both sides. Surprisingly, the ejected HC for the defeated team called the board VP and told him that we did a great job and that he was just concerned for his kids and parents. I was disappointed that coaches from the winning team were engaging at all. Things were escalating and I felt that elections were the only way to get control of the behavior on the field. These are the first ejections I've had in a baseball game. Feel free to critique and ask questions as necessary. Thank you!

I'm reading Doug Harvey's biography, "They called me God". In his book, he gives advice on where to position yourself when working the plate. Here is an excerpt from his book: I’ve backed umpires up as many as fifteen feet back and to the left or right to get them to see that what I’m saying is true. Usually I asked them to step three steps back and three steps to the right for a righty batter and three steps to the left for a lefty batter. The young umpires think I’m crazy, but after the first pitch they’re aware they can see the entire strike zone perfectly. I also tell my students to stand with the right leg behind the left. That way, if the ball hits you in the mask, it knocks you back and the back leg softens the blow. I have recommended this ever since I saw Eric Gregg, who weighed more than three hundred pounds, take a foul ball on his chin. His feet were side by side, and when the ball hit him, he toppled over on his back like a big oak tree. I wouldn’t want that to happen to anyone. Was wondering what you all thought. Many thanks!

IAWE. Ignore, Acknowledge, Warn, Eject. Sometimes it's warn, then eject. Sometimes it's just eject. Depends on the situation and the 3P criteria. If you can explain to your superiors that you took the necessary steps, you shouldn't have any issues. In this case, if the bench jockeying was prolonged, give them the stop sign. If they blow through it, that's on them. Letting it go on for a prolonged amount of time can cause you to lose control of the game. Not to mention, you army the only one who doesn't want to hear it. While it's not a rule, I've read here and have had it confirmed by others, that the Spanish custom is: if the mask comes off, somebody is going. Other than that, read "Verbal Judo" to teach you how to have conversations in high-stress situations. It will change your life.

How do you like the Cobalt?

Had a game today where I took a pitch right in the chest and another one off the shoulder. Sun was in catcher's eyes and he couldn't track the pitch. I felt both pitches pretty good and needed a minute to walk it off. Is the V3 better or is there a different CP any of you would suggest? Many thanks!