tjwoelfel13

It's December and I still don't know.

I really need to get a CP but the umpiring store in my town doesn't have them right now. I haven't gotten a ball in the throat but my mask takes a very regular beating. I just cursed my self.

Impressive, very Impressive.

Sounds like a game I would've loved to be on. I wish I could have been there.

Ha, I am taking over the first page of the ejection forum. I am now out of EJ stories until the season starts. Anyway, This is a 4th grade game 1:50 time limit. Kid pitch with the regular count system. Stealing but no lead-offs. Two man system I can't find the exact report but I'll do the best I can. 6-2-12 I was working the bases and in the 3rd inning the visiting head coach started loudly chirping about balls and strikes. PU warned him and he quieted down. The bot of the 4th I had the lead off hitter safe on a banger at first and he started chirping again. This time I did the warning as he was yelling from the dugout. The next batter then walked and the third man up laced a single through the hole on the left side and R2 scored and R1 went to third. The f7's throw was a bit up the line and r1 was safe. However I had a huge brain fart as the f5 faked a throw back to the pitcher and I turned my back and pulled the hidden ball trick as the runner dusted his pants after the slide. The runner did not call time. Of course I didn't see this until to late and had to call him safe because I didn't see it happen and my partner didn't see it either due to the r2. Visiting team HC comes unglued charging out of the dugout and I didn't blame him because I had just absolutely blown the call out of the water. Until he called me the worst F***Ing umpire then I hooked him he also the call was male cow fertilizer and then wasn't satisfied with that he poked me in the chest and all of this was in front of the home team dugout. I was feeling horrible because of the tanked call and didn't know what else to do so I jus kept repeating that he was gone until the field supervisor came to separate us. At this point I became emotional because of the ranting and was scared to the point where I couldn't think straight and I temporarily removed my self from the game to calm down. The field supervisor understood and took my place. Two older women from the visiting team were very friendly with me and told me what the coach had done was totally unacceptable even if I blew the call and even offered to call the police on the coach and was also going to write a report. I politely refused this offer. The home coach came over and told me he was going to report the VHC for his actions. After the game I made my ejection report. Two hours later I got an email from my supervisor asking if I told the coach to shut up. The ejected coach emailed this in his report. I replied that I never even thought about saying that and if he needs evidence to read all of the reports. Twenty minutes later he replied that the coaches 1 game suspension had just been turned into a one year ban including the rest of the regular season, post season tournament, and fall ball. Coaches have to apply every year and I also worked this level some in 2013 and I didn't even see him at the complex. I don't know what to think because I egregiously blew the call but I know what the coach did was unacceptable. Your thoughts, TJ

I can't thank everyone enough for all of the support for me. I also believe that this woman and the coach described in my second post behavior is a rarity in my league. In total I have only two ejections in my three years. I also have a handful of warnings for the crap that is shall we say, the usual for umpires,. The only reason this woman got to believe that she would qualify as a supervisor as well as a coach is because my main supervisor had to leave to work a game of his own across town and his replacement arrived just a little too late as all of this happened with 15 minutes left in the 1:30 time limit . He is the type that would tolerate absolutely none of this nonsense and in fact sincerely apologized to me when I told him what happened and said that if he had been there he would have personally given her the hook as soon as she stepped on the field. This was echoed by the other two supervisors I work with. I will post the details of my first ejection.

Indeed it is, but there also is one from 2008 on the 1st page. If you don't want to read the older threads then don't read them. I found that a lot of the older posts are interesting and actually help me learn how to become a better umpire by reading and replying to the comments made by the many fine umpires here and getting their input on the situations they have faced and have them evaluate the situations I have faced. I realize that I'm not perfect and am still young compared to you but I feel that the many forums and posts here old and new may help me become a better umpire in the future as I grow in my career and help those coming behind me. I will continue to reply to posts as I see fit. TJ

I think that her apology was forced but sincere. I had her team again and she kept her mouth shut. This may have been because she learned that I wasn't going to put up with her nonsense again. " Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me". I think she was used to dealing with the first years who are trying to get established and they cowered beneath her "power". I'm thinking she used this fear to try to intimidate the rookie umpires into allowing her coaching staff to get away with anything they wanted because the rookies thought that they would get fired. But in the op she got me and James. We just finished our third and fourth year respectively and knew more about the leagues inner workings enough to not change our calls. . Now that I think about it I probably would've had her come to me instead of me going to her because I think that may have given her the thought of even more added power. I went to one of my supervisors after the game and his reaction was like this. "SHE DID WHAT"? !?!? :hopmad: :tantrum: My league has three main umpire supervisors and all three had our back.

The boardwoman took it to the league and I heard later that she was the only one who voted to overturn the ejection. Ejection stood and the coach was given his obligatory one game suspension. She sent me an apology afterwards and the league says that a boardperson who is coaching can't use their power as a board member to overturn a call on the field. She was not punished though.

Based on the sitch on the op. if coming from the dugout. 1st time a good stare coupled with the stop sign is in order. 2nd time someone is going to have the night off. If coming from the stands I would ignore unless it gets threatening or profanity is used. This is especially true from the level I work. I'm still perfecting the trigger pull timing but nevertheless this is what I would have done.

I had a Kindergarten game/ coach pitch. again at Oregon Trail earlier this year. top 3 with r2 and r1. Groundball to short and the ss overthrew the f3 and the ball rolled under the fence. At this level runners may not advance on an overthrow except when the ball leaves the field and then they get two bases judging from where they are in relation to when the fielder releases the throw. In this case the r2 scored, r1 to third, and b/r to second. After the call, the Defensive HC and two of his ACs run toward me and my partner yelling at us. I immediately send his two ACs back to the dugout and the head coach keeps on yelling to actually read the rule book for once. This promptly earns him a warning and revokes the explanation. The next inning I notice that this same coach is not touching the pitchers plate. I kindly ask him to pitch from the rubber. He either ignores me or didn't hear me. The next pitch he does it again. This time I say it a little louder. By the third time, I finally had enough and issue a warning that if he doesn't pitch from the rubber he will be removed from the pitching duties. Normally in most little leagues this is an illegal pitch but my league has the umpires remove the pitching coach from the pitching duty after a warning or two. The removed coaches can still coach but may not pitch. He places his foot on the rubber and says, " Are you damn happy". I know I should have tossed him but I clammed up. How could I have handled this better? How much rope should I give a coach that acts like this?

I'm new here and I didn't know that replying to an old post would move it to the top. I apologize for causing such an uproar.

This is from 2009!!! I'm new here and at the time I was unaware that replying to an old post would move it to the top. I apologize for causing such an uproar.

Usually my league is a pretty quiet one and not too many incidents like this occur. The board members except for the one mentioned in the report usually have the umpires back.

Not that I'm aware of.

James was working the plate. I was on the bases. James was the one who wrote. "The two kids that were walked and the following one that was walked all had about two balls that were on the edge of my extended strike zone but were in my opinion outside of it". He was trying to describe the location of the pitch. I ejd the AC who was shagging balls who was arguing the ball/strikes.

I know I'm late to the party but I just joined a few days ago and this is my first post. So please be nice. I am 18 and finished my third year as an umpire. My league is a rec league starting at Kindergarten and goes up to 18 yrs. The ejection occurred on Sept 15. I usually work 3rd and 4th grade but was called down due to a lack of umpires. I had a Kindergarten game earlier that went without incident. My league works the 2 man system and I noticed that one of my good friends was lacking a partner at a game with two coaches who are known troublemakers. So I hopped on before the game. This was a second grade game which is a kid pitch game except when the pitchers issues a walk or hits a batter then the coach comes in and throws three pitches and if the batter fails to hit a fair ball in those 3 pitches he's out. There is also a coach who stands in front of the backstop to shag balls in order to keep the game going. I'm the BU The background info is finally over. Here is my partners and my EJ report Game time was supposed to be at 2:30pm. Because the previous game ran so close, game time was called at 2:35pm James was originally was not scheduled to work with anyone for the 2:30pm game at Oregon Trail field 1. TJ Woelfel offered to umpire with James since he did not have another game until 5:00pm that evening. The first incident began when a coach was standing behind the backstop coaching his son who was pitching at the time. TJ and I went over to the team and informed the gentleman (with the head coach easily able to hear) that he could not stand back behind the backstop while they were pitching. As an added note, he was not the coach that usually stands behind the catcher to keep the game going. The head coach was in that position. The gentleman was behind it on the fans side of the fence. To continue, the rest of that inning finished up and the team in question took the field again. Again, the gentleman was behind the backstop on the fans side. After the pitch was thrown and returned, TJ called time and told the gentleman to move away from the backstop. The head coach and the woman who is on the board for the league (she will be discussed later) made a little ruckus but the gentleman complied and the complaints were dropped without issue. The team in question was still on the field when the main problem arose. James was calling balls and strikes that game and the head coach of the team in question was shagging balls behind his catcher. After his pitcher got through a batter throwing 4 balls, the coach started gesturing that the batter should have been struck out. TJ noticed this and gave the head coach a warning saying "coach, that is enough." Another batter came up and was walked. The coach started making gestures in protest of the calls where upon TJ gave him Another warning saying "coach, I've had enough." The coach responded saying ""I have too." I'd like to note at this time James had explained that his strike zone for fall ball to be about eyes to knees (or just below the knees) and inside of the white lines that denote the batters box. The two kids that were walked and the following one that was walked all had about two balls that were on the edge of my extended strike zone but were in my opinion outside of it. As a judgement call, James called these balls. Another batter came up and was walked again. At this point, the coach started shrugging his shoulders and making other gestures in objection to the calls. TJ once again warned the head coach by saying "coach, I've had enough." The coach responded again, "I have too" and stormed off the field. Then, the woman, who later stated she is on the board called to us saying that we needed to call a timeout and talk about what was going on. We weren't sure what we wanted to do at that point and came together. We had called time at that point. She again called for us to go over there and discuss the events that were transporting. We decided to do so. When we got over there, the head coach and the woman stepped onto the field. The coach was upset with my strike zone and was saying that the ones James was calling to be balls were actually strikes. He went as far to say "blue, I think that you have your eyes closed up there when you are making the calls." That was enough for TJ and TJ ejected the coach. Then, the woman spoke up. She said"I hope you two know that since a red hat is not present and I am on the board, I am your acting supervisor. I am upset with your conduct during this game. She then stated that "we've had incidents with you before and I've had enough." She first started laying into us saying that the gentleman from earlier was a fan and not a coach so he could sit in the bleachers and coach the kids. We responded by saying he told us he was a coach, which is why we told him to move. She said that for some games he fills in as a coach, but he is also a parent. We told he we just went off what he told us. Then, she proceeded to tell us she was going to contact the head of umpire commissioners and see that we would not be umpiring again. After that, we ended the talk with her and resumed the game since we still had about 10 - 15 minutes left. Their team was still in the field and we would like to add, despite the confrontation, James resolved and proceeded not to change my strike zone throughout the game for both teams. We finished the game without further incident and ended by hitting the time limit. After the game ended, we returned the game balls to the home team and we left immediately. After the game I went to talk to the league commissioner and he said that all three of the coaches were out of line and was actually surprised that I didn't eject the woman as well. The league had my back and neither James or my job was in any danger.

Is with this coach. I'm glad you have an amazing BOD. This needed a lifetime ban and got what he deserved. to you good sir and the young ump.

Don't take your eye off the ball. I have the f2 gone for use of profanity and the coach un-sportsman like conduct. Just because you tanked the call does not allow anyone to treat you like this. I do not allow profanity from players until the players are old enough to drive themselves to the game. Coaches may never show any umpire up this egregiously at any time even if the call is tanked.

Of course they are entitled to everything. They are going to the MLB world series and they are going to win in a clean sweep. NOT. 3 fantastic EJs

He dropped the you and ignored a warning. When put together that equals an trip to the parking lot. Once off the field he is now the head coach's or field supervisor's problem. I agree with catoblue. Pull the kids until the rat boards the train to the parking lot and stays aboard. Eventually the HC or the parents will get tired of the delay and make him leave.

For a coach, " I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR", means, "Please good sir, I no longer wish to be coaching today. Please relieve me." It would be my pleasure to oblige

Fantastic toss. Don't beat yourself up about losing the count. It happens.