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Mark Pepper

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  • How did you hear about Umpire-Empire?
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  1. Someone's going to start making a "dash-cam" for officials to document their confrontations, during and after games! It would make the write-up easier...
  2. I'm a player's parent, a coach and an umpire. As a parent I call other parents out on their behavior--politely. "Brian, go spend a weekend as an umpire in a tournament with parents talking to you like you're talking to him. THEN come back and see if you're okay barking at this guy like that." As a parent I've also pulled my son from a travel team and told the coach and other parents why--that at 11 years old, he needs positive role models, not one who gets thrown out of a youth baseball game because he can't control his temper. Why are parents so desperate to have their kids on a travel/all-star/whatever team that they (A) accept, (B) encourage, and © participate that kind of behavior?
  3. Good for you for planning to work the slot this weekend. You probably know this, but focus on timing and be even more patient, especially on the outside pitch where you said you've had trouble in the slot. I suspect you'll be surprised how many more strikes you get on the outside edge if you give yourself another half-second or so.
  4. Quick update: The young man’s wrist was operated on and the Drs expect a full recovery. The league president and the UIC visited him at home and discussed the incident with his parents (without council). The boy’s father states that the family’s research into the incident, he is a lawyer as well, clearly indicates no wrongdoing on any league official’s part as well as the umpires calling this game. His attitude and statement was here are implied risks in all sports and he himself had suffered a broken arm in a men’s softball game 4 years ago and stated that his wife had overreacted at the time. The young man expects be playing ball next spring and seemed in good spirits. His father stated that he seemed to be enjoying the added attention! What a relief. If that had gone badly these are the stories that make the news and dissuade people from taking up umpiring. Like the volunteer LL coach who was out of pocket for almost $40K in legal fees when one of his players slid into 2B and tore up his knee. Coach didn't have to pay any damages, but LL paid $125K.
  5. I can pile on to a hijacked thread... - irregardless - you're vs your - alot - could of
  6. @grayhawk -- I literally laughed out loud at this. And then I added a new statistic to keep: Games, Extra Inning Games, EJs, and now Crying Batters on Backwards K.
  7. My thoughts for what it's worth, and feel free to ignore. First, you are completely and wholly justified to resign and I would support that 100%. But I get a sense you would like a different outcome. Perhaps you would like commitment for the rest of this season and going forward that they will (1) support the decisions of the umpires (2) enforce their own policies and (3) include you and/or the umpire involved in any reviews related to post-game discipline. They probably can't rescind their previous rescission of the suspension (at least and still save face). But if you can get strong commitment going forward, you might word your letter differently, or perhaps gain support from board members who are friends prior to taking definitive actions. To be clear, I'd be furious as well, but I sense you have a lot invested in this league and some love for it as well. Either way I hope it turns out for the best.
  8. I do this, but then I chase them into the dugout yelling "Swing the bat!" By the second inning every kid swings with 2 strikes no matter where the pitch is. Okay, seriously I'm not at all over the top normally, but I put less volume and animation for the younger kids. They've had far fewer strikeouts so it's already scary. Strike zone is still big, but I want the younger kids to learn to love this game and to not be afraid to come back. I know I don't NEED to tone it down. I choose to.
  9. Youtube voting cracks me up. You could post a video with a link offering $100 to anyone who watches it. When they got their $100 they'd "dislike" the video because it wasn't $200.
  10. How is it you didn't block him? I know I would have. I disagree with the "Don't discuss anything that might lead to conflict with anyone--including your partner." The overwhelming majority of the time a quick conversation with your partner can help make vast improvements real-time and prevent a far worse situation. Sitting on it lets the problem continue. There's always a risk that your partner will behave like yours or Jocko's did, but those extremes are once every 20 years situations. Give them a chance first. Just my opinion.
  11. Me at plate meeting to HT Coach: "Coach, any ground rules we should know about? How do we play it off the passed out grounds crew member laying there in what appears to be fair territory just past 1B?"
  12. Finally--I hope we can all learn the gravity of what we do on the field. How is it possible any of us think baseball is supposed to be fun?!? "We call balls and strikes or people die." Col. Nathan R. Jessup (paraphrased)
  13. Any league that blackballs me because I EJd a coach for a legitimate reason has done me a huge favor.
  14. @Rulekeep, I know when I brush the plate I point my arse at center field. What's the right mechanic for brushing bases?
  15. I think it's our duty to correct her in this case. In fact, depending on her level of H and the presence or lack thereof of a tank top and short shorts, I may have to go over to the fence and explain to her the proper number of outs and any other matters such that I may have at the time. yes, Jax, I'm kidding According to a clinic a buddy of mine recently held, the proper mechanic here is to go over to the fence and make sure you both have the outs correct: "Okay, so I have 1st batter single to center, 2nd batter strike out, 3rd batter safe on error--oh? That's your son? He hit that ball well. What did you have?"
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