NFUA_44

Right back at ya @th3. Smooth transaction, timely payment, great communication. Cleared out space in the Umpire Cave, now let's see what I can buy!!!!!

Back in 2007 I was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. I went through a period of surgery and rehab that in the end got me through the roughest parts. During that time I lost a huge amount of weight, and when i returned to the field I had to change alot of things, especially since I had dropped from my "normal" weight of 185 down to 142. So I invested in some new polywools that were a 34 inch waist. If I'm not mistaken this was also still during the period when they were strictly a Plate Plant which is why both of these are plate pants. The first pair are the charcoal that was just making it's way into the market place at the time, they have about 1 season in them and are in great shape. The second pair are heather, and have about 2 to 2.5 seasons on them, and are in good shape. They were washed in a machine no more than 3 times per year, and dry cleaned at all other times. I also have a Medium Black Honig's Jersey which is listed here. Fortunately I'm back up to my normal weight and wouldn't be able to squeeze into a 34 in the best of times. I honestly had these sitting in the back of the storage closet and forgot I had them. Send me a PM with an offer for whatever interests you and we can do some business. Both are 34 x 32 Jersey size is a Medium Honigs Brand

Can you imagine life without The BRD, or 151 Ways to ruin a ball game? And Tim is spot on, Carl has always willing to sit and spin a yarn about anything relating to baseball and/or Umpires. I called him about getting the e-version of the last BRD edition. What should have been about a three minute call was a 10 minute chat about the upcoming spring season. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Carl.

I noticed that long ago too but he is a little more laid back than AB! Then it could be him playing incognito. Now I may have to go dig up my eteamz password, and its all your fault. LOL

Clinics big time. Traveling to an area to get new perspectives is also a big help. I look forward to clinic season and organization meetings, great time of year to see old friends, discuss new trends in our little world, and chew on new rule changes. Once I started to understand how important clinics were to the training cycle I started to "get it". The good news is I will never "have all of it" so I'm always getting more. Michael you couldn't be more right about the Boards. From the days of e-teamz to various other spots I have learned and worked thru many a knotty situation thanks to the combined wisdom shared on those (and this one!) sites. On Edit: PS, you probably remember my little screen shot of the "warning" sign, I swiped it from Manny, on e-teams many moons ago!

:banghead: Ok man i am terrible some night yea it was. This was much easier to read i hope though. I didn't even knew i put that out there... wow My brain forgets way to much now getting older does not help. I only asked because if this happened twice in such a short span of time, it may have been time to look for another place to umpire! Tim. I don't know Tim, once may have been enough! I'm with Michael though it's all peachy that the UIC handled it, but your not showing alot of support for the umpires that got you there. We don't have the entire story so there could obviously be other factors there.

"No coach there isn't an appeal of a judgment call." It's clean and simple and there is no telling them one thing and then giving them an answer on that which you just told them there was no appeal on. If you even entertain this notion then your doing nothing more than setting them up for future problems with other umpires. You can answer their question, respectfully with the truth and he starts to learn where and when an appeal is appropriate. Telling them no appeal and then answering a question about what isn't even YOUR call is just begging for trouble. Am I supposed to hang out in B or C and offer up my judgment on your balls and strikes? Do you see how this goes nowhere good for you in the long run........I hope

I'm confused. You have an out for being out of the base path, ok so someone is there with the ball ready to make a tag and the runner left the 3 foot lane. Got that. But then you go on to say she was way to far out for an OBS call. How could you have OBS if someone is there WITH the ball? It's a warm fuzzy thing to hear them rave about you, but if your going to take those compliments to heart then it only makes sense that you have to take their rat like rants as well. It's no different than balls and strikes. If your going to allow them to sit back and take shots at you about what THEY think of a strike zone then there isn't a whole lot you can say to them because you have allowed them to run the game. In the end I always say the same thing to any coach at the end of the day. "Thanks Frank, we enjoyed having your game today", no matter how the game was. Exit stage left.

Unless the R3 scored before you killed it on the OBS then your gonna have to put her back on third. Short basepaths for SB though so I guess it could happen, as Michael said though with the OBS before 1st kill it and award 1b, put R3 wherever she was when time was called.

Scott; I think you handled the situation just fine, for a 7-0 ball game, just know that in a different setting (especially at this age level) things can get dicey quick. I have often found that when their up above the 14 y/o area it's best to nip it in the bud with warnings early. It will often times let them know that the sheriff is in town and watching what's going on. Just my

Make arrangements to get paid at the plate meeting. That will be the last time it happens. And yes, you should keep the money. In all seriousness though, no matter how senior he may be this isn't a reasonable behavior from anyone. Take a look around, outside of the guy working solo, do you see ANYBODY that has a partner standing anywhere besides at that meeting? At least have a conversation and find out why he's of this mind set and report back to us forthwith!

"Don't speak unless you can improve the silence"

Guys; He did make his own call, as highlighted above, it's just not that clear in the original posting. It looks like the BR was heading towards the dugout because his initial call was "out". He then went to his partner who reversed it. The ball wouldn't be dead because you went to your partner, but his changing of the call certainly changes that BR's status. You can't really punish him when you sent him packing with an out call. DFDUmpire, as others have said, make sure you pre-game this situation with your partners in the future to avoid any further problems. In my minds eye you did the right thing by making the call. You probably would have been better served to do as Semper_Fi suggested and wait until they ask you to get help, at which point you can have a conversation with your partner and then change the call if necessary. At that point then your simply putting the BR back on the bag instead of trying to sort out if the ball was dead because you went to your partner. This also keeps you from putting your partner in a tough spot in case he was watching a touch at third, or another responsibility he had at the time. If you had this discussion between yourselves then he could tell you he couldn't help instead of looking bad from across the field.

There will be plenty of differing views on this (obviously) but I have to agree with Tim and Michael. When you give him the initial warning about it not being a good idea, a no response from you can only weaken your position with everyone there. Your going to have an opposing coach who now thinks he has at least one dirt kick coming to him, and that your not going to respond when somebody starts trying to show you up. Stand firm, tell him it's not acceptable in any way shape or form, and then immediately return back to the pre-game you were conducting to move on with things. Larry makes a good point that I have to ask myself sometimes when I witness over the top behavior from coaches and/or parents. Is what your doing acceptable anywhere that you would call work, or in a place where there are children? I can and will respect you all day long, when it's earned and supported by reasonable behavior. I am there to be the independent third party arbiter for the game, I'm not there for you to degrade and demean me, or the uniform. Just my

Welcome back Tim, good to see ya, hope all is well.

F7 would have had to have run through the fence, AND then caught the ball to award the HR. As Maven said, it's a catch and carry. What would have happened if the fence was a wall instead, assuming he still maintained possession? Would have been a catch.

Randy Johnson is a BIG man. All of that coming off that mound is just straight up scary. That dove is the definition of never knowing what hit him.

Where did you park coach? (gotta know which way to point)

Big diff between being "approachable" and being the walmart greeter. Coaches and Managers are the only ones I'm gonna take the time to chat with anyway and that's gonna be a short lived tale during a game.

There is nothing wrong with being friendly or approachable. Having a nice conversation about anything between innings or at other times a coach may approach you is just being human. As an umpire you have to flip the switch when necessary. Shutting down convo's that aren't appropriate, or moving a coach along that wants to hang around to long is an art form that takes time and experience. I agree with the others above that it's a large dose of HTBT, for me though things that are yelled across a field become real objectionable, real fast. No not everything, but things that involve the questioning of a call, or attacks on a crews integrity immediately draw my ire. The good news is that the Dad's become less involved in coaching, and the older the participants get, the less likely this is to happen from a distance. Moral of the story though is, as Mike Prince pointed out, shut it down in some manner so the next crew doesn't have to pay the price.

Mike; To clarify, the bold section would be a reasonable response at close range, that seems like a mouthful from across the diamond. This is just my opinion though. While I understand not being a RedA$$ to coaches is an important part of our job at various levels, I take great exception to be yelled at from across the field. I'm not necessarily going to just dump someone that wants to yell, but I'm not one of their players to be screamed at either.

Gone, immediately. From across the field this is 100%. If he is standing next to me and wants to get stupid I will give him the opportunity to heed a warning. It will be Crystal clear that it's the only warning he will be getting. As to your 2nd statement of counting calls, for me that is the other one that if done from a distance will draw an automatic reaction that they probably won't like very much. How hard I have worked, or how much I have been "on" the ball all weekend, doesn't enter into it. Even if I blew up the play before his comment, he is doing nothing more than showing you up and disrespecting you for all the world to see. Giving him more or less rope because I am great or not does not change anything.

You fixed it end of story. If they still screwed it up it is on them. Especially the pitcher that prompted you to the error to begin with! Announce the count loud and clear if they still boot it, their fault.

Amen Brother. And the Rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there......... Our true hero's that have fought and died to defend our nation are with us every day that we live in freedom. Since before Mr. Key's words describing the defense of Fort McHenry became our national anthem, all of those patriots fought for an ideal of Liberty and Freedom, and many millions more have served since fighting to keep those rights for us. Thanks to all of you.

What he is doing out there with his players is of no concern to us, with one exception for me. If it's young kids and I hear any kind of cursing out of him I will then step in and get rid of him. Aside from that he should be afforded the same amount of time you would give any other coach making a trip, no more or less. If you give him more time to "light them up", then your going to have to give the opposing coach more for any reason he can justify. We're not there to provide anything extra for either team, but to ensure the fair enforcement of the rules so that no single team gains an unfair advantage. Keep it the same for everyone, irregardless of the intent or situation.