Dottelife

After 25 years of being an ump I have decided to retire. I am 46 years old and in great shape, still love to ump but have had enough of everything outside of the lines. - travel baseball is destroying the sport. Complexes are now telling umps they can’t eject without permission, coaches and parents are allowed to act crazy and say anything to us, as long as they pay that money no one seems to care. - I am sick and tired of working solo and not getting both paychecks. I am doing the work of 2 people why am I not getting paid for it? - started carrying a gun in my car this year after a fellow ump was attacked in the parking lot by a coach who had a bat. If I need to carry a gun to work what does that say about my job? It’s been a great ride and I salute you boys for doing what you are doing but for me it’s enough and I have too much pride to be treated like this by people who don’t care.

Cash is king. When I ran tournaments I would always pay cash when you were done with your games for the day. You would be surprised how quick word spread and I had no problems getting umps.

I set up a room in our building that has A/C and fenced off from the public. What irritated me is they would not use it, they would rather sit in a chair under a tree behind their cars lol.

834k34 is spot on. I have umped tournaments, UIC tournaments and ran a tournament. Running a tournament is Friday morning to Sunday night in 90 plus degree heat getting no sleep and the only break is when you take a leak. Friday afternoon is mowing, dragging, chalking the fields and unloading concession truck delivery. Teams play Friday night, hope all umps and workers show, record scores, deal with any coaches, show up to gate to explain why we charge a $5 entry fee for the 20th time and update website scores. After games drag field, chalk for morning games, empty trash lock up and leave around midnight. Saturday show up at 7am hope umps show up for 8 am start and 17 hours later repeat process. Getting umps is hard and good umps are a blessing. The feeling knowing I can put an ump on a field and he will handle it like a pro is priceless.

College it’s always foul and time. HS 80% it’s same but other 20% it’s dead ball!!! and I shake my head. Youth it’s dead ball, foul ball and the dreaded play ball. I try to talk to them but in one ear out the other. In youth my biggest pet peeve is putting the ball back in play. I explain to partner if it’s foul you gotta say play to make it live again otherwise on a pickoff coach will eat you alive.

More reasons not to umpire girls softball lol.

Maven fantastic write up and agree on everything you said. I absolutely get what you are saying. In 10 years of doing college baseball I have tossed 2 coaches. I have a good friend who runs a youth complex, it’s one step above rec ball. He ask me to do games here and there when he is in a pinch and since I grew up playing there and started umping there I feel obligated. In the 5 years I have been helping him out i have ejected well over 50 coaches (not kidding) These weekend warrior dads think they know everything and have no clue what the rules are or how to talk to an umpire. Most of it is a very week crew that allows them to act like an idiot so I get to clean it up. I go to every game thinking ok no ejections this game then First inning here comes coach running out the dugout saying no f**king way he was safe….you gone. My son wanted to ump and after watching a few games said no thank you and got a job at Culver’s lol. My friend had me at the mandatory coaches meeting this spring to discuss with coaches what we expect from them on the field. It went well and ejections are down so far this year but yeah it’s ridiculous how they act.

Here is thoughts - If TD wants a game started early they need to go address that with the coaches, I have and will always refuse to do it. - It is your plate and zone. The key word is consistency. - I may get flack but I do not announce where a pitch missed. It was a ball, coach knows where it missed and the only reason they ask is to make you look stupid. When I get a coach say “where did that miss blue?” I say the strike zone. I am not justifying my zone on every pitch. - 10u he gets ejected as soon as he cussed. Absolutely no exceptions. - Remember the 3 P’s for ejections. Profane, prolonged and personal. - I like solo myself because I seem to stay more focused. Solo in this heat and several games and I am calling balls and strikes from behind the pitcher.

I have umped and refed my own kids before. Rang them both up looking at strike 3.

Excellent post and 100% agree. You go to my partner first to cry about a call I made!!! The only thing that better come out of my partners mouth is “coach you need to address that with my partner.” It’s amazing how many times a coach will try to play us against each other. This isn’t Burger King lol love it

Dropping the F bomb will find you a parking lot. Good move getting an official ruling on it, sounds like you have a good league director.

First I done this for 20 years from HS to Tball and UIC. Never one time have I ever flexed my credentials on or off a field. Had a few try and I told them it does not impress me. second you better dam well never and I mean never show me up on a field. We are a team and neither of us are perfect. If I need help or a second opinion I will come to you and ask. If you want me come to me and ask. You better not tell a coach or player I blew a call or give them a funny look. I have worked with men that were so bad behind a plate Ray Charles could have called a better game and not one time did I throw them under the bus. Worst I ever had was doing basketball had a young partner that was green but trying. I hear someone in the stands say horrible call you are garbage. It was the red for the next game sitting in the stands with his ref shirt on. I ejected him and then called my boss who fired him over the phone. We are a team and have to work together.

No one on who cares. Runners on and no one tries to advance just let coach know between innings that it’s a live ball so maybe don’t do that. Runner on tries to advance you have a problem.

Screaming when the pitcher is set or beating on the fence is annoying and unsportsmanlike behavior, I don’t do softball for this reason alone. If other coach complained i am going to say it was effecting his pitcher more then he was just being a jerk. Ump backed him up so he had to have a feeling it was having a negative effect also. I would suggest telling them to cheer when they actually hit the ball.

The joys of 10u baseball lol. Here is what I did, may not be text book but it worked for me. - I always set up in the slot on a knee. Right hand batter right knee on the ground, left hand batter left knee down. I did this for a few reasons. First it gives me a better view of the zone since most are shorter and second saved my back and knees. - my strike zone was chalk to chalk neck to shin. Like seeing eye dog said outs get us home and walks make it just horrible for everyone involved. - The key is to be consistent throughout the entire game. If a pich at the ankle is a strike in the first inning and it’s a strike in the last inning coaches may gripe but ask them if you were consistent and if they say yes you did a good job. it’s a hard age to call.