First and Only Ejection

[DVA7130]

I had gone through two seasons and about 50 games, but I had my first ejection just last week. Little League area tournament, 8U "Rookie" ball (kid/coach pitch hybrid with no walks). Semi-final game, solo.

Game was nearing the end (with a Nine o'clock start time it is starting to get closer to eleven). HT assistant coach is getting increasingly upset as his team is falling further and further away from a possible comeback with his team kicking the around the ball especially on plays at the plate. (It had been an expedition on timing at the plate all night, balls knocked lose with out touch of the plate for delayed calls, and about four plum dropped by the catcher). It is the top of the last inning by time limit, and there is Another play at the plate. Overthrow at third, ball beats the runner by 10 feet. Slide collision I have a clear tag, but the catcher is knocked over fairly roughly. I though I might have had the ball come lose, and when the catcher collected himself off the ground, the ball was magically in his hand, similar to this play:

 

 

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http://wapc.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=27652251

 

 

 

"SAFE!!"

 

Here is my report

 

In the top of the last inning the assistant coach of the home team was very animated on a play at the plate where the ball beat the runner, tag attempt, ball knocked lose, score. He never saw the ball on the ground with the catcher quickly picking it up and was on top of me yelling, "That's Bulls..!". Situation was defused, coach back in dugout, play continues. Next play his team kicks the ball around more and another run scores really putting them far out of a comeback. Right before the next batter comes up I hear and see the coach very loudly and plainly, "D***NNN..". In an 8U game no less he was instantly tossed. Forfeit threatened after carrying on loitering in the area.

 

Now I do have a few questions,

 

Little League disallows coaches from entering the field without permission. I have a feeling he should have been gone as soon as he was on top of me while the ball is still live. Let alone the That's Bull..

 

He wasn't even the manager so he can not even remotely address me like that right?

 

Does anybody else get excited ( adrenaline, nerves) after an ejection, even if it is obvious he should have been gone, maybe because it was my first..

 

I overheard the manager say to the coach when he was finally leaving the dugout "You just got thrown out by a highschooler". That actually made me smile on the ride home.

[plateumpire]

Wow why do 8u Little League coaches get so worked up about the game? I have had more trouble with Little League 8u and t-ball than I have with Little League Majors. That was good that you ejected him. I would be expected to in that situation too.

About your question about assistant coaches talking to you, my UIC says that only the head coach can talk to me, after he calls and gets time.

[BRUMP]

what a douchebag

[Daniel]

If he really came out yelling "That's Bullsh*t"...he should have been gone then. 

 

As far as assistant coaches...here is my advice.

 

Shut them down firmly and politely when they try to argue calls.   If I know they aren't they HC, I always ask them "Are you the head coach?".  Naturally, when I ask them that, the person who IS the head coach will come over and take over the conversion, making the AC walk away with his tail between his legs..   I've had success taking this approach - it's often easier to diffuse the situation through the HC as he is in charge of his assistants.

[DVA7130]

If he really came out yelling "That's Bullsh*t"...he should have been gone then. 

 

As far as assistant coaches...here is my advice.

 

Shut them down firmly and politely when they try to argue calls.   If I know they aren't they HC, I always ask them "Are you the head coach?".  Naturally, when I ask them that, the person who IS the head coach will come over and take over the conversion, making the AC walk away with his tail between his legs..   I've had success taking this approach - it's often easier to diffuse the situation through the HC as he is in charge of his assistants.

 

It was "Bull- shhhh". Sometimes I fear I give more chances than I should. I think most of the time I'd rather just not eject.

[treydawgmt]

I may or may not have ejected on the "That's bullsh*t."  Probably should, but like you, sometimes that is too much effort if that is all that is said.

 

I hope that the paragraph you label as your "report" wasn't an actual report you file.  (I'm guessing not, but I've seen some of the reports people file).

 

Overall, good job.

[Replacematt]

Why would anyone start a game with kids this age at nine?

[DVA7130]

Why would anyone start a game with kids this age at nine?

 

It was the second semi-final game that I had done that night. Scheduled for 6:30 and 8:30. The time limit of these were 1:45 and as always the first went over, also I gave ten minutes between for me to reset, get balls ect. I told them at the plate meeting when announcing game time that they must be on ESPN tonight.

[Replacematt]

I'd suggest working with your league in changing that. If I had a bunch of snot-nosed kids up past their bedtime and failing at what they doing, I'd probably get run as a favor to myself and avoid the series of tantrums.

[SoCal Lurker]

I thought LL rules didn't allow a game that young to start that late? 

[Dragon29]

Here is my report

 

In the top of the last inning the assistant coach of the home team was very animated on a play at the plate where the ball beat the runner, tag attempt, ball knocked lose, score. He never saw the ball on the ground with the catcher quickly picking it up and was on top of me yelling, "That's Bulls..!". Situation was defused, coach back in dugout, play continues. Next play his team kicks the ball around more and another run scores really putting them far out of a comeback. Right before the next batter comes up I hear and see the coach very loudly and plainly, "D***NNN..". In an 8U game no less he was instantly tossed. Forfeit threatened after carrying on loitering in the area.

 

Now I do have a few questions,

 

Little League disallows coaches from entering the field without permission. I have a feeling he should have been gone as soon as he was on top of me while the ball is still live. Let alone the That's Bull..

 

He wasn't even the manager so he can not even remotely address me like that right?

 

Does anybody else get excited ( adrenaline, nerves) after an ejection, even if it is obvious he should have been gone, maybe because it was my first..

 

I overheard the manager say to the coach when he was finally leaving the dugout "You just got thrown out by a highschooler". That actually made me smile on the ride home.

 

DVA,

 

Your EJ report should contain only the facts of the case, not a story about what you think might have led the ejected participant to behave the way they did. Something like:

Assistant Coach <name> for <team> was ejected for sue of foul language on the field.

From the dugout, he shouted "Dammit!" (or whatever it was he actually said) loud enough for all present to hear.

 

This is after giving Date, Time, Place, Teams, etc...

 

To answer your questions:

 

At the very least, you should have held up the 'stop' sign to him so that he wouldn't make it all the way out there. If he does, he's gone.

Absolutely true - your reply to him should have been something like, "I'm sorry, coach. I cannot discuss calls with anyone but your team's manager." If he continues to rant - gone

Yes (don't let anyone tell you differently) but the first trick is to not let it show and the second trick, which is much harder, is to not let it affect the way you call the rest of the game. Repetition does make it easier.

Good toss.

 

Oh, and for SoCal Lurker, I couldn't find anything about timing of the games, other than that they can't play DHs at that level - I didn't go through the book w/a fine-tooth comb, but it wasn't where I would have expected it to be  (Section VII - Schedules)

[mstaylor]

Good toss, probably should have been done on the first time out. Even if he didn't complete the word, he's is out there screaming, not discussing a call. Say as little as possible, then get rid of him. I would simply tell him the ball was loose. When you do your report no commentary, simply the event as it happened and what was said. Reports are like coach discussions, the less said the better.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

[DVA7130]

 

Here is my report

 

In the top of the last inning the assistant coach of the home team was very animated on a play at the plate where the ball beat the runner, tag attempt, ball knocked lose, score. He never saw the ball on the ground with the catcher quickly picking it up and was on top of me yelling, "That's Bulls..!". Situation was defused, coach back in dugout, play continues. Next play his team kicks the ball around more and another run scores really putting them far out of a comeback. Right before the next batter comes up I hear and see the coach very loudly and plainly, "D***NNN..". In an 8U game no less he was instantly tossed. Forfeit threatened after carrying on loitering in the area.

 

Now I do have a few questions,

 

Little League disallows coaches from entering the field without permission. I have a feeling he should have been gone as soon as he was on top of me while the ball is still live. Let alone the That's Bull..

 

He wasn't even the manager so he can not even remotely address me like that right?

 

Does anybody else get excited ( adrenaline, nerves) after an ejection, even if it is obvious he should have been gone, maybe because it was my first..

 

I overheard the manager say to the coach when he was finally leaving the dugout "You just got thrown out by a highschooler". That actually made me smile on the ride home.

 

DVA,

 

Your EJ report should contain only the facts of the case, not a story about what you think might have led the ejected participant to behave the way they did. Something like:

Assistant Coach <name> for <team> was ejected for sue of foul language on the field.

From the dugout, he shouted "Dammit!" (or whatever it was he actually said) loud enough for all present to hear.

 

This is after giving Date, Time, Place, Teams, etc...

 

To answer your questions:

 

At the very least, you should have held up the 'stop' sign to him so that he wouldn't make it all the way out there. If he does, he's gone.

Absolutely true - your reply to him should have been something like, "I'm sorry, coach. I cannot discuss calls with anyone but your team's manager." If he continues to rant - gone

Yes (don't let anyone tell you differently) but the first trick is to not let it show and the second trick, which is much harder, is to not let it affect the way you call the rest of the game. Repetition does make it easier.

Good toss.

 

Oh, and for SoCal Lurker, I couldn't find anything about timing of the games, other than that they can't play DHs at that level - I didn't go through the book w/a fine-tooth comb, but it wasn't where I would have expected it to be  (Section VII - Schedules)

 

 

Thank you for the comments about reports especially @treydawgmt for the private discussion, this is definitely something I had no idea how to do and gave my best shot.

 

This man was on top of me before I had even shifted my view from the plate

 

Quick tournament rules discussion with my LL official before the game gave me time limit: 1:45, absolute limit 2:00, and park curfew of 11:30.

[PonyUmpire]

This is where it might be helpful to add a "he dropped the ball!" (or something similar) to the end of your safe call. If the dropped ball wasn't visible to everybody, and the catcher came up holding the ball, you should let everybody know why you called safe. Otherwise, it might look like you made a gross miss.

[Aging_Arbiter]

 

 

Here is my report

 

In the top of the last inning the assistant coach of the home team was very animated on a play at the plate where the ball beat the runner, tag attempt, ball knocked lose, score. He never saw the ball on the ground with the catcher quickly picking it up and was on top of me yelling, "That's Bulls..!". Situation was defused, coach back in dugout, play continues. Next play his team kicks the ball around more and another run scores really putting them far out of a comeback. Right before the next batter comes up I hear and see the coach very loudly and plainly, "D***NNN..". In an 8U game no less he was instantly tossed. Forfeit threatened after carrying on loitering in the area.

 

Now I do have a few questions,

 

Little League disallows coaches from entering the field without permission. I have a feeling he should have been gone as soon as he was on top of me while the ball is still live. Let alone the That's Bull..

 

He wasn't even the manager so he can not even remotely address me like that right?

 

Does anybody else get excited ( adrenaline, nerves) after an ejection, even if it is obvious he should have been gone, maybe because it was my first..

 

I overheard the manager say to the coach when he was finally leaving the dugout "You just got thrown out by a highschooler". That actually made me smile on the ride home.

 

DVA,

 

Your EJ report should contain only the facts of the case, not a story about what you think might have led the ejected participant to behave the way they did. Something like:

Assistant Coach <name> for <team> was ejected for sue of foul language on the field.

From the dugout, he shouted "Dammit!" (or whatever it was he actually said) loud enough for all present to hear.

 

This is after giving Date, Time, Place, Teams, etc...

 

To answer your questions:

 

At the very least, you should have held up the 'stop' sign to him so that he wouldn't make it all the way out there. If he does, he's gone.

Absolutely true - your reply to him should have been something like, "I'm sorry, coach. I cannot discuss calls with anyone but your team's manager." If he continues to rant - gone

Yes (don't let anyone tell you differently) but the first trick is to not let it show and the second trick, which is much harder, is to not let it affect the way you call the rest of the game. Repetition does make it easier.

Good toss.

 

Oh, and for SoCal Lurker, I couldn't find anything about timing of the games, other than that they can't play DHs at that level - I didn't go through the book w/a fine-tooth comb, but it wasn't where I would have expected it to be  (Section VII - Schedules)

 

 

Thank you for the comments about reports especially @treydawgmt for the private discussion, this is definitely something I had no idea how to do and gave my best shot.

 

This man was on top of me before I had even shifted my view from the plate

 

Quick tournament rules discussion with my LL official before the game gave me time limit: 1:45, absolute limit 2:00, and park curfew of 11:30.

 

 

I believe that Regulation X sub-paragraph (a) on page 41 of the Little League Rulebook is what you were looking for.

[Pete Peterson Sr]

I'd suggest working with your league in changing that. If I had a bunch of snot-nosed kids up past their bedtime and failing at what they doing, I'd probably get run as a favor to myself and avoid the series of tantrums.

 

 And what league actually cares what umpires think about starting times ? None, in my experience.