He gave me the finger...

[stl_ump]

So I'm doing 8u pitching machine. 

It's the easiest (and funnest) 1:20 and $45 you can do.

 

So every inning they send out a kid to stand by the machine and me (I'm feeding the balls) and act as the pitcher.  I have a good time with all the kids that come out... Asking them what kind of pitch should I do? (Scorpion is the favorite so far) Where's the play if they get the ball? How many outs?  All that good baseball stuff...

 

So I'm asking the "pitcher" how many outs there are and he sticks up one finger and says one.  But it wasn't his index finger. 

 

It was the middle one. 

 

I'm wondering if anyone in the stands saw this and was wondering why an 8 year old was flipping off the umpire.

 

Oh... and in the same game the ball bounces off the catcher and rolls in front of the batter.  The batter picks it up, tosses it out in front of him and kicks it back to me.

 

These games are VERY entertaining.

[JaxRolo]

Once I had a fellow umpire signal IFF possibility with 1 out. He used the middle finger. We both cracked up laughing.

[VAUmp]

It's better than getting the finger from Mylie Cyrus!

[afaber12]

There was an umpire who did a lot of my junior games - I played with his son an was coached by another son one season - and he also did a few senior games before he moved on to call the big ball game in the sky. One senior game our comedy duo at F5 and F6 were telling each other the number of outs with their middle fingers for some reason. At some point one of the asked this umpire whether it was 1 or 2 out, and he signalled back the same way. It became a running joke with our team and him from then on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

[BigUmpire]

You are feeding the balls into the machine?

[JaxRolo]

You are feeding the balls into the machine?

That's a coaches job.

[mjr_2013]

Does it really matter? If they're paying him $45 and he's enjoying it, who cares?

[stl_ump]

 

You are feeding the balls into the machine?

That's a coaches job.

 

Actually for our association it's not.  We feed the machine, call balls and strikes (if they aren't swinging) call safe / out on plays, fair and foul, etc etc. Heck, I even throw them a little infield in between innings while the catcher is getting ready. 

 

Like I said, an 1:20 & $45 of very entertaining baseball.  Not always the greatest skill level, but they are having a heck of a time.  Especially when I get the 'ol "scorpion" pitch going.  

 

And there is only one umpire on these games.

[mstaylor]

Many leagues do have the BU feed the machine. I thought I was going to have to once. My nephew played in a league where the coaches fed the machine and they were having problems with them either slowing it down for their batters or speeding it up for the others. All I was doing was watching. The umpires asked me if I would help, told them no problem but the better solution is to tell the coaches the next time the machine is adjusted without umpire supervision then they would be ejected. Problem fixed. 

[CentralOhioUmp30]

That's funny.  When my partner and I (we have the maturity level of teenagers at times) are out there working bad summer baseball we do what we can to keep each other entertained in-between pitches.  One of these things is flipping off one another in subtle ways.  Infield fly is the most common one.  Scratching an "itch" with only the middle finger is another.

 

Makes those 2:30 blowouts tolerable.  

[BigUmpire]

Does it really matter? If they're paying him $45 and he's enjoying it, who cares?

Let a ball hit some kid in the head!

I don’t even throw balls back to the pitcher until HS ball.

 

Too many lawyers.

My son-in law and my two grandfathers and 4 of my cousins for instance.

DONT DO IT!

[stl_ump]

 

Does it really matter? If they're paying him $45 and he's enjoying it, who cares?

Let a ball hit some kid in the head!

 

I don’t even throw balls back to the pitcher until HS ball.

 

 

 

Too many lawyers.

 

My son-in law and my two grandfathers and 4 of my cousins for instance.

 

DONT DO IT!

 

Huh? Who's throwing balls back to the pitcher?

[Texas Manny]

 

Does it really matter? If they're paying him $45 and he's enjoying it, who cares?

Let a ball hit some kid in the head!

 

I don’t even throw balls back to the pitcher until HS ball.

 

 

 

Too many lawyers.

 

My son-in law and my two grandfathers and 4 of my cousins for instance.

 

DONT DO IT!

 

Whereas I totally can appreciate Stl Ump's fun in the sun and laugh with him, Big Umpire brings up a very good; in fact, excellent point. It only takes once and it can be a legal nightmare. I would just say make sure you are okay with doing that with the appropriate league, and if you haven't joined NASO, ABUA, or both, I would, even if just for the liability insurance coverage alone.