Really screwed this up

[umpire_scott]

R2 none out in a 0-0 tie game, championship game of a JV tournament.  I'm in "C" of course and there is a long fly ball hit to right-center. I get in position to look for the catch and see the runner go back to tag up at 2nd.  RF dives for catch and I see ball disappear into glove area.  Where he is at is in shadows and obviously far away from me.  I really have no idea whether he caught it or not, but I never see the ball hit the ground.  I watch him come up and see nothing to tell me that he didn't catch it, so I verbal "catch" and signal out. Obviously there was a slight delay between the actual catch and my signal.

 

The runner takes off running and his 3rd base coach is signaling him home.  The DC sees that I've signaled catch and starts to yell for his players to throw it to second.  In the meantime the BR is standing at first.  I'm pretty sure at this point I'm the only one that thought it was a catch.  The defensive team does not get R2 running home but throws to second.  I had him tagging up, but admit that I sort of lost my focus on R2 in trying to get a good look at the catch.  Since I did not see him leave early I signal safe.  DC coach asks for time and comes out to talk to me.  I tell him what I had and he said there is no way that the R2 was half way to 3rd when I called it a catch.  He asks if I can get help.  I go to my partner and ask him what he had.  He tells me he couldn't see it but he didn't think he caught it.  I told him I had a catch.  He says well then he didn't tag up, he was off the base when you called it a catch.

 

This is where I think I screwed up.  I took what my partner had and signaled R2 out.  I think the confusion was in my delay to make the call (which I had to to given the way it happened).  I think the runner tagged but as soon as he saw the fielder dive for the ball he took off, which is what he should do.  I think my partner was influenced by how certain the DC seemed that R2 left early.

 

In all honesty when I look at the reaction of everyone involved, plus some talk I heard afterwards, I think the RF probably didn't make the catch.  So the OT got screwed completely.

 

I talked to my partner after the game and he was no help.  He kept saying that he was off the bag when you called catch.  I told him that didn't matter it's when the ball makes contact with the glove not when I call catch.

 

Thoughts?  And be somewhat gentle.  I felt really bad because the team that got screwed ended up losing a great game 1-0 in 11 innings.

[grayhawk]

I think your mistake was going to your partner in the first place.  When the coach said he was halfway to third when you called the out, simply explain that the runner may legally leave the base the instant the ball is touched by the fielder and he was in contact with the bag when F9 first touched the ball.  No need to go to your partner - it was your call all the way.

[umpire_scott]

I think your mistake was going to your partner in the first place.  When the coach said he was halfway to third when you called the out, simply explain that the runner may legally leave the base the instant the ball is touched by the fielder and he was in contact with the bag when F9 first touched the ball.  No need to go to your partner - it was your call all the way.

 

I've come to the conclusion that I'm in a stage of umpiring where I'm much better than bad umpires and not nearly as good as good ones.  I work with so many bad umpires that I have gotten complacent in the sense that I know I'm better than most of the umpires I work with.  Generally if there are no train wrecks or obscure rule interpretations then I call a really good game and have really good judgement on most calls.  I've also come to the conclusion that I don't know if my personality is very well suited to becoming a really good umpire.  I'm just too indecisive oftentimes about things in life.  I want to break everything down.  This does not serve me very well when I have to make strong definitive decisions on things I'm not 100% sure of.

 

On this particular play I was so focused on trying to see the ball that I didn't pay close enough attention to R2.  And then when I lost site of the ball and was not sure if it was in the glove or not my mind went 100% on what I was going to call and looking for reaction from F9 to see if I got anything from him.  So in reality I was not confident that R2 had completely tagged up.  I know he ventured back to the bag and was in the vicinity of it.

 

I agree that I should not have gone to my partner.  Or if I did I should have controlled the conversation more.  I should have asked if he was 100% sure there was no tag.  If he hesitated at all I should have stuck with my original call.  Instead I let the coaches decisiveness convince me that I had probably missed it and therefore easily allowed my less than definitive partner to change my mind and my call.

[Larry in TN]

Just as an umpire will sell a close call even if he isn't 100% sure, a smart coach will argue with confidence for a call regardless of how sure he is about it.  Don't let a confident sounding coach sway your judgement.  Coaches see everything through glasses tinted with competitive bias.

[NCAAump2]

On those, I think you've gotta eat it and stick with your original call. It's tough to place runners if you change it. It sounds like you need to be more assertive and confident on your calls. When you do go to your partner for help, unless they are 100% sure you missed it, stick with your original call. Just my two cents, YMMV.

[AmackNH]

 

I think your mistake was going to your partner in the first place.  When the coach said he was halfway to third when you called the out, simply explain that the runner may legally leave the base the instant the ball is touched by the fielder and he was in contact with the bag when F9 first touched the ball.  No need to go to your partner - it was your call all the way.

 

I've come to the conclusion that I'm in a stage of umpiring where I'm much better than bad umpires and not nearly as good as good ones.  I work with so many bad umpires that I have gotten complacent in the sense that I know I'm better than most of the umpires I work with.  Generally if there are no train wrecks or obscure rule interpretations then I call a really good game and have really good judgement on most calls.  I've also come to the conclusion that I don't know if my personality is very well suited to becoming a really good umpire.  I'm just too indecisive oftentimes about things in life.  I want to break everything down.  This does not serve me very well when I have to make strong definitive decisions on things I'm not 100% sure of.

 

On this particular play I was so focused on trying to see the ball that I didn't pay close enough attention to R2.  And then when I lost site of the ball and was not sure if it was in the glove or not my mind went 100% on what I was going to call and looking for reaction from F9 to see if I got anything from him.  So in reality I was not confident that R2 had completely tagged up.  I know he ventured back to the bag and was in the vicinity of it.

 

I agree that I should not have gone to my partner.  Or if I did I should have controlled the conversation more.  I should have asked if he was 100% sure there was no tag.  If he hesitated at all I should have stuck with my original call.  Instead I let the coaches decisiveness convince me that I had probably missed it and therefore easily allowed my less than definitive partner to change my mind and my call.

 

I have only been at this 4 years so by no means am I an expert.  That said, your willingness to self critique and identify where you may have gone awry is pretty compelling evidence to me that your gonna be a very good umpire.  Provided you learn from mistakes, youll be fine.  Catch/no catch is your primary responsibility here.  YES, you also need to see the tag, but its secondary.  Be in good position, call it confidently and be assertive.  Youll be fine.

[Mike Prince]

 

I think your mistake was going to your partner in the first place.  When the coach said he was halfway to third when you called the out, simply explain that the runner may legally leave the base the instant the ball is touched by the fielder and he was in contact with the bag when F9 first touched the ball.  No need to go to your partner - it was your call all the way.

 

I've come to the conclusion that I'm in a stage of umpiring where I'm much better than bad umpires and not nearly as good as good ones.  I work with so many bad umpires that I have gotten complacent in the sense that I know I'm better than most of the umpires I work with.  Generally if there are no train wrecks or obscure rule interpretations then I call a really good game and have really good judgement on most calls.  I've also come to the conclusion that I don't know if my personality is very well suited to becoming a really good umpire.  I'm just too indecisive oftentimes about things in life.  I want to break everything down.  This does not serve me very well when I have to make strong definitive decisions on things I'm not 100% sure of.

 

 

@umpire_scott, this bolded statement is part of your problem.  As an umpire, you are only as good as your last call or your last game - period.  Comparing yourself to your partners in this way is not fair to you or them.  We all make mistakes; I think you are somewhat of a perfectionist, which many of us are.  The problem is that perfectionism without experience is a dangerous thing as you don't always know what to watch for and you can get caught being right about the wrong situation.  Sounds like the DC was pretty shrewd and knew how to play you here - he may have gotten a free out on a very tough call and figured he'd try for the double.

 

I agree that you should not have gone to your partner - in this sitch you dig your heels in a bit and tell the coach what you had, let him have his say and tell you he disagrees (warn if he starts to cross the line, but if you aren't sold on the call he may get a little rope), and end the conversation.  The call was yours all the way.  One other thing to remember, when you do go to your partner, all he can do is offer information - it is not a debate or him selling you on the opposite of your call.  You need to be direct with him on what information you want in a situation like this and control the 5 second discussion, then it is your decision as to how to process the information.  He can be 100% certain of what he thinks he saw, but you can ignore his information if you choose.

 

I will say in this scenario, that's a really tough call on the catch.  If you were in "A", it sounds like this is a ball you would have gone out on which obviously isn't an option from "C".  All you can do is make the best call you can (which I will say it sounds like you did) and stick with it.  Sometimes you have to eat a $hit sandwich served by the coach, that's just how it goes. Even if you are not 100% sure on the call, you need to sell yourself on what you called, otherwise you will never be able to handle the conversations on the tough calls and coaches at HS level and above will walk all over you if they sense that you aren't sure.  Many of us here have had to EJ a coach on a call we aren't 100% on..

[umpire_scott]

I realize after re-reading my statement it probably came across as pretty arrogant.  To further explain I work for a Tournament organizer that has someone that he pays to schedule umpires.  The scheduler and the tournament director are not umpires and don't know good umpiring from bad.  I work with guys that literally never come out from behind homeplate when on the dish.  I work with guys that never make it to the infield from "A" until after the ball is back on the pitchers mound.  And these guys get priority scheduling over me.  So when I work for this group I know I've going to work with many substandard umpires.  They are just there for weekend money.  And the scheduler wants guys that will do 6-7 games a day on the weekend.  The money is nice and when the weather is not bad, 3 plates and 3 bases is doable.  So I end up doing quite a few games for them, and I often do them with umpires that I'm not sure even know they are supposed to rotate to 3rd with R1.

 

Those are the "bad" umpires I'm speaking of.  Not the ones that have an off-game or make a bad call.

[scrounge]

well, Scott, all I can say is that if you're going to willingly work at the circus, don't be surprised when you're working with clowns...