A Great Game - Proud Of My Guys

[bluejerred]

Had a great game last night.   Normally, I don't go into this much detail about a game but my guys had a breakthrough game and felt compelled to share!

 

Pregame:  NEVER EVER eat Taco Bell prior to a game, ever. Avoid the angry ass!

 

Partners:

 

Those who have seen prior posts of mine will know that I have two other brand new umpires that I'm working with.  They did a great job last night.  My PU had a great zone and was locked in well.

 

My other BU did a great job.  I had to adjust his positioning a few times but that was expected.  He didn't miss any outs/safes and I see his confidence on the field starting to grow.

 

Balks:

 

Thanks to the some of the sound advice I got here, I was able to set my threshold for balks and found that I've been needing to call more balks.  Called three of them in the first inning alone.  (2 no-stops and 1 "body went one way, throw went another).  Coaches didn't say a word about the balks that I called.  They knew.  Ended up calling four altogether and I'm sure I left a few on the table.  However, the pitchers got the message from my calls that I was watching.  They cleaned it up and actually started to pitch better since they were paying attention to the little things.

 

Close plays:

 

We nailed them all!

 

Game Management:

 

This is something that I've been working with my guys with.  For this game, I took the training wheels off and sure enough, the PU started to ride and did it well.  Clean plate meeting (LEGS), took less than 3 minutes, no long discussions.  Handled lineup/pitching changes great, and kept the game moving.  My other base umpire stayed in the outfield between innings (unless he was requesting water from the staff) and there was no idle chit-chat.  My guys witnessed that if we cut down unneccessary chit-chat and go where we are supposed to go between innings, the players hustle and warm-ups get done quickly.

 

My Confessional:

 

As the great one said, "The only ejection you'll regret is the one you missed" - mstaylor

 

Middle of the first, I was in the infield since we had a runner on 1st. 3rd out recorded.  Right after the out was recorded, I was starting to head to LF and the pitcher asks me, "Is he not going to give me the corners?".  I reply, "we can't talk about balls and strikes".  He asks me again, "okay, so he doesn't call corners?"  I ask him if he is arguing balls and strikes.  He replies "Yes".  At this time, I'm getting ready to toss and I notice that his coach is hustling to the infield with a "please let me take care of this, I'll ream him in the dugout look".  He is a good coach and easy to work with so I give him the chance to handle his player in-house.  Which takes us to the postgame...

 

Postgame:

 

Great post game conference with the guys.  They were happy that the game went well and that they weren't getting yelled at for a change.  I told them to enjoy it but to keep their guards up because as everyone knows here, the crowd can change in a heartbeat.  We go over the game, any questions they had, their observations, the atta boy's, and critiques.  Overall, a great session. 

 

This is where the confessional comes into play.  During the post-game, I told my PU that in the middle of the 1st, the pitcher was trying to give me a hard time about the corners.  I told my PU he was solid and of my exchange with said player.  Apparently, this player goes in as the catcher for the 2nd inning.  After I threw this player a big life raft, the first thing he does as the catcher is get behind the plate and ask my PU, "So you aren't giving the corners?".  I was pissed!  Never again! 

 

Game ended 7-6, full 6 innings, great tag play to end it.

 

 

 

 

[Thunderheads]

Had a great game last night.   Normally, I don't go into this much detail about a game but my guys had a breakthrough game and felt compelled to share!

 

Pregame:  NEVER EVER eat Taco Bell prior to a game, ever. Avoid the angry ass!

 

Partners:

 

Those who have seen prior posts of mine will know that I have two other brand new umpires that I'm working with.  They did a great job last night.  My PU had a great zone and was locked in well.

 

My other BU did a great job.  I had to adjust his positioning a few times but that was expected.  He didn't miss any outs/safes and I see his confidence on the field starting to grow.

 

Balks:

 

Thanks to the some of the sound advice I got here, I was able to set my threshold for balks and found that I've been needing to call more balks.  Called three of them in the first inning alone.  (2 no-stops and 1 "body went one way, throw went another).  Coaches didn't say a word about the balks that I called.  They knew.  Ended up calling four altogether and I'm sure I left a few on the table.  However, the pitchers got the message from my calls that I was watching.  They cleaned it up and actually started to pitch better since they were paying attention to the little things.

 

Close plays:

 

We nailed them all!

 

Game Management:

 

This is something that I've been working with my guys with.  For this game, I took the training wheels off and sure enough, the PU started to ride and did it well.  Clean plate meeting (LEGS), took less than 3 minutes, no long discussions.  Handled lineup/pitching changes great, and kept the game moving.  My other base umpire stayed in the outfield between innings (unless he was requesting water from the staff) and there was no idle chit-chat.  My guys witnessed that if we cut down unneccessary chit-chat and go where we are supposed to go between innings, the players hustle and warm-ups get done quickly.

 

My Confessional:

 

As the great one said, "The only ejection you'll regret is the one you missed" - mstaylor

 

Middle of the first, I was in the infield since we had a runner on 1st. 3rd out recorded.  Right after the out was recorded, I was starting to head to LF and the pitcher asks me, "Is he not going to give me the corners?".  I reply, "we can't talk about balls and strikes".  He asks me again, "okay, so he doesn't call corners?"  I ask him if he is arguing balls and strikes.  He replies "Yes".  At this time, I'm getting ready to toss and I notice that his coach is hustling to the infield with a "please let me take care of this, I'll ream him in the dugout look".  He is a good coach and easy to work with so I give him the chance to handle his player in-house.  Which takes us to the postgame...

 

Postgame:

 

Great post game conference with the guys.  They were happy that the game went well and that they weren't getting yelled at for a change.  I told them to enjoy it but to keep their guards up because as everyone knows here, the crowd can change in a heartbeat.  We go over the game, any questions they had, their observations, the atta boy's, and critiques.  Overall, a great session. 

 

This is where the confessional comes into play.  During the post-game, I told my PU that in the middle of the 1st, the pitcher was trying to give me a hard time about the corners.  I told my PU he was solid and of my exchange with said player.  Apparently, this player goes in as the catcher for the 2nd inning.  After I threw this player a big life raft, the first thing he does as the catcher is get behind the plate and ask my PU, "So you aren't giving the corners?".  I was pissed!  Never again! 

 

Game ended 7-6, full 6 innings, great tag play to end it.

 

 

 

 

I'm assuming he was animated and pi$$ed off, visibly during this convo, right?

[bluejerred]

Actually he wasn't too animated but he definitely had that aura of smartass/punk eminating from him.  If he was extremely animated, I would not have missed that EJ.  I'm not that forgiving.

[Thunderheads]

Actually he wasn't too animated but he definitely had that aura of smartass/punk eminating from him.  If he was extremely animated, I would not have missed that EJ.  I'm not that forgiving.

understood .......

as written in the OP .... it doesn't come across as 'ejection worthy/consideration' ...regardless of the subject matter

[bluejerred]

 

Actually he wasn't too animated but he definitely had that aura of smartass/punk eminating from him.  If he was extremely animated, I would not have missed that EJ.  I'm not that forgiving.

understood .......

as written in the OP .... it doesn't come across as 'ejection worthy/consideration' ...regardless of the subject matter

 

Would you inform the PU of his comments if you were in the same position?  As stated in the OP, he became the catcher and first thing he did is give him grief about the corners after I had let him walk away.

[Thunderheads]

 

 

Actually he wasn't too animated but he definitely had that aura of smartass/punk eminating from him.  If he was extremely animated, I would not have missed that EJ.  I'm not that forgiving.

understood .......

as written in the OP .... it doesn't come across as 'ejection worthy/consideration' ...regardless of the subject matter

 

Would you inform the PU of his comments if you were in the same position?  As stated in the OP, he became the catcher and first thing he did is give him grief about the corners after I had let him walk away.

 

hang on .... go re-read what I said.... I'm not saying you handled it wrong......

 

all I said is ......... the way in which the OP is written doesn't in and of itself constitute something ejection worthy regardless of the subject matter of his conversation.....

 

nothing more, nothing less

[bluejerred]

No sweat, Thunder.  I didn't mean that in a defensive tone.  So in essence, no confessional needed?  I'd rather confess and repent my umpiring sins and have it not be necessary rather than think I made a mistake, not bring it up to get fixed, and make it again.  That's why I like this site - I get real critiques and honest feedback and it helps me big time!

 

 

[Thunderheads]

No sweat, Thunder.  I didn't mean that in a defensive tone.  So in essence, no confessional needed?  I'd rather confess and repent my umpiring sins and have it not be necessary rather than think I made a mistake, not bring it up to get fixed, and make it again.  That's why I like this site - I get real critiques and honest feedback and it helps me big time!

 

 

Hey, no problem, you weren't defensive, I just wanted to make sure you knew where I was coming from, ...all good!

 

Your situation was unique because you need to be there to see this kids  mood and reaction.  Once you described his tone ...it was more clear.  For me .... I would have probably said something like .......  "that's a conversation for my partner, but .......I highly suggest you don't"  

[grayhawk]

Sounds like his coach didn't get through to him very well between innings.  At this point, it's PU's choice in how he deals with the little weasel.  How old was this kid?  Depending on his age, he may not know what he can and cannot say.

[bluejerred]

In your opinion, what sort of attitude/mood/reaction would have crossed the line for you?

Sounds like his coach didn't get through to him very well between innings.  At this point, it's PU's choice in how he deals with the little weasel.  How old was this kid?  Depending on his age, he may not know what he can and cannot say.

 

He is a high school player.  Probably 14, 15.  Somewhere in there.

[Thunderheads]

In your opinion, what sort of attitude/mood/reaction would have crossed the line for you?

Sounds like his coach didn't get through to him very well between innings.  At this point, it's PU's choice in how he deals with the little weasel.  How old was this kid?  Depending on his age, he may not know what he can and cannot say.

 

He is a high school player.  Probably 14, 15.  Somewhere in there.

Like I said ....it's a HTBT ......... but if he's being a little smarta$$ punk ....my consideration to toss would be MUCH higher ........ 

[bluejerred]

10-4 Thunder.  I ask that question because aside from the 3 P's and the IAWE tools, I tend to let the players/coaches get something off their chests rather than let them fester and I didn't know if this was necessarily the proper thing to do.  Personally, I have a pretty decent threshold for guff.  Having being raised by a cop and been in the military, my skin is pretty thick.  A little venting doesn't bother me.  At the same time, I don't want to hurt the avocation by passing problems to the next umpire so I want to make sure I'm handling my business right.