How quickly it can all go downhill

[Richvee]

This is bothering me more than it probably should, so I though maybe sharing the story will help.

Varsity game. Good game. It's 1-1 heading into the 9th inning. I've had a really good plate all day. Off the top of my head, one curve fooled me that I didn't track well and balled it. Probably caught the inside corner. Otherwise, I'm having a great game. Haven't heard a word from either bench except a little discussion with the VTHC when I kept his kid in the box after a HBP. (easy call really. Batter stuck the elbow right into the slow curve.)

VT puts a 4 spot on the board in the 9th, in large part due to a 2 base throwing error by F5. HT starts chipping away in the bottom of the 9th. They chase the starting pitcher, and a few hits later it's 5-4, 2 outs, R1,R2. 3-1 pitch comes in just above the letters. Yeah, I jumped the gun, my timing escaped me for a minute, the right arm goes up and I call it a strike. Now I'm hearing it mostly from the stands, but from everywhere. Of course, next pitch the batter grounds out to F4, game over, 5-4 final.

HT HC passes me as we're exiting and says, "Wow,I though that 3-1 pitch was up, No? I just said "it was close"and left it at that. Question here--Is there a better response in such a situation? I knew I missed it. It was a ball. Didn't think it was the right time or place to admit it to the HC who just fell short of a huge extra inning comeback in part because of the call.)

Meanwhile as we're approaching the exit, it turns into a gauntlet of overly angry and ticked off parents and students. The things I heard were amazing...From old men, grandmas, parents students. All of 'em.  One little D-bag student spit at my feet and when I looked up he said, "What are you gonna do about?" We just kept walking. One woman actually pulled he car up to us as we were walking in the lot and let a profanity laced tirade I can't even begin to write here.

Pretty crappy feeling. 9 innings of a well called game and all I can see when I close my eyes that freakin' pitch coming in above the letters. 

[grayhawk]

34 minutes ago, Richvee said:

This is bothering me more than it probably should, so I though maybe sharing the story will help.

Varsity game. Good game. It's 1-1 heading into the 9th inning. I've had a really good plate all day. Off the top of my head, one curve fooled me that I didn't track well and balled it. Probably caught the inside corner. Otherwise, I'm having a great game. Haven't heard a word from either bench except a little discussion with the VTHC when I kept his kid in the box after a HBP. (easy call really. Batter stuck the elbow right into the slow curve.)

VT puts a 4 spot on the board in the 9th, in large part due to a 2 base throwing error by F5. HT starts chipping away in the bottom of the 9th. They chase the starting pitcher, and a few hits later it's 5-4, 2 outs, R1,R2. 3-1 pitch comes in just above the letters. Yeah, I jumped the gun, my timing escaped me for a minute, the right arm goes up and I call it a strike. Now I'm hearing it mostly from the stands, but from everywhere. Of course, next pitch the batter grounds out to F4, game over, 5-4 final.

HT HC passes me as we're exiting and says, "Wow,I though that 3-1 pitch was up, No? I just said "it was close"and left it at that. Question here--Is there a better response in such a situation? I knew I missed it. It was a ball. Didn't think it was the right time or place to admit it to the HC who just fell short of a huge extra inning comeback in part because of the call.)

Meanwhile as we're approaching the exit, it turns into a gauntlet of overly angry and ticked off parents and students. The things I heard were amazing...From old men, grandmas, parents students. All of 'em.  One little D-bag student spit at my feet and when I looked up he said, "What are you gonna do about?" We just kept walking. One woman actually pulled he car up to us as we were walking in the lot and let a profanity laced tirade I can't even begin to write here.

Pretty crappy feeling. 9 innings of a well called game and all I can see when I close my eyes that freakin' pitch coming in above the letters. 

I'm sure they squandered several opportunities, including the throwing error.  One pitch didn't decide the outcome of the game and it sounds like your body of work for the entire game was excellent.  You were just the easy target for the classless masses.  We don't want to miss any pitch, and especially don't want to miss big ones.  Just remember to focus and have excellent timing in these big moments and you'll be fine.

[Jimurray]

50 minutes ago, Richvee said:

This is bothering me more than it probably should, so I though maybe sharing the story will help.

Varsity game. Good game. It's 1-1 heading into the 9th inning. I've had a really good plate all day. Off the top of my head, one curve fooled me that I didn't track well and balled it. Probably caught the inside corner. Otherwise, I'm having a great game. Haven't heard a word from either bench except a little discussion with the VTHC when I kept his kid in the box after a HBP. (easy call really. Batter stuck the elbow right into the slow curve.)

VT puts a 4 spot on the board in the 9th, in large part due to a 2 base throwing error by F5. HT starts chipping away in the bottom of the 9th. They chase the starting pitcher, and a few hits later it's 5-4, 2 outs, R1,R2. 3-1 pitch comes in just above the letters. Yeah, I jumped the gun, my timing escaped me for a minute, the right arm goes up and I call it a strike. Now I'm hearing it mostly from the stands, but from everywhere. Of course, next pitch the batter grounds out to F4, game over, 5-4 final.

HT HC passes me as we're exiting and says, "Wow,I though that 3-1 pitch was up, No? I just said "it was close"and left it at that. Question here--Is there a better response in such a situation? I knew I missed it. It was a ball. Didn't think it was the right time or place to admit it to the HC who just fell short of a huge extra inning comeback in part because of the call.)

Meanwhile as we're approaching the exit, it turns into a gauntlet of overly angry and ticked off parents and students. The things I heard were amazing...From old men, grandmas, parents students. All of 'em.  One little D-bag student spit at my feet and when I looked up he said, "What are you gonna do about?" We just kept walking. One woman actually pulled he car up to us as we were walking in the lot and let a profanity laced tirade I can't even begin to write here.

Pretty crappy feeling. 9 innings of a well called game and all I can see when I close my eyes that freakin' pitch coming in above the letters. 

Perhaps the baseball gods did not want the batter to walk when his walking would not score a run and then put the onus on the next batter. Perhaps they wanted to give the batter a chance to win or tie the game. And he didn't. So that's who grabbed your arm.

[BillKen]

Missed pitches happen.  It is a part of the game.  I'd be willing to bet that the pitcher missed his spot a lot more times than you did.  You are right that timing and composure are critical...but if this happened in the 4th inning, you wouldn't be here talking about it.  The game is 7 or 9 innings by design.  Runs stand on the board for the whole game.  Missed pitches in the 9th aren't any more or less critical than the ones earlier in the game.  They may be more magnified because the ability to overcome them is shortened, but fractionally speaking, there is little difference.  Your night of work was probably well above 90% and that's a good night!

[HuskerUmp22]

What did your partner say about the pitch? Perfect example of how ridiculous people are. Spitting at your shoe? That is messed up. Can you talk to someone in your association to see if this type of behavior can be punished? That kind of behavior, the way you described, should not be tolerated from anyone, especially students. 

[lawump]

7 hours ago, Richvee said:

One little D-bag student spit at my feet and when I looked up he said, "What are you gonna do about?"

I'm not saying I would, but if the spit had landed on my shoe, I would have been real tempted to call the police officer over (if one was present) and say, "he just spit on my shoes, sir.  As an attorney, I believe that is a battery.  Furthermore, it violates the South Carolina statute prohibiting abuse of sports coaches and officials."  Then when the officer asks if I want to press charges, I'd say, "yup".  Then when the D-bag was getting arrested, I'd tell the little sh!t, "that's what I'm going to do about it."

Again, I'm not saying I would.  And truthfully, just continuing to walk away is probably the smart thing to do.  But, when my blood starts boiling I tend to do things like this.

[Richvee]

30 minutes ago, HuskerUmp22 said:

What did your partner say about the pitch? Perfect example of how ridiculous people are. Spitting at your shoe? That is messed up. Can you talk to someone in your association to see if this type of behavior can be punished? That kind of behavior, the way you described, should not be tolerated from anyone, especially students. 

Partner was 100% honest. Said " It was probably up. You weren't calling it up there all day. "Stuff" happens. He was a great partner as we walked to the cars,kept reminding me in a low voice, "Let it go.....don't answer...." Stayed with me at my car until we left.

I was pretty surprised by the behavior. It resembled a 12u travel tourney a lot more than a Varsity ballgame. Which,if thay took a minute to look back, would realize it was a great game.

[Richvee]

27 minutes ago, lawump said:

I'm not saying I would, but if the spit had landed on my shoe, I would have been real tempted to call the police officer over (if one was present) and say, "he just spit on my shoes, sir.  As an attorney, I believe that is a battery.  Furthermore, it violates the South Carolina statute prohibiting abuse of sports coaches and officials."  Then when the officer asks if I want to press charges, I'd say, "yup".  Then when the D-bag was getting arrested, I'd tell the little sh!t, "that's what I'm going to do about it."

Again, I'm not saying I would.  And truthfully, just continuing to walk away is probably the smart thing to do.  But, when my blood starts boiling I tend to do things like this.

He was about 10-15 feet from me  and spit down in my direction, 5-6 feet from me. No police on the scene. If there were I would have called them over at the least. I had the phone in my hand at the car in case things went beyond the name calling and stupid comments like "What's the matter,late for dinner?"

[scrounge]

One pitch. One freakin' pitch. If that's all you missed, you had a fantastic night. They threw it away and are simply projecting.

Given that this was a school game, a post-game incident report to the state association and/or AD is absolutely in order.

[mr magoo]

I would have to agree with the posts above that you called a good game and there where other points in the game where it was lost. It is easy to blame the officials, because that's what people do, it's ALWAYS somebodies fault not mine

[ZebraStripes]

52 minutes ago, lawump said:

I'm not saying I would, but if the spit had landed on my shoe, I would have been real tempted to call the police officer over (if one was present) and say, "he just spit on my shoes, sir.  As an attorney, I believe that is a battery.  Furthermore, it violates the South Carolina statute prohibiting abuse of sports coaches and officials."  Then when the officer asks if I want to press charges, I'd say, "yup".  Then when the D-bag was getting arrested, I'd tell the little sh!t, "that's what I'm going to do about it."

Again, I'm not saying I would.  And truthfully, just continuing to walk away is probably the smart thing to do.  But, when my blood starts boiling I tend to do things like this.

That's what I was thinking, though not an attorney.

[ZebraStripes]

8 hours ago, Richvee said:

This is bothering me more than it probably should, so I though maybe sharing the story will help.

Varsity game. Good game. It's 1-1 heading into the 9th inning. I've had a really good plate all day. Off the top of my head, one curve fooled me that I didn't track well and balled it. Probably caught the inside corner. Otherwise, I'm having a great game. Haven't heard a word from either bench except a little discussion with the VTHC when I kept his kid in the box after a HBP. (easy call really. Batter stuck the elbow right into the slow curve.)

VT puts a 4 spot on the board in the 9th, in large part due to a 2 base throwing error by F5. HT starts chipping away in the bottom of the 9th. They chase the starting pitcher, and a few hits later it's 5-4, 2 outs, R1,R2. 3-1 pitch comes in just above the letters. Yeah, I jumped the gun, my timing escaped me for a minute, the right arm goes up and I call it a strike. Now I'm hearing it mostly from the stands, but from everywhere. Of course, next pitch the batter grounds out to F4, game over, 5-4 final.

HT HC passes me as we're exiting and says, "Wow,I though that 3-1 pitch was up, No? I just said "it was close"and left it at that. Question here--Is there a better response in such a situation? I knew I missed it. It was a ball. Didn't think it was the right time or place to admit it to the HC who just fell short of a huge extra inning comeback in part because of the call.)

Meanwhile as we're approaching the exit, it turns into a gauntlet of overly angry and ticked off parents and students. The things I heard were amazing...From old men, grandmas, parents students. All of 'em.  One little D-bag student spit at my feet and when I looked up he said, "What are you gonna do about?" We just kept walking. One woman actually pulled he car up to us as we were walking in the lot and let a profanity laced tirade I can't even begin to write here.

Pretty crappy feeling. 9 innings of a well called game and all I can see when I close my eyes that freakin' pitch coming in above the letters. 

Two pitches in 9 innings is an excellent night.  Perfection, as an umpire, is something that we all strive for, but will never attain.  

Did you exit the field on the VTs side? 

[bam]

I agree.  It's bothering you more than it should

[SJA]

"It doesn't do to do much talking when you're mad enough to choke, for the word that hits the hardest is the one that's never spoke. So let the other fellow do the talking till the storm has rolled away, then he'll do a heap of thinking about the things you didn't say."

:-)

 

[maineump]

41 minutes ago, ZebraStripes said:

Two pitches in 9 innings is an excellent night.  Perfection, as an umpire, is something that we all strive for, but will never attain.  

Did you exit the field on the VTs side? 

This is a great point - if you can, exit to the winning side, when the crowd gets 'out of control' during the game.

Send a report to your assignor, take a deep breath and get ready for the next one. Don't beat yourself up over a couple of pitches, in a game that you didn't have any responsibility in the outcome.

[Kevin_K]

Hey @Richvee consider what and how the HC said to you.

He was not demonstrative. He didn't bark. He kept it at the right level. He didn't put it on you that his team lost. They s%*t the bed in the top half of the inning and he knows it and one call doesn't make or break a game. It just came at an inopportune moment in the game. Nine innings is a lot of varsity ball to call and anyone with any baseball sense knows it.

People outside the fence know even less that those inside the fence. Pay them no mind.

This just goes to show that focus is always important.

[Richvee]

11 hours ago, ZebraStripes said:

Two pitches in 9 innings is an excellent night.  Perfection, as an umpire, is something that we all strive for, but will never attain.  

Did you exit the field on the VTs side? 

One way out. Right past the home dugout and their stands. Got to run the gauntlet. 

[Richvee]

Appreciate all the feedback guys. Feels good just to talk about it. Just got home from a good cure for that game...a 15 inning 2-1 marathon. had the bases tonight, but it was a great game. Again, thanks for all the comments. 

[ZebraStripes]

50 minutes ago, Richvee said:

One way out. Right past the home dugout and their stands. Got to run the gauntlet. 

They need to build a better ball field.

[bam]

2 hours ago, Richvee said:

Appreciate all the feedback guys. Feels good just to talk about it. Just got home from a good cure for that game...a 15 inning 2-1 marathon. had the bases tonight, but it was a great game. Again, thanks for all the comments. 

15 innings is the cure??  You're feeling better about THAT than you should!!

 

[Jimurray]

2 hours ago, Richvee said:

Appreciate all the feedback guys. Feels good just to talk about it. Just got home from a good cure for that game...a 15 inning 2-1 marathon. had the bases tonight, but it was a great game. Again, thanks for all the comments. 

Did you tell your partner pre or post game that you had a Karma issue that might involve him doing 15 innings behind the plate? Did you tell him to stay at the plate after 9 innings and you would take everything else. Disregard that. I'm sure you had a partner that would have told you to Eff Off and he will do his job. But now your Karma is intertwined with his Karma. I don't know anything about Karma.

[Aging_Arbiter]

@Richvee I believe that you , as well as most of us on here, are here because we care.  We care about our performance. We care about getting better.  We care about doing the best over all job that we can.  When you're on a roll like that, and as some have said, that kick happens at an inopportune time.  I would say that everyone that posted, including myself, would have your back on this.  Well, except for the 15 innings that you call a cure.................

[Richvee]

12 hours ago, bam said:

15 innings is the cure??  You're feeling better about THAT than you should!!

 

2-1 final. Great defensive plays almost every inning. Close pickoffs by some good F1s. Two caught.  Numerous bangers at 1st. 2 F2's with good arms and close steal calls...I got great looks and angles all day. No chirping on any call, and all this in 2:20 for 15 innings? If I don't enjoy that, I shouldn't be out there.  

[Kevin_K]

FWIW, I had the next game for the losing team. One of their coaches indicated they were just "in a funk" and had lost 3 of 4. He went on to say that they just were not doing the little things they needed to do.

They way @Richvee described the comment the HC made I knew who it was as soon as I read it. Those guys go about their business the right way and never hang anything on anyone but themselves.

[Richvee]

6 hours ago, Kevin_K said:

FWIW, I had the next game for the losing team. One of their coaches indicated they were just "in a funk" and had lost 3 of 4. He went on to say that they just were not doing the little things they needed to do.

They way @Richvee described the comment the HC made I knew who it was as soon as I read it. Those guys go about their business the right way and never hang anything on anyone but themselves.

Yep. No issues with any on field personnel. Parents/fans? Some of the worst behavior I've ever seen.