Shaking my Head

[jlutgen0]

Was covering for a pair of machine pitch games yesterday (keep in mind these kids are 7) and had this play that led to two ejections. 

 

Dribbler hit in front of the plate, pitcher goes to throw to the inside of first and the first basemen is run into my the batter-runner, easy RLI call and I get the out. As soon as I call interference, the VTHC (running the machine) is yelling coming towards me as well as each of the base coaches. I send the base coaches back to their boxes and give a brief explanation to the head coach. I jog back behind the plate when am assistant walks out of the dugout arguing, I give him a stop sign and he walks right through it and gets his place in the parking lot. He resists leaving the field until I tell him he has 15 seconds before they forfeit. At this point, the head coach is at home plate again questioning me. I tell him,  "coach, I don't want to eject you too, let's go back to the machine and play baseball. " At this point he gets halfway back to the machine, and turns around to argue again and secures his spot in the parking lot. 

Coaches' behavior in low level baseball can be ridiculous at times. 

[stkjock]

Wow! That's just sad.

[conbo61]

The phrase "machine pitch" and word "ejection" should never be in the same sentence.

 

[Richvee]

8 minutes ago, conbo61 said:

The phrase "machine pitch" and word "ejection" should never be in the same sentence.

 

Not sure the phrase "machine pitch"and "umpire" should be in the same sentence.

[bluejersey]

On 5/26/2017 at 11:20 PM, Richvee said:

Not sure the phrase "machine pitch"and "umpire" should be in the same sentence.

True. @jlutgen0 are you calling balls and strikes on the machine? In my area they have coaches pitch, not machine pitch, and no umpires.

[jjb]

Machine Pitch/ Coach Pitch / Tball are great opportunities to train brand new, right-out-of-the-box Junior Umpires. For three reasons:

1.       Since you’re not calling balls and strikes, no plate gear is necessary. The new Umpire can use this time to decide if he/she’s interested in pursuing the field, with a minimum of expense.

2.       The ball is put into play a lot. If you’ve got a UIC that can go out there and work rotations with the rookie, you can get a lot of work done.

3.       Geno’s game notwithstanding, the games are usually pretty low -key. I did a ton of these games with rookie Umpires and we had a lot of laughs.

[ofhs93]

On 5/26/2017 at 11:20 PM, Richvee said:

Not sure the phrase "machine pitch"and "umpire" should be in the same sentence.

That's what I was thinking as well...lol...

[Larry in TN]

On 5/26/2017 at 10:20 PM, Richvee said:

Not sure the phrase "machine pitch"and "umpire" should be in the same sentence.

You think the coaches in this game could have officiated the game on their own?  With no one there to eject them, who's going to break up the fist fights that are sure to follow? LOL

[jjb]

Well, for starters, nobody would have caught the RLI...

[StrikeToWin]

We have more ejections in coach pitch than any other games at our park (we go up to high school age).  The coaches don't know the rules, the parents think their kids are being scouted by big time scouts and everyone thinks they can yell at the umpire without penalty.  I don't work coach pitch but i can hear what's going down in that part of the park and it is crazy.  I also know most of the umpires that work down there (mostly younger guys just starting) and it is great experience in learning game management for them.

[jlutgen0]

21 hours ago, bluejersey said:

True. @jlutgen0 are you calling balls and strikes on the machine? In my area they have coaches pitch, not machine pitch, and no umpires.

It's done one of two ways (depending on the age and league level). One way is that each batter has five pitches and can swing at them all but the fifth must be put into play. The second, used for "higher level" divisions, gives each batter six pitches and they can strikeout (the sixth pitch must be put into play). 

 

The MP games allow young umpires to learn a lot about game management, but they also scare away many young umpires because the coaches are extreme in some (too many) cases. 

[Richvee]

12 hours ago, Larry in TN said:

You think the coaches in this game could have officiated the game on their own?  With no one there to eject them, who's going to break up the fist fights that are sure to follow? LOL

Sad but true.

[jonathantullos]

Sounds like the coaches are the donkeys of the day. #heehaw

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