Best response (10 mins later)

[BLWizzRanger]

NFHS Bottom 6th. R2 and R3.  Defense dugout is 3rd base side and is 90 feet off of the line with s p a c e.  Defense is down 1 run.  I am in the 'C'

F2 tries to back pick R3.  A banger at 3rd but I have R3 back into the bag on a head first slide. He got his hand in there.

DAC (defense assistant coach) starts hollering that he was out, that his hand was on F5's shoe when he slid in and wasn't even on the bag. 

I turned to him and asked what he said.  DAC didn't respond. I asked 'Did you say the runner's hand was on the fielder's shoe and didn't make it back to the bag?

DAC said 'Yeah! That's what I said.  He should be out.'

I said back, 'Well, let me check with my partner because if that is the case, then I have obstruction and I need to get the call right.'

I just stared at him and since he didn't say anything else, I turned back to the 'C'.

 

Ok, everything in red is what I thought of 10 mins later.  I wish I could be wittier. lol. 

Got anything that popped in your mind 10 mins later after a play?

[wolfe_man]

All I can think of this morning is the EJ I wish I had gotten last night on an offensive AC that kept whining about me not being consistent.  I told him to knock it off and that we were done discussing B&S in the 2nd inning.  He never directly said anything to me after that, but was making "conversation" with the other AC's and his catcher several times after that and I should have nailed him for it.

I wanted to say, "maybe I'm not being consistent (his opinion) but your mouth sure is!  Why don't you shut up for a while and let's see if my zone improves."

Final score was 14-3 in 6 innings (they lost).   A mom tells me on my way to the car that I took the ball out of #3's hands all night and he is a freshman!  I wanted so badly to say, "well, then at least I met my goal tonight. I was trying to find an underclassmen whose night I could ruin!"   Or maybe "we're looking for help and need more umpires, are you interested?"

I've had a rough time with fans this week.  I think I've reached the place where I either need to get more training & feedback or quit.  Having a new partner every night is terrible for development and I'm tired of having doubts in my head. This stuff (comments from fans & coaches) eats at me. It bugs me if I think I'm doing fine, but then start hearing whining or griping.   I'm about to start going back at people as my cup is getting really full.  I so badly want to do a good job and honestly believe I am a good umpire, but then I wonder if the loud coaches and fans are wrong or maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was. 

That old statement still rings true though, the only EJ you will regret is the one you didn't give. I lost sleep over it last night, never again (I hope).

[LRZ]

Why let jackass coaches and parents make you doubt yourself? Don't. You know when you did a good job (and when you didn't). Your active presence on this site indicates that both of you strive to be better.

As little tolerance as I have for chirping by coaches and players, I have, on occasion, stopped games and reminded spectators that there is a league/school code of conduct that they are violating. If they keep it up, I have no hesitation in having site administration escort the problem fans out.

[Thunderheads]

I was taught this one earlier this year:

"wrong umpire, wrong day! ENOUGH!"

and in your situation @wolfe_man ... finish with ... it's the second inning! 

[JonnyCat]

41 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

I've had a rough time with fans this week.  I think I've reached the place where I either need to get more training & feedback or quit.  Having a new partner every night is terrible for development and I'm tired of having doubts in my head. This stuff (comments from fans & coaches) eats at me. It bugs me if I think I'm doing fine, but then start hearing whining or griping.   I'm about to start going back at people as my cup is getting really full.  I so badly want to do a good job and honestly believe I am a good umpire, but then I wonder if the loud coaches and fans are wrong or maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was. 

That old statement still rings true though, the only EJ you will regret is the one you didn't give. I lost sleep over it last night, never again (I hope).

Honestly, I think you're on the right track to becoming a better umpire. Why? Self awareness and the want to get better. I've worked with many umpires, and I can't tell you how many I've seen that never want to seek out training. The fact that you are self analyzing and you want to get better says lot about you.

Mastering umpiring is a long process. There are really 2 components to it, mechanics and game management. Both are often developed at a different rate. It takes along time to really get comfortable with each aspect. It just takes time and experience.

With regards to ejections, I was the same way. It still eats at me to this day all the ejections I should have got. I remember each one of those, but I don't remember all of the ejections I've given. But is comes with experience. You will get those ejections, and your games will go better.

Here are some suggestions that have worked for me.

1. Seek out any training you can find, no matter the level. Even if you pick up one or two things, that's a win.

2. Try to find good partners to work with. When you work with one you like, get their contact info and try to work games with them. Call them and invite them to work with you, or invite yourself. Sometimes those guys work games solo for different organizations, and offer to jump on a game with them, even if it means your working for free. Chalk it up as a cost of training. If you find a handful of those guys, you can even do mini-clinics on your own.

3. Do a good pre and post game breakdown EVERY game. Find people that are willing to do this with you.

4. Go watch some college, or better yet some minor league games and watch the umpires. Take notes and really study their movements.

5. MiLB has a great 2 man mechanics book. Buy that and study it.

6. Every single game, you should be working on something. Before each game, pick something you want to work on and focus on that aspect all game. It can be anything, such as head height, your safe mechanic, your strike mechanic, tracking, voice inflections, putting the ball in play, etc. Anything, but just pick one each game and work on it. I still do it every game.

As with anything, it takes time to master umpiring, and you learn from your mistakes. Unfortunately, sometimes those mistakes are glaring and you often catch flack for those. That's the bummer about our craft. But soon enough, you'll realize that what all those Ass Clowns say doesn't matter, and they can go eff themselves. It will come, it just takes time.

Hope that helps.

[BLarson]

I always think of it this way....every call...50% of the people will love it...50% of the people will hate it.   Can never win....you do you.

[Velho]

Deep cut for Seinfeld fans...

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/3ea9404e-c435-4f6f-a88c-6191bf85a37f

 

[HokieUmp]

11 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

I've had a rough time with fans this week.  I think I've reached the place where I either need to get more training & feedback or quit.  Having a new partner every night is terrible for development and I'm tired of having doubts in my head. This stuff (comments from fans & coaches) eats at me. It bugs me if I think I'm doing fine, but then start hearing whining or griping.   I'm about to start going back at people as my cup is getting really full.  I so badly want to do a good job and honestly believe I am a good umpire, but then I wonder if the loud coaches and fans are wrong or maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was.

Okay....

1) "I wonder if the loud coaches and fans are wrong or "

Answer:  They're wrong.  More accurately:  they're ugly and stupid AND they're wrong.  And they might smell bad, too.

2) Regarding the rough times...  at the risk of blatantly advertising my own writing, here's an excerpt from something I wrote on "Talk Me Off The Ledge" a few days ago:

"Also, around that time, I just said to myself "f--k these f--king guys, and all their f--king bulls--t" - and the healing began."

At a certain point, I firmly believe that's what you have to do.  If you're not as inclined to be as happily profane as I am, you can find your own phrase, but I like the mouth-feel of it myself.

Look, it's always been an Us Versus Them in the game.  So embrace it, and make them A Them.

[The Man in Blue]

@wolfe_man I am at that same place with you.  It's been a rough two years for me personally, and sometimes that comes out onto the field with me.  Not that I am overly aggressive, but that I am letting it affect how little or how much I put up with and, occasionally, how I go back at somebody.

It isn't that I am not good, and I know that.  I'm not perfect and I'm not great, but I know I am good and want to be better.  Letting these @22holes into my head is on me.  To paraphrase @HokieUmp and to quote a great movie: "##ck this ##cking game.  I ##cking quit.  I quit.  Who do we play tomorrow?"

My strategy that I am trying to employ is the same that I use with my students (and my crazy ass school) when I "just can't" anymore ... I just be silly.  I dance a little to the music.  I flirt with the mom who is keeping the book.  I talk 1980s wrestling with the grandpa behind the fence.  I provide a little education on the rule that the coach has just butchered.  The vast majority of the time I am a guy who stays away from the fence.  But at those times ... I remind them that I'm just a guy.  I try to remind myself why I love it.

Last week there was a mom who was just all over my partner's @ss on the plate.  After the game I saw her in the concession stand line.  I went up to her and said "I just want you to know, I was making fun of you."  She looked at me funny.  "Yeah, I let my partner know that your view from the far side of the dugout, through the field fence AND the dugout fences, between the players and the bucket coaches, from 120 feet away while you were having a conversation ... well, that view apparently was much better than his." 

She began laughing and admitted it: "When it is my kid, I'm a mama bear."

"Well," I said, "Keep in mind, we're bears too.  Bears need to stick together to teach their cubs right."  She laughed ... and didn't give me any guff the next game.

[BigBlue4u]

This is an interesting topic. However, rule #1 in baseball, as in life, "Never second guess yourself." You reacted to what happened at the moment with the information you had at the moment.  Why beat yourself up?  Of course, you would have made a different decision IF you had new information at the time of the original call.