Friendly Reminder: How You Park Sets the Tone

[NateWalter]

I did a tournament a few weeks back, and as I pulled in for the day, I noticed there was an umpire parked, in a lawn chair, just kind of chilling out before the madness all began.

As I began to pull in next to this fellow umpire, I noticed he was taking up four parking spots. He was well over the line to his left and very far ahead of the line in front of him. Four parking spots. Mind you, this was a busy tournament with a lot of teams, and not a lot of parking spots. I kindly point out to him that he's taking up four spots, and he held a dismissive attitude about it, so I just drove to a different part of the lot and geared up there. While I was getting ready to gear up, I send a text to the number I was given for my partner for the day... it was him. This was gonna be a fun day! (Sarcasm)

To no one's surprise, the guy who didn't care about parking lines also didn't care about what constituted a strike zone (13U/14U tournament); or uniform rules, or time limits, or, well, anything. He was there to collect a paycheck and go home.

Throughout the day, I could hear parents and coaches lament the lack of parking for this tournament, and then I heard it... someone pointed it out: "some jerk took up 4 spots back there!" And I was really nervous they would figure out the identity of this "mysterious jerk"... my partner and I were already getting enough guff from his careless attitude about anything baseball related, especially his strike zone, which was just whatever he felt like calling that particular inning (or at-bat). If they knew that HE was the one taking up four spots, I think there'd be chaos.

As far as I could tell, nothing ever became of it, thankfully. If someone did know, they kept it to themselves and we were spared of the drama from this whole situation.

Ladies and gentlemen, here's the moral of the story: as umpires, we set the tone. From the moment we pull into the parking lot to the moment we leave, we represent the entirety of our profession. How you interact with others, conduct yourself, and yes, how you park your car, can (and does) reflect on the rest of us.

End rant.

 

[ArchAngel72]

You should have made a call to local tow company and had his vehicle towed during the game 

[wolfe_man]

I've been fortunate to not have had to work with these guys... yet.  I've worked with some lazy or bad umpires of course, but nothing that seemed like they didn't care or want to be there thankfully.  This is probably my biggest gripe about summer and travel ball, the fact that you don't normally get to pick your partner.  At least in HS ball, I normally know what I'm going to get in every game.  Summer ball is the wild west!

[Catch18]

You should have made a call to local tow company and had his vehicle towed during the game 

That’s how you end up doing 4 plates…. “Hey, all my gear towed and I just have this navy shirt.”

[ArchAngel72]

22 minutes ago, Catch18 said:

That’s how you end up doing 4 plates…. “Hey, all my gear towed and I just have this navy shirt.”

I read the OP he was in his plate gear...

Nah HE gets 4 plates...

[Mudisfun]

Thrown in there not replying to your partner who reaches out about meeting, where, when, what uniforms etc... then they text you at midnight the night prior and have the cajones to complain that your didn't reply to their text the next day when you had to get out the door at 6:45am to be at the site on time. Never mind that it was midnight and you were fast asleep.  Finish it off by showing up 10 minutes prior to game time with excuse after excuse about not being on time and uniforms which haven't seen a washing machine in months.

 

I completely agree with the OP... you only have 1 time to make a first impression... If this guy was saving spots for his partners, that would be one thing, but that obviously was not the case here. Sounds like a winner.

 

[Catch18]

I read the OP he was in his plate gear...
Nah HE gets 4 plates...

Wait, his gear didn’t get taken when his car was towed…..and that means you don’t have to do a plate…..




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[834k3r]

17 hours ago, Mudisfun said:

Thrown in there not replying to your partner who reaches out about meeting, where, when, what uniforms etc... then they text you at midnight the night prior and have the cajones to complain that your didn't reply to their text the next day when you had to get out the door at 6:45am to be at the site on time. Never mind that it was midnight and you were fast asleep.  Finish it off by showing up 10 minutes prior to game time with excuse after excuse about not being on time and uniforms which haven't seen a washing machine in months.

Worked with a guy who would do this. Texted him asking where we'd meet and when and he said he'd show up 15 minutes before the game.

I'm there at the agreed-upon time, and then I texted him and wait...and wait...and wait. Start wondering if I should put my gear on and start planning to do the game single-man (I was scheduled to be the BU). Texted him one more time. He responded "I'm already on the field."

[wolfe_man]

28 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

Worked with a guy who would do this. Texted him asking where we'd meet and when and he said he'd show up 15 minutes before the game.

I'm there at the agreed-upon time, and then I texted him and wait...and wait...and wait. Start wondering if I should put my gear on and start planning to do the game single-man (I was scheduled to be the BU). Texted him one more time. He responded "I'm already on the field."

I had THAT guy a few weeks back in a tourney.  I kept texting this guy and finally get a response that "I'm on the field, where are you?"

Um, I've only been texting you for two hours now! 🤡

[ArchAngel72]

5 hours ago, Catch18 said:

Wait, his gear didn’t get taken when his car was towed…..and that means you don’t have to do a plate…..




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[noumpere]

30 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

I had THAT guy a few weeks back in a tourney.  I kept texting this guy and finally get a response that "I'm on the field, where are you?"

Um, I've only been texting you for two hours now! 🤡

It's impossible to text from the field because you shouldn't have your phone with you.

 

That's the biggest sin of all in this thread.

[concertman1971]

I think it starts before you even park...No Arbiter pic, I already have a pretty good idea I wont get a text back. No reply to text, I assume the guy will show up 8 minutes prior, already dressed and ready to work the bases. If you arrive dressed, 8 minutes before the game, I can assume you don't know/care about signals. No signals means you will probably be taking all tags/touches at 3b with runners on, so someone (me) will probably need to look at 1b because he will be "locked in" at 3rd. If all this happens, I can safely assume that you will be in the car and down the road before I even have my chair out of the trunk..................

[834k3r]

1 hour ago, noumpere said:

It's impossible to text from the field because you shouldn't have your phone with you.

 

That's the biggest sin of all in this thread.

Exactly.

That said, however, I do have to regularly remind my wife why I don't respond to texts while at games...

[The Man in Blue]

Just your wife?  What about UICs and TDs who send out information via text and e-mail during the tournament?  

[834k3r]

Haven't had that...yet.

[SeeingEyeDog]

On 7/19/2022 at 1:03 PM, noumpere said:

It's impossible to text from the field because you shouldn't have your phone with you.

 

That's the biggest sin of all in this thread.

I'm confused...let's say you are working more than one game back to back on the same field and you have more than one partner for those games...I think we want to communicate 24 hours out (or more, if possible...) to say, "Hey brother, I have (insert number of games here) so, I will already be on the field. I will text you my vehicle location when I arrive so, you'll know where to find me...", yes? Or am I misreading this situation?

~Dawg 

[NateWalter]

On 7/19/2022 at 12:03 PM, noumpere said:

It's impossible to text from the field because you shouldn't have your phone with you.

 

That's the biggest sin of all in this thread.

Which is why you should do the courtesy of texting your partner before the game!

[scrounge]

On 7/19/2022 at 1:03 PM, noumpere said:

It's impossible to text from the field because you shouldn't have your phone with you.

 

That's the biggest sin of all in this thread.

School game, yea the phone is in the car. But summer/travel ball game? The phone is ALWAYS on me....for timing and....other purposes. 

[Richvee]

On 7/19/2022 at 1:42 PM, concertman1971 said:

I think it starts before you even park...No Arbiter pic, I already have a pretty good idea I wont get a text back. No reply to text, I assume the guy will show up 8 minutes prior, already dressed and ready to work the bases. If you arrive dressed, 8 minutes before the game, I can assume you don't know/care about signals. No signals means you will probably be taking all tags/touches at 3b with runners on, so someone (me) will probably need to look at 1b because he will be "locked in" at 3rd. If all this happens, I can safely assume that you will be in the car and down the road before I even have my chair out of the trunk..................

And……he only has a navy shirt. 

[SeeingEyeDog]

14 hours ago, scrounge said:

School game, yea the phone is in the car. But summer/travel ball game? The phone is ALWAYS on me....for timing and....other purposes. 

The last thing my instructor showed my class was a slide all of the non-emergency numbers for police departments in the areas we work and we were encouraged to put those numbers in our phone and carry our phones to the field. He also told us, "Feel free to also dial 911 as circumstances dictate..."

Carry your phones, brothers...and know who to call.

~Dawg 

[Velho]

Players bring their phone.... 

https://twitter.com/BALLYSPORTSAZ/status/1557199251599462400?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1557199251599462400|twgr^5108d2a44d6b20892ba7c63d4e86360047b92168|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fextra-mustard%2F2022%2F08%2F10%2Fpirates-2b-drops-phone-out-of-pocket-during-slide-into-third-video

[The Man in Blue]

I love the umpire looking down and saying, "Umm ..."

I hate to say it, but with all the controversies about sign stealing and such ... I'm surprised this wasn't a bigger deal.

[HokieUmp]

On 8/12/2022 at 9:24 AM, scrounge said:

School game, yea the phone is in the car. But summer/travel ball game? The phone is ALWAYS on me....for timing and....other purposes. 

You're looking at pr0n between innings??