Learning the ropes

[Guest Kyle]

2nd year umpire here. Yeah, I have the typical problems with parents, coaches etc. My biggest issue however is with my partners. I consistently see the same partners. 
One partner has the same story everytime I work with her….”I have an emergency where I need to pick my kids up and get them to x location, are you ok working solo till I get there?” Typically it’s 2nd or 3rd inning of a 6 inning game. (Hour45) I don’t say anything she gets paid for full game. 

Another partner is consistently doing phantom calls for whatever reason. Thrown bat warnings when no bat was thrown. The catch literally called time and acted like he was talking to his pitcher just to come tell me none of the stuff was happening that plate was saying was happening. Several other instances of no incident and him making a call. 
 

A lot of guys making the wrong call on purpose to dictate a shorter game. 
 

Lastly, profanity on the field. I swear a lot and I do swear in front of my own kid but never on the baseball field. Some partners speak with a trailer park mouth so everyone involved can hear and frankly, it’s embarrassing. 
 

I know there’s an unspoken of umpire brotherhood and a spoken code of snitches get stitches but at what point do I alert my assignor or my issues. Or do I handle it a different way? It’s not the parents, coaches, or players that are wearing me out….it’s my partners. 
 

[ErichKeane]

26 minutes ago, Guest Kyle said:

2nd year umpire here. Yeah, I have the typical problems with parents, coaches etc. My biggest issue however is with my partners. I consistently see the same partners. 
One partner has the same story everytime I work with her….”I have an emergency where I need to pick my kids up and get them to x location, are you ok working solo till I get there?” Typically it’s 2nd or 3rd inning of a 6 inning game. (Hour45) I don’t say anything she gets paid for full game. 

Another partner is consistently doing phantom calls for whatever reason. Thrown bat warnings when no bat was thrown. The catch literally called time and acted like he was talking to his pitcher just to come tell me none of the stuff was happening that plate was saying was happening. Several other instances of no incident and him making a call. 
 

A lot of guys making the wrong call on purpose to dictate a shorter game. 
 

Lastly, profanity on the field. I swear a lot and I do swear in front of my own kid but never on the baseball field. Some partners speak with a trailer park mouth so everyone involved can hear and frankly, it’s embarrassing. 
 

I know there’s an unspoken of umpire brotherhood and a spoken code of snitches get stitches but at what point do I alert my assignor or my issues. Or do I handle it a different way? It’s not the parents, coaches, or players that are wearing me out….it’s my partners. 
 

At a certain point, you have to have a sit-down with your assigner and explain your concerns.  You don't have to name-names, but you should see what he has to say.  If his response isn't sufficient, perhaps find a different organization.  Else, he might just tell you to mark certain partners as "don't work with" in whatever software you guys are using.  You do have to judge at one point whether the org is too rotten to continue working with however...

[noumpere]

The assigner needs to know about the first one from you.

 

The coaches need to let the assigner know about the others.

[SH0102]

In college baseball, we are told to “never tell an assignor (whether directly or through an evaluation) something you won’t tell the umpire”.  In other words, don’t say “good job” and then tear them apart in evaluations.

If they need to improve, be part of the solution and help them. If it’s so minor it isn’t worth mentioning to them, then don’t mention it to an assignor either.

The only excuse for not saying something to partner is if you genuinely would fear for your safety, and if they’re that kind of person, they shouldn’t be umpiring kids.  For example, the language one , “Hey Mike, I swear like a sailor myself, no problem with it in general, but I’d be careful what you say on the field, it makes us look unprofessional”.  If he doesn’t stop; then you can let the assignor know and you aren’t a “snitch” in your words.

There are two reasons for inappropriate behavior, don’t know or don’t care that it’s wrong.  Help with first, deal with it when it becomes the second.

[aaluck]

15 hours ago, Guest Kyle said:

Another partner is consistently doing phantom calls for whatever reason

For some unknown reason some umpires feel they need to be "part of the game".  Most of us prefer that we aren't even noticed for 7 innings.

Not a knock but I see this problem with younger youth umpires.  They feel like they have to be recognized as important during the course of the game.  Not sure there is much you can do about that.