What Did I Do to Offend the Baseball Gods?

[MarsOmega]

Wow was this week crazy. I worked 6 games in a 7 day period which is the most I have ever worked. Please keep in mind that I am young and still learning.

On Monday, I worked a Little League Majors game with a youth umpire. I think he is 14 or 15. I am a 18 year old. He was working bases and I was plate. Overall the game went ok. In the top of the 6th inning (our last inning) we had an infield fly. There was no outs with a runner on first and second. The batter hit a pop fly to the second baseman who was on the infield grass. I yelled "Infield Fly the batter is out"  Due to the commotion from both dugouts, no players or coaches could hear me. The runner from second base waited to see the ball drop and then tried to advance to third. Seeing this, 2B threw the ball to 3B and R2 was tagged out. After the ball was returned to the pitcher, I called time. I stated that the batter, who was now standing on first, was out and that R2 was out as well. coach of the offense yelled that they didn't use the infield fly at this level. I went over this in the plate meeting and knew for a fact that this league did in fact use the infield fly for little league majors. The coach said that in that case the batter was out but the ball was dead and R2 was not out. I explained that no, the ball was live and runners advance at their own peril. After clearing up the confusion with both coaches the rest of the game continued and was finished. As both me and the youth umpire were trying to leave the field, a group of adult men fans tried to prevent us from leaving by blocking us from walking to the parking lot. We both had to jostle our way through them. I reported this to the league president who is also their umpire assignor. 

I had Tuesday off.

On Wednesday, I had a 10u little league minors game. The first two innings were machine pitch.  In the top of the fifth inning, with the home team in the field and visitors up to bat, I told the pitcher there was 1 out. Home team scorekeeper/assistant coach corrected me and said there were 2 outs. I corrected myself and stated that there were 2 outs. After several walks a pitching change was made. During this pitching change, VT said he only had 1 out. I checked the VT score book and confirmed that there was a single out in that inning. It should be noted that each team was only filling score books for their own team. I then informed the home team that there was 1 out. Home team coach and scorekeeper/assistant coach then came out of the dugout to discuss. They claimed there were 2 outs and I asked how they had two outs. Home team coach only responded by saying he had 2 outs. As both home coaches were arguing with me I stated that there was one out and I would only talk with the head coach.  The rest of the game was completed without incident. After the game, as I was leaving through the visitors team dugout, the home team head coach asked to talk to me. He stated that he had suggestions for me. I responded that he should contact the my association or his league president. He persisted in arguing and told me that I needed to keep track of the outs and that was not his job. I responded by saying that I had been doing this a while. He responded by saying “It dosen’t look like it”. I ejected the home team head coach at this time and headed for the visitors team dugout. While walking through the dugout a parent tried to engage me in a negative conversation. I engaged for a second and then disengaged and continued to the parking lot without further incident.

 

This one was the easiest ejection I have ever made.

On Thursday, I worked a 25+ mens league game with OBR rules. This was my first 90ft game and I honstly have no idea what my assignor was thinking. With two strikes, I called a batter out on a called strike. He looked at me and said "you're a motherf*****" and then slammed his bat on the ground, breaking it. See ya. Sorry can't say that and stay in the park.

 

My Friday game went well as did my Saturday game.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[maven]

11 minutes ago, MarsOmega said:

As both me and the youth umpire were trying to leave the field, a group of adult men fans tried to prevent us from leaving by blocking us from walking to the parking lot. We both had to jostle our way through them. I reported this to the league president who is also their umpire assignor. 

This is the only part of the first story I don't like. Don't contact anyone. If someone persists in confronting you, take out your phone and dial 9-1-1, but don't send the call. Hold up the phone and tell the person to leave you alone or the police will be involved. Call the assignor when you're secure.

13 minutes ago, MarsOmega said:

During this pitching change, VT said he only had 1 out. I checked the VT score book and confirmed that there was a single out in that inning.

Check your league rules, but generally the home book is official. If they disagree, go with home book and recommend that the scorekeepers sort it out. It's not our job to adjudicate these disagreements.

 

15 minutes ago, MarsOmega said:

After the game, as I was leaving through the visitors team dugout, the home team head coach asked to talk to me. He stated that he had suggestions for me. I responded that he should contact the my association or his league president.

Good.

15 minutes ago, MarsOmega said:

He persisted in arguing and told me that I needed to keep track of the outs and that was not his job. I responded by saying that I had been doing this a while.

Not so good. Do not respond, or, at most, "Thanks coach," and be on your way. He's entitled to his opinion, and your response set up what happened next.

16 minutes ago, MarsOmega said:

He responded by saying “It dosen’t look like it”. I ejected the home team head coach at this time and headed for the visitors team dugout. While walking through the dugout a parent tried to engage me in a negative conversation. I engaged for a second and then disengaged and continued to the parking lot without further incident.

The hardest thing is to ignore all these comments thrown our way, especially from ignorant, angry fans. The sooner you learn to do it, the better.

17 minutes ago, MarsOmega said:

On Thursday, I worked a 25+ mens league game with OBR rules.

Ugh. Some of those leagues are the worst: a bunch of has-beens and never-were's, taking it out on officials. Gross. Don't let them get away with anything.

[Velho]

Maven has great comments above.

Overall, you're doing great. Keep at it brother.

[The Man in Blue]

Sometimes we get on a run of bad luck.  You need to offer Jobu some rum.  Wait, you're only 18.  Maybe just a can of Coke ... 😉

How "strong" is your Little League association's board?  It sounds to me as if they need to be cracking down on their coaches and fans. It concerns me that you did not indicate what the league's response was on either of those incidents.  If this is "normal" behavior at games (once a week or more) and they are not doing anything, then I would work on finding another place to work. 

As for the fans blocking you, that is a one and done.  Either the league needs to deal with them PROMPTLY or you don't work until they do.  I ran a league and had NO tolerance for fans and coaches who wanted to abuse kid umpires (sorry, 18 is still a kid in this context).  I had one set of teams that I told them they would need to call their own games or cancel them -- we would no longer provide them with umpires.

The IFF fiasco ... been there.  House leagues are terrible about having good intentions when changing rules, but then neither looking at other affected rules OR in telling the umpires.  I was calling a house league 12u and we had that.  We called IFF one night and the offense's coach stated they don't use IFF.  We apologized and told him that nobody gave us any house rules.  The DC said he wasn't sure, but was OK with leaving the runner on and not using it.  OK, as long as they are happy.  The next night the OC from before was on defense ... and got mad because we didn't call an infield fly that would have benefited him.  Sorry coach, you both agreed last night there was NO infield fly rule and we are sticking to not using it.  If you got away with one last night, it will bite you tonight.  Bring us something from the league then.  This is where leagues need to step it up and make sure EVERYBODY knows what rules they are using, even the umpires who are contracted.  It always frustrates me in the summer to go places and ask "What rule set?" only to be answered with a blank stare and, "Uh, baseball?"

The outs fiasco ... yeah, just a mess.  I'll admit I have a goldfish memory and tend to keep moving forward.  There have been a few times when I couldn't tell you how we got the outs.  I'm also guilty more than once of correcting myself because somebody said something, not because I knew it.  My advice is don't be so quick to do that.  Stop and confirm/fix the problem ASAP.

As for the player that didn't want to stick around for the game, that one was a gift back to you from the baseball gods.  They are smiling on you now.  😁  And congratulations that your assignor thinks that highly of you already, embrace that!  

 

 

[MarsOmega]

The thing was, I know for a fact that they use the infield fly for that league and age group. It’s in their leagues ground rules. So I’m really not sure what  that was about. Then they agreed that we had an IFF but said it was a dead ball. In NO rule set is an IFF a dead ball. 
 

As for the 10u game, I was still pretty upset from Mondays game and getting hit in the head with a bat certainly didn’t help. I know now that I needed to not engage and walk away.

 

 

[Velho]

1 hour ago, MarsOmega said:

The thing was, I know for a fact that they use the infield fly for that league and age group. It’s in their leagues ground rules. So I’m really not sure what  that was about. Then they agreed that we had an IFF but said it was a dead ball.

Coaches are going to be coaches / rats are going to rat.

You held your ground well.

1 hour ago, MarsOmega said:

As for the 10u game, I was still pretty upset from Mondays game and getting hit in the head with a bat certainly didn’t help. I know now that I needed to not engage and walk away.

Good on ya. You're learning the lessons the game has to teach. I'm only 30-cough some years ahead of you and have moments showing I haven't learned those lessons. Which is say: Keep at it. You're doing well.

[SeeingEyeDog]

Instead of asking, "What ruleset are we using today/tonight?" Try stating the ruleset first..."Ok, guys we have a 18U travel game out here and we are under NFHS high school rules, correct?" Once both coaches have agreed on the BASIS of the game's rules then you can ask, "Coach Smith, what local rules modifications are we playing under today?" Let him speak his piece and then turn to the opposing coach and say, "Coach Jones, do you agree and do you have anything to add?" If he has anything to add, go back to Smith and get his verbal confirm. This is their ONE and ONLY opportunity to modify the game's rules! Once the plate meeting is over, the rules are set.

So, if neither coach says, "We don't use the IFF rule."? Guess what? The IFF is in effect! There is no negotiation. There is no discussion. And the reason there is no discussion and no negotiation is because if you allow a coach to open a discussions about the IFF rule or any other rule AFTER the plate meeting? You are now telling them any rule is now open to be negotiated or re-negotiated! No. That is not how we as umpires administer a baseball game.

Finally, can someone please explain why youth baseball at certain levels does not use the IFF? I did not play t-ball growing up but, I started with machine pitch (Mechanical trebuchet style that never threw a single strike despite HOURS of adjusting! None of that new fangled electric powered machine garbage!) and we absolutely played with the IFF rule as 9 year olds in machine pitch. Why delay the learning of this rule?

~Dawg

[834k3r]

On 5/14/2023 at 7:54 AM, MarsOmega said:

In the top of the fifth inning, with the home team in the field and visitors up to bat, I told the pitcher there was 1 out. Home team scorekeeper/assistant coach corrected me and said there were 2 outs. I corrected myself and stated that there were 2 outs. After several walks a pitching change was made. During this pitching change, VT said he only had 1 out. I checked the VT score book and confirmed that there was a single out in that inning. It should be noted that each team was only filling score books for their own team. I then informed the home team that there was 1 out. Home team coach and scorekeeper/assistant coach then came out of the dugout to discuss. They claimed there were 2 outs and I asked how they had two outs. Home team coach only responded by saying he had 2 outs. As both home coaches were arguing with me I stated that there was one out and I would only talk with the head coach.

I had a similar situation on Saturday. 10u Travel Ball. At 10u I'm calling the count a lot. I even say "balls" and "strikes" to ensure everyone's on the same page. I call out the count "3 balls, 1 strike"; pitcher throws a ball. HT book says "I have the count 3-2." Okay, even though I'm not sure where I lost the count, I'm not above eating crow and call the batter back to the at-bat. VT book yells out "I have ball 4 too." Okay. I called out "since my count and the VT book agree, we'll go with ball 4." Not my finest moment, but everyone seemed to be satisfied.

 

15 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Finally, can someone please explain why youth baseball at certain levels does not use the IFF? I did not play t-ball growing up but, I started with machine pitch (Mechanical trebuchet style that never threw a single strike despite HOURS of adjusting! None of that new fangled electric powered machine garbage!) and we absolutely played with the IFF rule as 9 year olds in machine pitch. Why delay the learning of this rule?

BeCaUsE nOtHiNg Is RoUtInE aT tHiS aGe!!111!!!

[BLarson]

On 5/14/2023 at 9:54 AM, MarsOmega said:

We both had to jostle our way through them. I reported this to the league president who is also their umpire assignor. 

 

 

Honestly, that's chickensh*t that the fans did that to an 18 and 15 year old.
Much, much improbably with grown adults.

I think it's deplorable that adults try to intimidate teenage umpires.

[mac266]

It sounds like you're off to a great start as an umpire -- by your description, you know the IFF rule correctly.  You will be amazed at how many people do not.  Your description of your ejections was solid, too.  They got personal both times, so both times the EJ was warranted. 

Others have offered you some advice; I want to offer you some encouragement.  Parents and coaches in youth level baseball are terrible human beings who should not be allowed near children.  This does not make you a bad umpire.  It just means you're working at levels right now that are easily the most frustrating and may cause you to hang it up.  I would simply advise that you leave that level behind as soon as possible and work a higher level.  Check your state's regulations, but you may be eligible to umpire for the high school association (i.e. school sanctioned).  These are treated as an extension of the classroom, and the amount of ridiculousness is minimal. 

[MarsOmega]

2 hours ago, mac266 said:

 Check your state's regulations, but you may be eligible to umpire for the high school association (i.e. school sanctioned). 

I would be able to ump school ball this season if it wasn’t for the department of education dragging their feet. I should be on for next year though. 
I try to know the rules as best as possible as I know it’s my the best defense in this profession. I appreciate the encouragement and don’t worry. A couple of coaches being jerks isn’t going to stop me. I love this craft and expanding on my knowledge through a school or camp is on my radar. I just don’t have a way to finance it currently.

[Mudisfun]

For pretty much any baseball, once you establish what rule set you are playing under, ask them at all levels if they have any local rules in effect.

Typically for Little League minor divisions they will have a 5 run per inning max, an open inning for the 6th, batting CBO with either 5 runs, 3 outs or once through the lineup and then they switch. Some will have D3K or IFF, or one or none at the minors level. They will also typically have a no new inning time limit as well.

Majors the only real modifications they can make would be:

• no new inning time if there are multiple games scheduled that day,
• letting you know if they are batting 9 or CBO (batting 9 is rare in Majors),
• have they adopted the 15 after 3, 10 after 4 or 8 after 5 mercy rules; if not then the 15 after 3 and 10 after 4 rules are in effect unless they have a no mercy rule signed off by the DA.
• has the league elected to allow for a CR for the pitcher or catcher or both with 2 outs, and 
• if they get to only 8 players if there is an out or not. 

If I ask at the plate meeting and they do not articulate the local rules, then we play Blue Book. If they try and throw something in which is in conflict with the rule book, ask to see the waiver from the DA, if not, it does not exist. One year a league tried to enforce that a replacement pitcher had to come from the field and could not be a bench player. Partner and I laughed that one out of being at the plate meeting.

 

The rest regarding poor adult behavior has been well addressed by @maven

[elares]

4 hours ago, mac266 said:

It sounds like you're off to a great start as an umpire -- by your description, you know the IFF rule correctly.  You will be amazed at how many people do not.  Your description of your ejections was solid, too.  They got personal both times, so both times the EJ was warranted. 

Others have offered you some advice; I want to offer you some encouragement.  Parents and coaches in youth level baseball are terrible human beings who should not be allowed near children.  This does not make you a bad umpire.  It just means you're working at levels right now that are easily the most frustrating and may cause you to hang it up.  I would simply advise that you leave that level behind as soon as possible and work a higher level.  Check your state's regulations, but you may be eligible to umpire for the high school association (i.e. school sanctioned).  These are treated as an extension of the classroom, and the amount of ridiculousness is minimal. 

I wish I had heard that sage advice LONG ago

[BigBlue4u]

On 5/14/2023 at 7:54 AM, MarsOmega said:

After the game, as I was leaving through the visitors team dugout, the home team head coach asked to talk to me. He stated that he had suggestions for me. I responded that he should contact the my association or his league president.

Don't be a hard ass.  Assume he is trying to be helpful. (Whether he is or not) Thank him and move on.

[The Man in Blue]

Given the way the game had gone, I don't think that reply was out of line.  It does not seem as if the coach "had some advice" for him; it seemed the coach just wanted an extended gripe session. 

If we had a good game and I believed a coach was actually wanting to be helpful, I would agree with @BigBlue4u.

[aaluck]

On 5/17/2023 at 6:58 PM, BigBlue4u said:

After the game, as I was leaving through the visitors team dugout, the home team head coach asked to talk to me.

Given the way the game went I probably would have said "great and I have some advice for you as well, you made quite a few coaching errors."

That being said, as @BigBlue4uand @The Man in Blue said getting input from as many folks as possible is never a bad idea.  You can disregard most of it but sometimes you may hear something you can use or maybe didn't even consider.