Here To Serve My Penance

[834k3r]

Went to my son's Legion tournament in a different state this weekend, and today I was one of those parents. I kept my mouth shut for the most part--bit my tongue on a lot of missed calls low and outside (umpire was consistently set up right behind the catcher, with his nose at the top of the catcher's helmet).

Our team had runners at 2B and 3B. RH F1 steps toward 3B and feints his throw, still engaged with the rubber. No balk call from either PU or BU. I finally yelled out (I wasn't angry) that F1 can't fake a throw to 3B in OBR. Umpires got together, and awarded the runners home and 3B, respectively.

I'm sorry I yelled out, brothers. The egregious non-call was too much to bear.

[The Man in Blue]

The yelling out may have been forgivable … but maybe you shouldn’t have been wearing your uniform in the stands.  That was a bit much.  🤫

 

 

(Edit: Just noticed autocorrect changed "wearing" to "wasting" ... sure, Siri, that makes sense.  Fixed it back to the original intent.)

[dumbdumb]

Who are you going to yell out to when, if if if, they all do not get that full ride ncaa baseball scholarship to help dad out, and then on to mlb. The ump, the manager/coach, the trainer, the scouts, life in general. Life is too short, enjoy the game, mistakes of everyone on the field, and all. And if that if not good enough, move on to being a rocket scientist. But who ya going to yell out to there?

Just enjoy.

Nice post though.

 

 

[BLWizzRanger]

Ehhh, no worries. Just think they heard a voice from above like MLB umps do when they call New York.

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[wolfe_man]

Sometimes... sometimes... the yelling out is necessary and helpful. 

If you do it all the time, or several times a game for little stuff, then that's not good  - but there are times when feedback is useful and helpful.  It sounds like in this case, you helped them remember a rule they probably weren't sure of and weren't calling it as a result.

 

[mw94]

15 hours ago, 834k3r said:

Went to my son's Legion tournament in a different state this weekend, and today I was one of those parents. I kept my mouth shut for the most part--bit my tongue on a lot of missed calls low and outside (umpire was consistently set up right behind the catcher, with his nose at the top of the catcher's helmet).

Our team had runners at 2B and 3B. RH F1 steps toward 3B and feints his throw, still engaged with the rubber. No balk call from either PU or BU. I finally yelled out (I wasn't angry) that F1 can't fake a throw to 3B in OBR. Umpires got together, and awarded the runners home and 3B, respectively.

I'm sorry I yelled out, brothers. The egregious non-call was too much to bear.

Ok so are you sure they were playing OBR or  NCAA  rules?    Its still LEGAL to fake to 3rd from the rubber in FED.

[The Man in Blue]

I don't have Legion around me, but I picked up my first one later this week (an hour away).  They are using NFHS.

[The Man in Blue]

8 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

Sometimes... sometimes... the yelling out is necessary and helpful. 

If you do it all the time, or several times a game for little stuff, then that's not good  - but there are times when feedback is useful and helpful.  It sounds like in this case, you helped them remember a rule they probably weren't sure of and weren't calling it as a result.

 

 

OK, I'll ask the question ... Have you ever gotten together with your partner after hearing a fan yell?

I'll admit I will catch something every now and then and then run it back in my head ... but my answer to my question is a firm no.

[BLWizzRanger]

I don't have Legion around me, but I picked up my first one later this week (an hour away).  They are using NFHS.

Lol. For Legion, around here, they use OBR with NFHS highlights. That is the best way I can describe it.

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[834k3r]

1 hour ago, mw94 said:

Ok so are you sure they were playing OBR or  NCAA  rules?    Its still LEGAL to fake to 3rd from the rubber in FED.

Yes, FED is different. And the tournament rules were announced before every game; Legion/OBR rules were used except for a 2:05 time limit.

31 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

I don't have Legion around me, but I picked up my first one later this week (an hour away).  They are using NFHS.

@mw94 and @themaninblue, page 3 of the 2023 Legion rulebook specifies "[o]ne of the unique characteristics of American Legion Baseball is that both senior and junior American Legion teams follow [OBR] with few modifications." If it's a non-league game, then more modifications could come into play.

[834k3r]

26 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

 

OK, I'll ask the question ... Have you ever gotten together with your partner after hearing a fan yell?

I'll admit I will catch something every know and then and then run it back in my head ... but my answer to my question is a firm no.

I've gotten together with my partner because of something a coach said, but never for a spectator. I'm frankly surprised this crew did; maybe that's part of my guilty conscience?

[ErichKeane]

30 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

I've gotten together with my partner because of something a coach said, but never for a spectator. I'm frankly surprised this crew did; maybe that's part of my guilty conscience?

I've definitely seen it FWIW.  I've had a partner realize he mucked a rule thanks to someone yelling about it (fan, player, coach, etc)and come to me for the opportunity to fix it.  I had 1 partner come to me and go, "I know I called out, but I got ahead of myself... he was clearly safe, so I'm going to change it, but I need you to nod your head like you saw something so I can do it."

[BLarson]

Most time they yell dumb things...like "that's a foul ball" over and over when it's a foul tip.

Or "that's a balk!" when runner stealing 2nd/3rd and pitch steps and throws to that base to try to retire the runner.

Most of the time it's ignorance on what they yell.

[Mudisfun]

Watching my daughters Pony games this season and we had some really, really bad officiating. So bad that I had to get up and move from close to the plate area where most the families were parked and move WAY down the line away from everyone. Most of these parents know me and that I umpire. If I start making comments, then I know it will be open season on the official. Considering most of their games had 1 guy only, and I try very hard never to make comments about other umpires, I just got up an left the immediate area. Bad rules knowledge, bad mechanics, etc... BUT they did have an umpire and got to play, so there is that.

[The Man in Blue]

Not sure who the guy is boxing the shark, but I think giving the shark a baseball bat is an unfair advantage.  Especially since the shark is ripped.  The UFO in the background waiting to take on the winner is a nice tough ... 😁

[The Man in Blue]

4 hours ago, ErichKeane said:

I've definitely seen it FWIW.  I've had a partner realize he mucked a rule thanks to someone yelling about it (fan, player, coach, etc)and come to me for the opportunity to fix it.  I had 1 partner come to me and go, "I know I called out, but I got ahead of myself... he was clearly safe, so I'm going to change it, but I need you to nod your head like you saw something so I can do it."

 

I'll cop to that one ... but not because of a fan.

[834k3r]

18 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

The yelling out may have been forgivable … but maybe you shouldn’t have been wearing your uniform in the stands.  That was a bit much.  🤫

 

 

(Edit: Just noticed autocorrect changed "wearing" to "wasting" ... sure, Siri, that makes sense.  Fixed it back to the original intent.)

So you're saying I shouldn't have worn the mask, either?

[BigBlue4u]

21 hours ago, 834k3r said:

Our team had runners at 2B and 3B. RH F1 steps toward 3B and feints his throw, still engaged with the rubber. No balk call from either PU or BU. I finally yelled out (I wasn't angry) that F1 can't fake a throw to 3B in OBR. Umpires got together, and awarded the runners home and 3B, respectively.

Umpires missing that at the American Legion level should tell you all you need to know about the shortage of umpires.

[The Man in Blue]

3 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

So you're saying I shouldn't have worn the mask, either?

No, no ... definitely keep the mask on so they don't know who you are.  😁

[wolfe_man]

18 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

 

OK, I'll ask the question ... Have you ever gotten together with your partner after hearing a fan yell?

I'll admit I will catch something every now and then and then run it back in my head ... but my answer to my question is a firm no.

I always try to take advantage of ALL available data before making a decision.  Even on close pitches, I'll sometimes listen to hear what the fans behind me think before I commit to a call.  "No, that's outside" - ball it is!  It's really helped my accuracy improve over the years and my tournament scores from coaches have gone way up too (when I call what they tell me)!

I hope I used the right color above for sarcasm.

In all seriousness, I can't remember getting together because of it - but I readily admit I am not a professional.  I do not know everything and there are times my mind is not 100% clear on an odd rule that never comes up, but all of a sudden there it is in front of you.  If a dad yells out and my mind has the lightbulb turned on because of it, then I'm glad he was there. 

To be honest, I was more speaking to the fact it's okay to yell out and try to help an umpire out occasionally.  Some of these "umpires" have zero training and need guidance - and they're not getting it anywhere else, so sometimes a knowledgeable fan or peer is their best opportunity to learn and grow.   Now, we all know I am not talking about the guy that gripes about every pitch or close play, but there are times when positive feedback given can bring about the intended change.  To be fair, I did say this can't be all game, every game.

This is simply an opinion, you are surely welcome to disagree with me.  I have a lot of opinions that people disagree with me about.  One man said it very colorfully and I can't repeat it as a Christian minister, but it basically boiled down to the admittance that everyone has an opinion about everything, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Mudisfun]

22 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

Not sure who the guy is boxing the shark, but I think giving the shark a baseball bat is an unfair advantage.  Especially since the shark is ripped.  The UFO in the background waiting to take on the winner is a nice tough ... 😁

My 13YO daughter designed my regional pin for me. I have so little artistic talent that my stick figures look, well, like sticks.

The shark is our district mascot, and the pier represents the Huntington Beach pier, with HB being one of the cities in our district (HB, Costa Mesa, Westminster, Fountain Valley and part of Newport Beach).

In one draft, the shark was on top of the umpire, so it literally looked like it was being punched. 

[The Man in Blue]

May need to add that to The Worst Umpire Ever shirts … 😁

[The Man in Blue]

19 hours ago, Mudisfun said:

My 13YO daughter designed my regional pin for me. I have so little artistic talent that my stick figures look, well, like sticks.

The shark is our district mascot, and the pier represents the Huntington Beach pier, with HB being one of the cities in our district (HB, Costa Mesa, Westminster, Fountain Valley and part of Newport Beach).

In one draft, the shark was on top of the umpire, so it literally looked like it was being punched. 

What does it cost to have something like that made?  I assume you swap them with other umpires?

[Mudisfun]

On 6/28/2023 at 9:22 AM, The Man in Blue said:

What does it cost to have something like that made?  I assume you swap them with other umpires?

The pin is roughly 1.75" in diameter with dual pins in the back... for 300 of them it was roughly $500.

Yes, we trade them with other umpires and really anyone who wants to make a trade... I'm asking my partners for 2 of theirs. One for myself; I'm putting together a pin board of the partners I worked with throughout the All Star season and then another I am going to make up for our Western Region annual charity auction. People build the boards and then have them auctioned... Even if it makes $50 for the non-profit, that works.