First Time Game Management Has Gone Well For Me

[MarsOmega]

Hello All,

Last night I worked a 15u game on the plate. I had a first-year umpire on the bases but he did very well. 

In the first inning with the home team batting, I have a pitch that I was 80% sure was a foul ball. I asked my partner if he had a foul and he said yes. I singled and yelled that the pitch was a foul ball. The Head coach of the home team was upset saying that there was no way that that could have been foul and that that sound was the bat hitting the glove. I didn't engage until the VT catcher started yelling back at him. I told the catcher to knock it off and the game continued. 

Same inning. The VT pitcher just keeps hitting the batters. not intentionally but hard enough to cause the HT pitcher issues from being hit in the shoulder. He hits 1 batter and I don't think anything of it. He hits another. Again I don't think much of it. After the third, I start looking into the VT dugout to see if their manager wants time. spoiler alert: He doesn't. the pitcher hits a fourth batter. We are hearing loud grumbling from the HT dugout at this point. Then the pitcher hits a fifth batter, this time it was their pitcher and the ball hit him up in his shoulder. I call time and tell him to take a second and then go to first. The HTC comes up to me from the 3rd base box, rightfully upset in my opinion, yells that he's hit 5 of his guys in one inning, and asks me why I haven't warned the pitcher yet. I explain that understand where he is coming from but that I can't warn the pitcher if he isn't hitting the batters on purpose. He yells that someone is going to get seriously hurt. Then he turns away from me and starts walking towards the VT dugout yelling at the VTC about why he hasn't taken the pitcher out yet. I say "Coach you need to go back to your coaching box". Thankfully the VTC didn't say anything back or come out of his dugout. The HTC starts walking back to his box. We didn't have any other issues for the rest of the game and the HTC apologized to both me and the VTC. 

I understand that a lot of guys may have tried to get in between the HTC and the dugout, but I'm 5'5, a young woman, and don't necessarily like the idea of jumping between two coaches who are arguing with one another. 

All things considered I think it went really well.

'

[The Man in Blue]

@MarsOmega … your day went better than mine!  I had a similar foul ball situation (PU didn’t have it, but knew something happened) but ours resulted in a coach ejection, a forfeit, and team leaving the tournament early.  
 

As for the second part … Good on you!  Sometimes there are annoying little threads that we want to pull, thinking it will get better.  Hint: pulling strings usually leads to things unraveling.  It may be a crapshoot sometimes, but I’m glad to hear it worked for you!

[SeeingEyeDog]

@MarsOmega, it's definitely a "had to be there" but...first and foremost, our safety and the safety of our crew is ALWAYS the #1 priority. Secondly, baseball umpires are NOT hockey referees. We have all had circumstances where quickly stepping between two people gets them separated and the situation diffused. (NOTE: I said stepping between. Not engaging, not grabbing just filling a space and hoping that physical buffer lets the situation burn itself out.)

But, generally speaking, baseball umpires should NOT step between two people. The Craft teaches us angle and distance. Guess what? That's not just for putouts.

When a physical confrontation is brewing between the fences of a baseball field, the umpire needs to be positioned so that they can fully observe everything that transpires so that they can fully report out after. If you gamble and do the "step between" you are not in the best position to observe everything that is happening. And if it's youth baseball, I don't like the optics or the mechanics of adults putting their hands on kids to restrain them even with the best intentions of preventing a fight, especially umpires. Some special education teachers I know have been trained in physical restraint as part of their occupation. The last time I checked while LL, LEGION, NFHS, etc. are all thorough in their offerings, I don't see "Choke Holds 101" or "Arm Bars 206" on their lists.

Bottom line...physically engaging is just not what umpires do but, we can always flex some "Verbal Judo"! See George Thompson's book!

~Dawg