Hunter Wendelstadt ejects Aaron Boone

[wolfe_man]

Let me say this please. Your reputation matters.  It does. 

If not, why do we tend to trust brand names over generics as a whole?  Why don't you drive a Gremlin anymore?  Why do Americans think Hilton's are nice hotels?  Why do Americans think Rawlings makes the best baseballs?  Why do sponsors drop big-name athletes when they are caught doing something perceived as immoral or corrupt? Because reputation matters.

Now, should your reputation precede you and you start out with two strikes against you every game because of your past?  No!  Definitely not.  But, when things start to go down a well-trodden path, we - as human beings - will likely start to think it's going to the same place it has been many times before today.  This is basic psychology and simple human behavior.

When I said that Boonie's rep has "earned" him that EJ, I did not mean to imply he should be treated any differently than every other manager on any given night.  In reality, he starts off each game with no issues and nothing carried over to be used against him in this game.  But to suggest that human umpires are to not have any internal bias when he starts down that well-traveled road to griping and sniping at the umpires is naive.

There's at least two local HS coaches that umpires know very well for the wrong reasons.  Umpires share stories about these guys and don't necessarily like doing their games because of their behavior. Now, when we get assigned those games, we are professional and approach it the same way as any other game. But to suggest that we don't try to head off issues quicker, or nip things in the bud quicker (or slower possibly to avoid being seen as jumping the gun and biased) because of these coaches reputations and history is simply not true or realistic. 

In a perfect world, human beings could forgive - and forget - and it would forever be removed from their memories, never to be seen or used against the offender again.  But, we are not in a perfect world.  No matter how hard you may try - you will remember that I treated you badly the last time you saw me.  You can pretend I did not do it, you can try to show me how much better of a guy you are and treat me overly well in hopes that I won't do it to you again - or you can ignore me and shun me in retaliation... but very, very few people are able to just forgive the past and forget it and take me for what I am today, this game, this particular action and point in time.  It might be a sad reality, but it is the reality (another word for truth) of the situation.

Each game is a new day (of sorts) and cannot be held against any player, coach or umpire based on a prior day's events, that is true.  But what is also true, that somewhere in each person's memory is that recording of what happened and if things start going that way, that memory is popping back up and playing repeat in their mind.  It's just how we're wired and it's why we're not supposed to be fooled twice.

Now, we cannot ACT on what happened yesterday in today's game.  While we may not be completely able to forget it, we can flush it from memory quickly and try to approach THIS event that just happened on it's own merit.  Like a play you just kicked, we flush it and move on.  A coach or player's words or actions from a prior game is history, we must flush it and move on in order to stay professional.  We cannot go holding vendettas and trying to "get even". This mindset is not welcome or permitted as an umpire, we simply cannot allow ourselves to get to that level. 

For the record, I do not believe that Hunter Wendelstedt was doing this either.  He is FAR more professional an umpire and person than to stoop to that level.  He just had a bad moment that was unfortunately recorded and will be replayed a long time.  I am confident he has learned, and will learn, from it.  I'm quite confident that we've all had one of these moments in our life where we wished we could go back and do it over.

Yes, Hunter was wrong here - but as a human being, I believe that I understand why he did what he did.  He wasn't going to allow Boone to "posterize" him with another one of his ejection videos (JomBoy, savages in the box, get better, etc.) on YouTube, but ironically, that's how it ended up due to his over-eager action and words in responding to Boone's sniping.  I'm pretty sure he would like to have this one back and would choose to reply differently, but he can't do that... so we can also learn a lesson here to speak carefully for you never know who is listening.

But reputation most certainly matters... if not, then why do we care so much what others think about us?   If you're honest at all, then you do care what others think or perceive about you.  We, as humans, want others to think well of us.  Very, very few people truly do not care at all what others think. I know many will say that, but normally that's a defensive statement to prevent hurt more than anything else.  We want our peers to think we're good at our chosen profession.  We seek positive feedback as often as we can get it because it helps our self-esteem and confidence. 

With all this said, our reputation is only what others think of us... character is what we are in reality though.  You may have a bad reputation, and can even be given one by false accusation or being misjudged... but in time, the real you (character) can live most things down and you can show the good, honest people who you are in reality.

While our opinions may vary, I think we all see this as a mistake by a veteran umpire who just proved that he is human too.  No matter how much training one may attain, no matter how much experience one may gain... humanity still finds a way to come out and show itself.  

I'll shut up and listen to anyone who would like to respond. 

 

 

[ArchAngel72]

1 hour ago, wolfe_man said:

For the record, I do not believe that Hunter Wendelstedt was doing this either.  He is FAR more professional an umpire and person than to stoop to that level.  He just had a bad moment that was unfortunately recorded and will be replayed a long time.  I am confident he has learned, and will learn, from it.  I'm quite confident that we've all had one of these moments in our life where we wished we could go back and do it over.

My point and x 2 on what you stated Wolfe

[SeeingEyeDog]

Solid post @wolfe_man...

Reputation matters, absolutely. My wife won't ever put Firestone tires on her car because of the Ford Explorer controversy from what...30 years ago, now? Never mind Ford's role. Never mind that Firestone has made several thousands of tires since and I don't recall failures from them at a rate higher than any other brand. She simply doesn't trust the brand.

When I get a notification of a new game in Arbiter, the first thing I look at is who is my partner and then where it is and then who the combatants are. I then start thinking about the schools/teams and have I had any problems with either. I also make a point in pre-season of knowing about coaches moves. The first thing I ask my partner when I get out of the car at the game is, "So, have you had either of these teams this season?" If I have "history" with one of the coaches, recent or otherwise, I tell my partner that. And he tells me of his past "history" if he has any. 

I then take a deep breath, clear my mind, start getting dressed for the game and run through the rest of the pre-game. I do my very best to not let past experiences influence future decisions and reactions but, I know I am not perfect either.

About 2 days after Hunter's ejection of Boone, I had an eerily similar situation. I am in C and the coach at 3B (the head coach) says, "C'mon Blue! That's a balk! Let's go!" The pitch is over F2's head and goes to the backstop. I simply turned, gave him the stop sign and said, "If we see it, we'll call it, Coach. Let's not have any more of that, please..." On the next pitch, as F1 releases the baseball the same coach says, "There it is again! Let's go!" This time the pitch is in the dirt. I turned to the coach and said, "Coach, that is a verbal warning for arguing judgement on a balk."

He went nuts..."What?!?!? No! Nooooooooo! I was telling my hitter that it was the same pitch, Blue! I wasn't arguing a balk there! A warning? Really?" We finished the game without further incident...

Maybe he was talking to his hitter but, the pitches were not in the same location so, how is that, "There it is again!"? I can't read his intent. I can only read his actions and words. In my judgement, he was arguing passive-aggressively for a balk. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I am trying to remain open-minded that perhaps he was talking to his batter...

~Dawg

[wolfe_man]

14 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

When I get a notification of a new game in Arbiter, the first thing I look at is who is my partner and then where it is and then who the combatants are. I then start thinking about the schools/teams and have I had any problems with either. I also make a point in pre-season of knowing about coaches moves. The first thing I ask my partner when I get out of the car at the game is, "So, have you had either of these teams this season?" If I have "history" with one of the coaches, recent or otherwise, I tell my partner that. And he tells me of his past "history" if he has any. 

I then take a deep breath, clear my mind, start getting dressed for the game and run through the rest of the pre-game. I do my very best to not let past experiences influence future decisions and reactions but, I know I am not perfect either.

Very good points here too.   In order to be good officials, we have to be prepared and listen.  It's the difference between hearing everything that's going on and being said - versus simply having "rabbit ears" and then acting on it when it should have been ignored.  A good official knows the difference between being aware and then knowing when it is the right time to address what he/she has overheard.  

We're not deaf & dumb, but there are times when our best course of action is to say or do nothing.  Sometimes saying or doing anything is the wrong option and we learn that by experience, training and feedback.  While getting burned is painful, it is an excellent teacher because we remember it a long time.  We don't avoid all stoves (or coaches) from that point forward, but we're more careful around them so that we don't get burnt again! 

Officiating is like this sometimes in that we learn how to better handle situations and people in order to be better game managers.  A good game manager will learn how to avoid those difficult times when we did not handle things as professionally as we had planned due to rising emotions.  If we plan ahead and discuss what might happen with our partner before the game, then we will be in a better situation to respond during the game IF something comes up.  We don't hope that anything goes south, but if it does, then we're prepared to handle it appropriately.  In my experience, the most difficult game situations/ejections that I've had were the ones that got out of hand due to me not being prepared for them. 

You live and learn as you go for many of us.  This is one of the reasons I am seeking out more training so that I can become a better umpire on many levels.  If it were only as simple as people want to believe, where calling B&S and outs is all that an umpire does.  The longer I do this, the more I realize the biggest difference between a good umpire and a great umpire is their ability to always be prepared and ready for any situation that comes their way. 

[beerguy55]

22 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

Now, should your reputation precede you and you start out with two strikes against you every game because of your past?  No!  Definitely not

This would be pretty awesome!    Bryce Harper coming to the plate with 2 strikes every at bat.

 

22 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

I'm pretty sure he would like to have this one back and would choose to reply differently, but he can't do that... 

22 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

I am confident he has learned, and will learn, from it.

I think you're giving him too much credit.  People with large egos like his (and Angel's) don't believe they're ever wrong...no matter how he may get reprimanded, no matter that Boone wasn't fined for the ejection effectively meaning it was a bad ejection, no matter if HW doesn't get to officiate in the playoffs due to this incident or the accumulation of his 2024 performance, he won't learn...people like him don't have anything to learn, in their own mind.  In fact, the evidence typically shows the opposite...they double down.  Because apparently admitting a mistake is weakness.  I've always done it this way, deal with it 'cause I'm not changing.  America - love it or leave it.

[wolfe_man]

12 minutes ago, beerguy55 said:

I think you're giving him too much credit.  People with large egos like his (and Angel's) don't believe they're ever wrong...no matter how he may get reprimanded, no matter that Boone wasn't fined for the ejection effectively meaning it was a bad ejection, no matter if HW doesn't get to officiate in the playoffs due to this incident or the accumulation of his 2024 performance, he won't learn...people like him don't have anything to learn, in their own mind.  In fact, the evidence typically shows the opposite...they double down.  Because apparently admitting a mistake is weakness.  I've always done it this way, deal with it 'cause I'm not changing.  America - love it or leave it.

You may be right.   I don't know him personally, but I'd hope that he can learn from this situation.  In order to get to his level, I'm assuming that he has had to be willing to accept feedback and make changes in the past. 

To the second part of your statement, I don't disagree and it saddens me to see our country headed down that road.  I grew up where admitting you were wrong took courage and showed you had a strong character.  Now, we've got people quoting John Wayne (from a movie!) and Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS saying "never apologize, it's a sign of weakness".   Never apologizing or thinking you could be wrong is a sign of a mental illness in my opinion.  You are human, you will make mistakes and errors in judgment at some (one might say many) points in your life. 

The Marines used to say "To err is human, to forgive is Divine - but neither is USMC policy!".  It was said tongue-in-cheek. Obviously, we strive to not err - but to think we never do is flawed logic. And if we could all forgive as God forgives us and has promised to never use it against us after we ask His forgiveness, what a wonderful nation this would be!

[beerguy55]

2 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

Never apologizing or thinking you could be wrong is a sign of a mental illness in my opinion.  You are human, you will make mistakes and errors in judgment at some (one might say many) points in your life. 

The day I don't F*#K something up will be the day after my funeral.

[wolfe_man]

12 minutes ago, beerguy55 said:

The day I don't F*#K something up will be the day after my funeral.

I had an old buddy who used to tell me the old umpire saying about calling a perfect game. He'd say I came here today to try and call a perfect game, but after about the first inning or so I realized I'll have to try again next game.  I've actually told coaches that I know well it during more light-hearted moments. 

I always want to try and be perfect, but also fully understand that I may never officiate a complete game perfectly.  I might miss a pitch, be out of position and kick a call due to over-hustling or losing my balance when trying to stop, or maybe I moved my head too high or low.  There are many variables that cause me to not be perfect and only being 95% accurate is something that I have to accept and keep working towards my goal of being perfect some day. 

The only thing I seem to be perfect at, ironically, is I absolutely excel at NOT being perfect!

[Velho]

32 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

There are many variables that cause me to not be perfect and only being 95% accurate is something that I have to accept and keep working towards my goal of being perfect some day. 

We don't pursue perfection because we can achieve it. We pursue perfection because that's where you find excellence.

[The Man in Blue]

I wasn't talking to you, Blue!  I was talking to the other @#$%ing @#$%ole out there!

[Umpiresrock74]

@The Ripper

 

Hello William, dear friend. I am writing in today for your recent ejection.

 

In the top of the 1st inning of the Umpire-Empire fantasy game William made a comment, "Karen Boone" he was immediately appluaded by the MLBUA and ejected for his factual comment. 

 

The end. 

[The Ripper]

14 hours ago, Umpiresrock74 said:

@The Ripper

 

Hello William, dear friend. I am writing in today for your recent ejection.

 

In the top of the 1st inning of the Umpire-Empire fantasy game William made a comment, "Karen Boone" he was immediately appluaded by the MLBUA and ejected for his factual comment. 

 

The end. 

The MLBUA is ejecting me, more like the MLBPA! I am on the MLBUA side. 
 

Also is calling someone a Karen ejectable??? Personal, propane, Prolong?????

[ArchAngel72]

On 5/3/2024 at 11:13 PM, The Man in Blue said:

I wasn't talking to you, Blue!  I was talking to the other @#$%ing @#$%ole out there!

 

 

No joke had a 13u pitcher who seemed to not be liking my zone in the 1st inning. I looked back at it and thought my zone was A ok. Also I had not given him my 10U zone which is huuuuge.. but this was 13U and I was giving what LL tells me.  So after the half I walked over to the coach and him and asked the pitcher.  " You do realize Im not giving a large zone today like I do in 10U correct?"  He looks and says "OMG Im sorry blue I was upset with myself for missing not you. Your zone is great, just I am struggling and got mad at myself. "

I said sorry thought you were upset with me.  Have a nice day and don't let it get to you. Just try and get the next one.

 

/facepalm.. I read him wrong out there on the field..

Looking back that used to be me. My Step dad said I pitched like Oil Can Boyd with my emotions just out there on my pitching arm for the whole world to see.

[The Man in Blue]

3 hours ago, The Ripper said:

The MLBUA is ejecting me, more like the MLBPA! I am on the MLBUA side. 
 

Also is calling someone a Karen ejectable??? Personal, propane, Prolong?????

Well, it certainly is inflammatory.  

[Velho]

2 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

Well, it certainly is inflammatory. 

Sounds like something a Karen would drag somebody over the coals for.

[Umpiresrock74]

6 hours ago, The Ripper said:

The MLBUA is ejecting me, more like the MLBPA! I am on the MLBUA side. 
 

Also is calling someone a Karen ejectable??? Personal, propane, Prolong?????

You got something to say William?

[The Ripper]

12 minutes ago, Umpiresrock74 said:

You got something to say William?

Get out of here

[Umpiresrock74]

12 minutes ago, The Ripper said:

Get out of here

OK

[The Man in Blue]

5 hours ago, Velho said:

Sounds like something a Karen would drag somebody over the coals for.

Why are we even rekindling this topic?  

[BLWizzRanger]

2 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

Why are we even rekindling this topic?  

Yeah, I thought it flamed out.

[Velho]

47 minutes ago, BLWizzRanger said:

49 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

Why are we even rekindling this topic?  

Yeah, I thought it flamed out.

Agreed. It's fowl behavior

[The Man in Blue]

Like a phoenix from the ashes . . . @Velho changes the game.

[Velho]

15 minutes ago, The Man in Blue said:

Like a phoenix from the ashes . . . @Velho changes the game.

[dumbdumb]

On 5/2/2024 at 11:35 AM, wolfe_man said:

Let me say this please. Your reputation matters.  It does. 

If not, why do we tend to trust brand names over generics as a whole?  Why don't you drive a Gremlin anymore?  Why do Americans think Hilton's are nice hotels?  Why do Americans think Rawlings makes the best baseballs?  Why do sponsors drop big-name athletes when they are caught doing something perceived as immoral or corrupt? Because reputation matters.

Now, should your reputation precede you and you start out with two strikes against you every game because of your past?  No!  Definitely not.  But, when things start to go down a well-trodden path, we - as human beings - will likely start to think it's going to the same place it has been many times before today.  This is basic psychology and simple human behavior.

When I said that Boonie's rep has "earned" him that EJ, I did not mean to imply he should be treated any differently than every other manager on any given night.  In reality, he starts off each game with no issues and nothing carried over to be used against him in this game.  But to suggest that human umpires are to not have any internal bias when he starts down that well-traveled road to griping and sniping at the umpires is naive.

There's at least two local HS coaches that umpires know very well for the wrong reasons.  Umpires share stories about these guys and don't necessarily like doing their games because of their behavior. Now, when we get assigned those games, we are professional and approach it the same way as any other game. But to suggest that we don't try to head off issues quicker, or nip things in the bud quicker (or slower possibly to avoid being seen as jumping the gun and biased) because of these coaches reputations and history is simply not true or realistic. 

In a perfect world, human beings could forgive - and forget - and it would forever be removed from their memories, never to be seen or used against the offender again.  But, we are not in a perfect world.  No matter how hard you may try - you will remember that I treated you badly the last time you saw me.  You can pretend I did not do it, you can try to show me how much better of a guy you are and treat me overly well in hopes that I won't do it to you again - or you can ignore me and shun me in retaliation... but very, very few people are able to just forgive the past and forget it and take me for what I am today, this game, this particular action and point in time.  It might be a sad reality, but it is the reality (another word for truth) of the situation.

Each game is a new day (of sorts) and cannot be held against any player, coach or umpire based on a prior day's events, that is true.  But what is also true, that somewhere in each person's memory is that recording of what happened and if things start going that way, that memory is popping back up and playing repeat in their mind.  It's just how we're wired and it's why we're not supposed to be fooled twice.

Now, we cannot ACT on what happened yesterday in today's game.  While we may not be completely able to forget it, we can flush it from memory quickly and try to approach THIS event that just happened on it's own merit.  Like a play you just kicked, we flush it and move on.  A coach or player's words or actions from a prior game is history, we must flush it and move on in order to stay professional.  We cannot go holding vendettas and trying to "get even". This mindset is not welcome or permitted as an umpire, we simply cannot allow ourselves to get to that level. 

For the record, I do not believe that Hunter Wendelstedt was doing this either.  He is FAR more professional an umpire and person than to stoop to that level.  He just had a bad moment that was unfortunately recorded and will be replayed a long time.  I am confident he has learned, and will learn, from it.  I'm quite confident that we've all had one of these moments in our life where we wished we could go back and do it over.

Yes, Hunter was wrong here - but as a human being, I believe that I understand why he did what he did.  He wasn't going to allow Boone to "posterize" him with another one of his ejection videos (JomBoy, savages in the box, get better, etc.) on YouTube, but ironically, that's how it ended up due to his over-eager action and words in responding to Boone's sniping.  I'm pretty sure he would like to have this one back and would choose to reply differently, but he can't do that... so we can also learn a lesson here to speak carefully for you never know who is listening.

But reputation most certainly matters... if not, then why do we care so much what others think about us?   If you're honest at all, then you do care what others think or perceive about you.  We, as humans, want others to think well of us.  Very, very few people truly do not care at all what others think. I know many will say that, but normally that's a defensive statement to prevent hurt more than anything else.  We want our peers to think we're good at our chosen profession.  We seek positive feedback as often as we can get it because it helps our self-esteem and confidence. 

With all this said, our reputation is only what others think of us... character is what we are in reality though.  You may have a bad reputation, and can even be given one by false accusation or being misjudged... but in time, the real you (character) can live most things down and you can show the good, honest people who you are in reality.

While our opinions may vary, I think we all see this as a mistake by a veteran umpire who just proved that he is human too.  No matter how much training one may attain, no matter how much experience one may gain... humanity still finds a way to come out and show itself.  

I'll shut up and listen to anyone who would like to respond. 

 

 

all right

i would like to know why when prodded, nobody on here will talk about the professional umpires (yes you are a pro if you are getting paid) of amateur players. the only difference is the speed of play from t-ball on up. where are all the articles on the penalties meted out, and i will pick on the SEC. who are all the conference umpires, (weekends) and who/whom are on the non con list (mid week). how many were not rehired for conference (not retirements) due to correctness of calls, and how many non-con were not rehired, as we know they are keeping ABS stats, and so where are those ABS stats for each umpire. did the conference tournament just pick the top guys for balls and strikes, and safe out. or, are there other subjective, rather than objective criteria, which is what everyone seems to want(objective). if not why not (and yes, i know someone may have to work their real job that week). replay can take care of as much as the conference will let it be used, for pretty much everything, so you can take whatever people skills out of the equation. heck, you could even make a case that just a rules guy could work even if they cannot call a game, when you are allowed to challenge every call, (when that gets here), because you keep your challenge if you keep getting them all right. i would imagine you can ask for a rule interp, but maybe you cannot. so are crew chiefs chosen on ball/strike, safe/out (objective) like everyone wants for MLBU, or do they do some MLBU stuff with leadership and handling situations, which many do not care about this subjective stuff. what about the playoffs. everyone wants all the best umps. why does ncaa let the regional skip over to CWS and not do super regional just like MLB gets screamed at for the skip between divisional and WS.

heck, when prodded nobody will mention the bad things they did to professional umpires of amateur players from t-ball on up. nobody will admit to their own bad behavior or maybe their teams did or some old tricks and things their coach personally did or told them to do or hit the highway. did anyone ever let a pitch go, did anyone ever drill a runner out of the lane in the back, did anyone try to grab a fielder in a rundown. did anyone yell or flinch to try and make a fielder miss a ball. did anyone drill a guy for stealing a base or hitting a home run off them. where are all these admissions. don't tell me no one did this or had someone on the team do it or a coach order it.

so, hunter and all the umps are under the microscope. exactly to the letter what happens in that conference room at the end of the year, nobody knows unless you are personally there. and just like the SEC they are not going (apparently) to make it public unless forced.

baseball has alluded to many things that are looked at, not only for CC but for playoffs and ball/strike, safe/out are not the only 2 things. have umpires been knocked out for a late season call, even if correct, because that would be all the announcers talked about in their divisional game and their world series or LCS. Would the handling of a situation (subjective), keep them out. What about the SEC and do they point blank tell that in the papers that's why someone did not get something. just remember, everyone is under that microscope today.

so i just want to see even steven on bashing everyone, pro umpires of both professional players and amateur. not just the ruff guess guy of amateur players or pro players, but the bad misses by everyone.

but personally, i would just like to see more of just what might have gone wrong and how to make adjustments so that a call or a situation is not missed or not missed as often. and yes, both bad judgments and good judgments are going to happen no matter what.

 

so here was my dealings in my poor attempt at athletics, which was short lived in LL as i was sitting on the end of the bench guarding the water bucket and tackling anyone who came near it, and since i was so bad i did not even know about it till a couple innings later. a guy on our team went to a MiLB game and got a hairline fractured broken bat from the batter. he taped it up and used it in our next game. he told the coach and the coach said go ahead one time, if you want to, but i will not back you up if you are caught (the bat was too long if i remember). the coach had told the batboy to run out and grab the bat on contact, which he did when the batter grounded out. the bat was used just that one time, and no the other team nor the umpire noticed it was an illegal bat to start with (or since he grounded out it did not matter and was the visiting teams coach/manager last name Martin, i do not know), much less the hairline fracture that no one could see anyway.

 

[The Man in Blue]

On 4/28/2024 at 10:11 AM, dumbdumb said:

and, if major league baseball says that in that particular situation they want it handled a different way, the umpire cannot worry that they miss a playoff doing what they think is the right way Major League baseball would want a situation handled. You are not going to win all the time no matter how hard you try (such is life). Then when MLB tells you what they want on that new variable situation, you may get the chance to do it their way, when that exact same situation in every detail occurs again.

 

Because the baseball gods love irony . . . 

Boone is once again at the center of the very thing you wrote about.  MLB supposedly doesn't want interference called on an IFF . . . so Boone's player interferes on an IFF (not exactly the same as the White Sox call), gets called for it, and Boone gets tossed.  I haven't seen the commentary or breakdowns yet, just saw that before I went to bed last night.