When is Umpire & Team Affiliation a Problem?

[Velho]

In postseason play* I think we can all agree that if enough umpires are available they should not work games with leagues they are affiliated with (e.g. are on the board/teach at, are the UIC, coach at, etc.).**

Heard about a game that got me thinking: What if there aren’t enough umpires? What are the acceptable compromises?

- Put the affiliated umpire on the bases instead of plate, on the other side of the field (3 person) or U2 (4 person)?

- When would you go down an umpire (4 to 3, 3 to 2)? Ignore if that umpire was UIC? President? Parent of a player in the game?

- Likewise, thinking it’s a higher bar, when would you go solo vs 2-man?

The primary impetus of my question was a HS Section game where2 person PU got knocked out (he ended up being ok. Took one off the side of his neck/mask.). Base umpire suited up and an umpire from the stands (part of the association and all so not a random) was there and jumped in as BU. Those at the game had no idea where this BU came from*** but, turns out, he was in the stands watching the game - which begs the question: Why was he there? Child/grandchild in the game? Random spectator?

What situations should have made that ump not jump in - leaving BU (now PU) solo?

Thought it was an interesting scenario to hash through.

 

* The bar is lower regular season and intra-league so am focusing the post on playoffs. I have done regular season LL intra-league games on plate where my BU was a parent of a player. Everyone knew it was happening. I didn’t like it but the parent/ump, kid, and teams were good with it so c'est la vie.

** And, because of TBD nature of postseasons, if that does happen it’s rational to simply reassign them to another field. None of us want to be on a crew where the teams or fans identify an umps as President of the league for one of the teams.  Yes, you can make sure they aren’t on plate but even on bases the default should be to swap them. Again, when you have enough umpires in the first place.

*** I think they thought the Association had an emergency one on hand.

[834k3r]

Caveat up front:  I take our "neutral arbiter" role very seriously. When I'm working games, I don't talk to coaches in between innings, I don't converse with spectators. I don't even store my water bottle in either dugout. My military career trained me to believe "perception is reality" and if something appears to be biased or having favoritism, people will tend to believe it is biased or has favoritism.

On the OP, I don't think having affiliated fill-in umpires is an issue up to, but not including, formal LL tournament play. At the pre-tournament, league-play, level of LL, everyone repeats the mantra of "it's for the kids"--even though that could be said for every level of amateur umpiring. At the LL tournament level and up, I think it's better to go down one umpire--even if that makes a 2-man crew go down to a solo umpire. Everyone at the game--coaches, players, spectators--understands what that means and will (probably) understand, potentially begrudgingly.

This thread does bring up an interesting question:  for MiLB umpires in two-man crews (high-A for certain, but others as well), if one of them goes down and is unable to continue the game, what's their plan for coverage? I think we're all willing, if needed, to go put our gear on and finish a game behind the plate; a MiLB game with a solo PU would be a strange sight indeed.

[noumpere]

In the OP -- make it known to the other team what is going on -- and the specific relationship of the umpire to the team.  Leave it to that coach to accept the umpire or go with one (or, if the state allows, suspend the game).

 

That said, almst anytime I was not working a HS playoff game, I was out watching somewhere -- with no relationship to either team.

[MadMax]

For sanctioned games, the absolute minimum is 2 umpires. So, if this game was supposed to be 6, or 4, or 3, you just excuse or exempt the “missing” umpire, and go down to the lesser -man system. There are plenty of stories in recent Pro baseball where they’ve finished a game with 3 umpires (from a start of 4). In one noteworthy case, an Umpire (ie. Pro guy) was on furlough, and just happened to be in the same city wherein an Umpire crewmember either got injured off-field or ill (I don’t remember), and the furloughed Umpire reported in, used the spare uniform, and executed the game alongside the other 3 Umpires. 

Many high-end tournaments and leagues have an on-call or on-site spare umpire. 

Youth/rec ball, unless they started solo, can complete a game with a solo umpire – even if that means calling B&Ks from behind the mound. 😬🫣

However, in that same rec/youth ball, if there is a “qualified” or competent umpire in the crowd, then by all means, if they’re willing to take up the role, facilitate them. 

I’m grateful to the College umpire who gave me my first opportunity to call college baseball (outside of scrimmages). My apartment bordered one of the city parks in Milwaukee that hosted a stadium-esque 60-90 with 300+ fences, and the lights were already on for warmups when I pulled into my driveway after work. I peered across the street, and saw that the players were fairly large, much more mature than young teenagers. So I headed over just to see who was playing, and it turns out it was a local small college (D-3?) hosting a non-varsity club team from a BIG D-1 school (if you know me, you know which one). I only saw one umpire standing at the backstop, in plate gear, and I approached him through the fence. It turns out that his BU partner got sick or indisposed, and he was about to do a college-level game, solo. So I asked him if he was willing to give me a try on Bases. He asked, “Do you know so-and-so?” “Yeah!” “Does he know you?” “Yeah, I worked with him 2 weeks ago!” 
“Well, I can’t pay you, because it’s paid electronically, but if you want to, sure… “ 

I flew back to my apartment, changed into Base Umpire uniform within seconds, and flew back… stepped into the field in the bottom of the 1st inning, and went from there. 
I learned a lot that night. Far more, and far more promptly, than any camp, clinic, or classroom could ever teach. 
 

 

… and I got paid $40 cash… $20 from each team. 🤑

We can all look back on our careers, and we can identify those 2-3 games that defined our careers. This is one of them for me… all because I was a last-second fill-in. 

[Aging_Arbiter]

I start my assignments for LL Tournaments in our district, 3-4 weeks BEFORE the first District game.  I don't have an overflowing pool of umpires, however, I have umpires that I trust.  This year, I had to also assigned 3 sectional tournaments, and 1 state tournament.

HOW would I know what team is going to advance from what league?  I set the schedule based on availability.  I have guys from several different leagues working sections.  The ONLY change I am willing to make, is if the umpire has a league affiliated team in THAT game.  Then we will swap.  Bases?  I don't think so.  My guys know this well enough, that I don't even need to tell them to alter the scheduled rotation.

I get it, we are in the perception business.  However, just like regular season, I don't care what coaches think.  I'm not there for them. In the past, even at the LLWS, if your region was playing, you would not even be on the field for that game.  Last year, one of my crew members was from TX, one from VA, one from Canada (eh?) and me from PA.  When I asked leadership, the response was, if I TRUST in your abilities enough for you to be here, I trust you to umpire fairly. 

The question stemmed from our 1st scheduled game.  I had 1B, in front of the PA dugout and my partner from TX had 3B, in front of the TX dugout.

[Velho]

Appreciate the response and real life experience. I agree that when resources are limited, it changes things.

Just in case the tone gets lost, my questions below are clarifying more so than challenging...

2 minutes ago, Aging_Arbiter said:

The ONLY change I am willing to make, is if the umpire has a league affiliated team in THAT game.

Are you referring to PU with this statement? Or any umpire?

To clarify: I'm only talking about affiliations in a given game. Not an overall tournament.

4 minutes ago, Aging_Arbiter said:

Bases?  I don't think so.

If an ump has an affiliation to a team in the game and can be swapped with a ump on another field at the same site at the same game time, would you swap them?

3 minutes ago, Aging_Arbiter said:

The question stemmed from our 1st scheduled game.  I had 1B, in front of the PA dugout and my partner from TX had 3B, in front of the TX dugout.

Anything beyond a specific league (maybe stretched to a District in LL) is as you've said - a move on. Declaring shenanigans simply because an umpire is from the same state is silly.

[MadMax]

4 minutes ago, Velho said:

If an ump has an affiliation to a team in the game and can be swapped with a ump on another field at the same site at the same game time, would you swap them?

I don’t know the particulars of LL, per se, but at other tournament events I’ve operated within and staffed? Yes. No question. Done. 

[facetious] We’re supposed to be all eqUals, are we not? [/facetious]

[Kevin_K]

There have been a couple of times in my officiating career where I was a random fan watching and an official did not show up for the scheduled event.

• Event 1: I went to watch a home match of my school's volleyball team. One of the officials did not show up. The HC of my school's varsity team talked to the VHC and the official who did show up about me officiating as the down official for the varsity match. Everyone was OK with it and there were no issues.
• Event 2: LL Sectional tournament where one umpire was stuck in traffic and I was there to watch. I (of course) had my gear in the rolling locker room and was asked to fill in. No one had any concerns

Twice in my career I have been removed from tournament assignments because I was originally scheduled to officiate the tournament final long before the participants had been decided. Both times one of the finalists had a close affiliation.

Finally, I was working a varsity baseball game as BU when my partner took a foul ball that went straight down and then back up under his jaw. He was knocked silly. Across the athletic fields the JV was playing. My partner sat on the bench, I geared up, and the BU from the JV game received an upgrade.

All this to say it depends. Is it better to have fewer officials? Probably not. Should officials character be questioned just because they have an affiliation with a given program? If so, why not question their character in all their assignments? I think we put more thought into this than the collective efforts of everyone outside the officiating world.

I think any team would prefer a good official on their event without regard to any affiliation. They would know that the official will do things the right way and their team will be fortunate to participate in a well officiated game.

 

[Velho]

22 minutes ago, Kevin_K said:

I think any team would prefer a good official on their event without regard to any affiliation. They would know that the official will do things the right way and their team will be fortunate to participate in a well officiated game.

So the grandparent in the 5th row should replace us every game? 😁

I randomly carry my gear to games as well (not saying I slashed anybodies tires but, y'know random things happen). 

Back to serious, thanks for the thoughtful response.

[BigBlue4u]

5 hours ago, 834k3r said:

This thread does bring up an interesting question:  for MiLB umpires in two-man crews (high-A for certain, but others as well), if one of them goes down and is unable to continue the game, what's their plan for coverage? 

From the Minor League Baseball Umpire Manual:

When two umpires are working a game and an umpire is forced to leave the game due to injury or illness, the game should proceed with the remaining umpire working behind the plate with full gear.  Under no circumstances should the umpire call pitches from behind the mound.   If league policy dictates, each team should be asked to nominate one player or coach to umpire on the bases with the duties being determined by the professional umpire working the plate.

[The Man in Blue]

On 7/17/2024 at 2:46 PM, Velho said:

So the grandparent in the 5th row should replace us every game? 😁

 

Aren't they already trying to?

[The Man in Blue]

I've called a few games for the high school I teach at . . . our team is so bad there is NOTHING I could possibly do to help them.

During my daughter's high school career I ended up calling one of her games for 3 of her 4 years.  All were late cancellations with desperate e-mails and texts going out.  Each time I contacted the team (twice other schools, once her school) and said, "I am going to be there watching.  If both teams are OK and you don't find anybody, I can step in."  I took the bases twice and the plate once.  

I called her out because she interfered with a fielder, out on two close plays at first, and rung her up looking once.  

I did eject a mom (back when we could) in one of those games because she was on the sideline screaming "His check from the school is in his pocket!"  I told the coach, "You agreed to this and I'm not putting up with it.  She has to go."  He said, "That's three close calls that have gone against us."  I asked if he was serious since he was up 3-0, and if he wanted to go with her.

(It may have been more because I "ran her daughter out" of a summer league game a few months before.  She couldn't stop leaping and I was calling it.  The coach finally pulled her.  OR it may have been because, as I was told later, she was drunk.)

[834k3r]

13 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

(It may have been more because I "ran her daughter out" of a summer league game a few months before.  She couldn't stop leaping and I was calling it.  The coach finally pulled her.  OR it may have been because, as I was told later, she was drunk.)

Her daughter was? No wonder she couldn't stop leaping.