Many things can be true at the same time

[Velho]

And we can learn from all of them.

Know your positioning, manage how you engage, and ignore the fence, all come immediately to mind - and I'm sure you all with have other thoughts.

To be clear: not posting as a condemnation but simply that sometimes we learn best from less than perfect execution.

 

[SeeingEyeDog]

This is hard to watch but, I watched it...it's harder to discuss.

As for the positioning and mechanics, hopefully someone in his association has been made aware of this video and can speak with him in calm, fundamental, basic terms to help him understand both why his techniques are sub-optimal which then also led to the verbal abuse from the coach and spectators. Frankly, he was so poor here that if it were my decision, he would not be on the field again until he had had some evaluation games and or attended a 2-man clinic. Is it laziness? (I don't know...and it's a relevant question.) Is it lack of knowledge and awareness? (I don't know...and that's also a relevant question.) There is a reason he is making the poor choices he is making. Why is he doing that?

He could have access to the best trainers The Craft has to offer. It starts with him as it starts with all of us...inside. Nobody can make another person feel pride in their work. Much of my professional life has been in hospitality and service. About the best I have come up with when teaching people that care for a customer or guest is at the heart of hospitality and service is, "Who is the person you most look up to or admire in this world? If you pretend that every person you encounter is that revered person in your life, you are on your way to learning how to serve people in this job..." I don't know how you impress upon a person taking pride in their work as an umpire. It's more a practical discussion. There are no guarantees but, proper positioning, mechanics, rules knowledge all of our core skill areas help to prevent these kinds of issues with coaches from even flaring up in the first place.

All umpires kick and miss calls at all levels of baseball. My wish for all of us is that none of us ever kicks or misses something that impacts the outcome of a game. If you're going to insist on taking the field with the kinds of sub-optimal positioning and mechanics displayed here, you CANNOT then back that up with poor game management and people skills where you insist upon "winning" every argument. And we never have ANY reason to address the fence about anything...at all...ever. Fans are going to fan. That's not an umpire's purview. All he needed to do here is come to the edge of the dirt circle, turn to the coach with his hand up and calmly say, "Coach, I hear you. We're not going to have any more of that. If you continue, you will be ejected." We do NOT editorialize on what happened...ever.

~Dawg 

[The Man in Blue]

Like you said, the obvious is the obvious.  Let me try some of the less than obvious … and I have no idea if any of these are true, I am only presenting possible talking points:

The Law of Diminishing Returns: Game 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 13 without a break … We — umpires, assignors, UICs, tournament directors, coaches, parents — have to not only stop doing this, but stop allowing it.  
The question to ask is “What are you hiring for?”  Are you wanting umpires?  Or are you wanting a body that allows a game to technically be played?

As a partner … what is the point when you throw in your towel?  I have never done that, but there are times when I have wanted to.  We never want to hang a partner out to dry, but what do we do when they are doing it to themselves?  

We cannot do this.  We cannot remain aloof and think it absolves us.  

Personally, when in that situation, I try to show the coaches that I am trying to work with my partner to get things on track.  I do NOT take the coaches’ side, but I show them that I am not “allowing this to happen.”  I am more willing to talk to the coaches and hear them out (as long as we stay at “frustration” and don’t move to “attack mode”), and maybe even give them a little more leash, but they also need to be listening to me as I explain (not blindly defend) what is going on.

—————

The fence has been mentioned a few times … was that bit a fan?  Or was it the coach as he was headed out?  I thought “fan” at first, but the dialogue seemed as if it was the coach.

[lawump]

That was painful to watch on so many levels.  I guess I'll add it to my video library under "how not to do things". 

[johnnyg08]

Whew. 

A few layers to this...I'll offer some thoughts. 

Too many games, too few umpires. In my area, 95% of the games are on Tuesdays & Thursdays so guess which days I'm required to use my less experienced staff? 

We also have to manage ego. Lots of umpires believe that they're significantly better than they really are...yet we don't want them to quit so we have to give them work. 

Finally...sometimes the game exposes us. Maybe this was too big of a game for him? I'm unwilling to call it a just a bad day because mechanically, he has a lot to work on so I suspect that even on "less" of a game, he's likely struggling.

Hopefully he & his local group are open to an improvement plan. As the umpire, this can't be fun game in and game out. The game is a lot more fun to work when you're not struggling out there most of the time. 

[lawump]

9 hours ago, johnnyg08 said:

As the umpire, this can't be fun game in and game out. 

Although, I have seen umpires who are so bad that coaches just stop arguing.  The coaches literally give up.  Those umpires are literally so bad, but think they're doing great because they have almost no arguments.  They're having fun.  I'm being totally serious in saying this. 

There was an umpire in our area of the country who was nowhere near good enough to work NCAA Division 1 baseball.  But, somehow, someway, he kept getting games.  In one game, he was calling strikes on pitches that were literally causing dirt clouds to form.  The third base/head coach (who won a damn NCAA title in Omaha) just mumbled to U3, "I'd go argue, but what's the point.  He's been horrible for ten years; ain't no amount of yelling going to change that and I don't want to get suspended."

You could argue that U3 (not me) should have ejected him for calling his partner horrible.  But should you really EJ when it is painfully obvious to the other umpires on the crew that the HC was not wrong??? LOL.

[834k3r]

1 hour ago, lawump said:

There was an umpire in our area of the country who was nowhere near good enough to work NCAA Division 1 baseball.  But, somehow, someway, he kept getting games.  In one game, he was calling strikes on pitches that were literally causing dirt clouds to form.  The third base/head coach (who won a damn NCAA title in Omaha) just mumbled to U3, "I'd go argue, but what's the point.  He's been horrible for ten years; ain't no amount of yelling going to change that and I don't want to get suspended."

[834k3r]

Multiple thoughts.

• Needless EJ. When both sides escalate neither side wins. For me it reminded me of one of my not-so-great moments when I kicked a call. VTHC came out and started laying into me. I let him have his time, 'cause I felt I earned it by my horrible call. I turned on my "receive only mode," then went back to the game. If I had escalated, it wouldn't have helped anyone.
• In the video, I wanted to believe the PU knew he was having a bad game, but he doesn't move...at all. So he's either lazy, injured, or not game- and situation-aware. Bad, bad, bad.
• BU comes in (1:23) to offer support (I guess?). Did he actually do anything? Would have been a great time to deescalate with the PU.

1 hour ago, lawump said:

Although, I have seen umpires who are so bad that coaches just stop arguing.  The coaches literally give up.

Not that I'm a rock star and perfect, but I think I've worked with some of them.

[noumpere]

4 hours ago, lawump said:

Although, I have seen umpires who are so bad that coaches just stop arguing.

 

"You're more likely to get yelled as if the first pitch you miss is in the 6th inning than if you miss six pitched and inning."

[Richvee]

2 hours ago, noumpere said:

"You're more likely to get yelled as if the first pitch you miss is in the 6th inning than if you miss six pitched and inning."

OMG…..so true. 

[dumbdumb]

6 hours ago, lawump said:

Although, I have seen umpires who are so bad that coaches just stop arguing.  The coaches literally give up.  Those umpires are literally so bad, but think they're doing great because they have almost no arguments.  They're having fun.  I'm being totally serious in saying this. 

There was an umpire in our area of the country who was nowhere near good enough to work NCAA Division 1 baseball.  But, somehow, someway, he kept getting games.  In one game, he was calling strikes on pitches that were literally causing dirt clouds to form.  The third base/head coach (who won a damn NCAA title in Omaha) just mumbled to U3, "I'd go argue, but what's the point.  He's been horrible for ten years; ain't no amount of yelling going to change that and I don't want to get suspended."

You could argue that U3 (not me) should have ejected him for calling his partner horrible.  But should you really EJ when it is painfully obvious to the other umpires on the crew that the HC was not wrong??? LOL.

am i the only one who knew lou holtz never gave up his side gig job.