Go to the manager or have him come to you

[sdix00]

Sitch:

I am PU.

3BC is yelling at my BU.

I call "Coach!" and get his attention.

NOW:

Do I walk to him or do I have him come to me?

I understand walking to him can be aggressive.

However, I feel giving the "Come over here" hand gesture is like a father calling his child over to be disciplined. That seems demeaning.

How do you handle this with a hot coach?

[scrounge]

The first time? If there hadn't been previous sniping, since you've already got his attention with the "Coach!", perhaps just a "calm down" or wave for him to come to you but then also start walking towards him. Kind of a weasel answer, but do a bit of both?

[zm1283]

Sitch:

I am PU.

3BC is yelling at my BU.

I call "Coach!" and get his attention.

NOW:

Do I walk to him or do I have him come to me?

I understand walking to him can be aggressive.

However, I feel giving the "Come over here" hand gesture is like a father calling his child over to be disciplined. That seems demeaning.

How do you handle this with a hot coach?

1. Let your BU handle his own business. I will go out on a limb here and guess that the coach is upset about a call the BU made, so the BU needs to take care of it

2. If the coach is indeed yelling and the BU won't do anything about it, talk to the BU later on (Between innings or after the game) and ask him why he is letting someone yell at him.

[sdix00]

Sitch:

I am PU.

3BC is yelling at my BU.

I call "Coach!" and get his attention.

NOW:

Do I walk to him or do I have him come to me?

I understand walking to him can be aggressive.

However, I feel giving the "Come over here" hand gesture is like a father calling his child over to be disciplined. That seems demeaning.

How do you handle this with a hot coach?

1. Let your BU handle his own business. I will go out on a limb here and guess that the coach is upset about a call the BU made, so the BU needs to take care of it

2. If the coach is indeed yelling and the BU won't do anything about it, talk to the BU later on (Between innings or after the game) and ask him why he is letting someone yell at him.

Ahhh, yes. Excellent point.

This was a Junior Umpire (14), and I felt I needed to intervene.

This is the first year we have interleagued and it has been a challenge with all the different cultures. Some teams are perfectly mannered. Some are full of rats.

Point taken, tho.

[Mr Umpire]

Sitch:

I am PU.

3BC is yelling at my BU.

I call "Coach!" and get his attention.

NOW:

Do I walk to him or do I have him come to me?

I understand walking to him can be aggressive.

However, I feel giving the "Come over here" hand gesture is like a father calling his child over to be disciplined. That seems demeaning.

How do you handle this with a hot coach?

1. Let your BU handle his own business. I will go out on a limb here and guess that the coach is upset about a call the BU made, so the BU needs to take care of it

2. If the coach is indeed yelling and the BU won't do anything about it, talk to the BU later on (Between innings or after the game) and ask him why he is letting someone yell at him.

Ahhh, yes. Excellent point.

This was a Junior Umpire (14), and I felt I needed to intervene.

This is the first year we have interleagued and it has been a challenge with all the different cultures. Some teams are perfectly mannered. Some are full of rats.

Point taken, tho.

ZM's point is correct for an adult. A 14 year old should not be dealing with it since he is learning. After he gets some more experience and older, then let him handle it. But, the reason I say it is b/c it is a child being yelled at by an adult. Many may coward down or even quit after dealing with this kind of situation. Lucky for you all, I didn't when I started at 14.

You know the umpire better than I do. So, you are there and can read the situation. But, if this is not a well-established umpire in his ability and confidence to handle the situation, I think you did it right. If he is, let him handle it unless he looks to you for help. But, give him time to figure out what he is going to do. If it gets out of hand, deal with it and then talk to him about what he should have done.

[noumpere]

This was a Junior Umpire (14), and I felt I needed to intervene.

This is the first year we have interleagued and it has been a challenge with all the different cultures. Some teams are perfectly mannered. Some are full of rats.

Then say Bill dont yell or Bill if you have a question ask for time and ask the question.

[mstaylor]

If you are going to intervene for a teenager, just tell that's enough. At that point he will either stop or he will come to you. I assure you, by the time he gets there he will have already gotten himself tossed. I have very little tolerance for an adult trying to intimidate a kid.

[Stan W.]

If you are going to intervene for a teenager, just tell that's enough. At that point he will either stop or he will come to you. I assure you, by the time he gets there he will have already gotten himself tossed. I have very little tolerance for an adult trying to intimidate a kid.

I agree with Mike 100%...as I lost a very promising young umpire after being abused and intimidated by a coach........and his adult partner did not take the heat off of him...........

[yawetag]

If you are going to intervene for a teenager, just tell that's enough. At that point he will either stop or he will come to you. I assure you, by the time he gets there he will have already gotten himself tossed. I have very little tolerance for an adult trying to intimidate a kid.

Once, while the BU, my teenaged PU made a call at the plate. Immediately, the coach ran out of the dugout and began yelling at him. I started walking in, mainly to hear how the argument went. The parents behind the fence were starting to yell as well. When I got to the mound, I yelled "TIME!" which quieted all five fields in the complex. I took my PU and asked him what he had -- I believed his original call to be correct. I told him that WE would talk to the coach. I summoned the coach and we began walking him back to the dugout, explaining the judgment behind the call.

Amazingly, it worked, and hopefully my young PU learned something that day. I won't jump in right as the argument begins, but I won't let it get too far.

[catoblue]

you can pretty much tell when a rat is trying to intimidate and/or abuse a junior umpire. 100% in agreement with Mike and Stan - I have no use for that type of rat either and won't hesitate to give him directions to the parking lot.

[mjr_2013]

Sitch:

I am PU.

3BC is yelling at my BU.

I call "Coach!" and get his attention.

NOW:

Do I walk to him or do I have him come to me?

I understand walking to him can be aggressive.

However, I feel giving the "Come over here" hand gesture is like a father calling his child over to be disciplined. That seems demeaning.

How do you handle this with a hot coach?

1. Let your BU handle his own business. I will go out on a limb here and guess that the coach is upset about a call the BU made, so the BU needs to take care of it

2. If the coach is indeed yelling and the BU won't do anything about it, talk to the BU later on (Between innings or after the game) and ask him why he is letting someone yell at him.

Ahhh, yes. Excellent point.

This was a Junior Umpire (14), and I felt I needed to intervene.

This is the first year we have interleagued and it has been a challenge with all the different cultures. Some teams are perfectly mannered. Some are full of rats.

Point taken, tho.

ZM's point is correct for an adult. A 14 year old should not be dealing with it since he is learning. After he gets some more experience and older, then let him handle it. But, the reason I say it is b/c it is a child being yelled at by an adult. Many may coward down or even quit after dealing with this kind of situation. Lucky for you all, I didn't when I started at 14.

You know the umpire better than I do. So, you are there and can read the situation. But, if this is not a well-established umpire in his ability and confidence to handle the situation, I think you did it right. If he is, let him handle it unless he looks to you for help. But, give him time to figure out what he is going to do. If it gets out of hand, deal with it and then talk to him about what he should have done.

Biggest mistake of my umpiring career was made after a coach yelled at me.... I was 14 at the time and was behind the plate for an 8 and 9 year old softball game (pretty big joke really)... This was fast pitch but the pitcher was pretty awful and a high arc came in and crossed above the batters head... I viewed it as a strike, crossing through the box and called it strike 3.... The crowd oohed and ahhed, which didn't phase me, but this HUGE (muscular) 1st base coach sure did... He comes to me and says "They are only 4 feet tall ya know" in a huge overpowering voice to me....

So, I changed the call..... :bang: ... I still kick myself for that - two years later...

That's what happens when you stick a kid out there with absolutely zero training....

[scrounge]

I wish someone had been there for me when I began on my first stint as an umpire. 16 yrs old, in my third game, absolutely no training whatsoever (they just gave me shin guards and a balloon protector and said go forth and umpire). Big beer-bellied parent/coach charges at me from 3rd base, chest bumps me, and knocks me over. This was 25 years ago and in a small, rural town - not a thing happened to the guy. Gave up umpiring right then and there, not returning until this year. I wish I hadn't waited this long, but that's another story.

If you are going to intervene for a teenager, just tell that's enough. At that point he will either stop or he will come to you. I assure you, by the time he gets there he will have already gotten himself tossed. I have very little tolerance for an adult trying to intimidate a kid.

Once, while the BU, my teenaged PU made a call at the plate. Immediately, the coach ran out of the dugout and began yelling at him. I started walking in, mainly to hear how the argument went. The parents behind the fence were starting to yell as well. When I got to the mound, I yelled "TIME!" which quieted all five fields in the complex. I took my PU and asked him what he had -- I believed his original call to be correct. I told him that WE would talk to the coach. I summoned the coach and we began walking him back to the dugout, explaining the judgment behind the call.

Amazingly, it worked, and hopefully my young PU learned something that day. I won't jump in right as the argument begins, but I won't let it get too far.

[NFUA_44]

Mike nailed it.

"Bob, That's Enough" is going to get you where you need to be, either with him coming to you, or shutting it down. If he decides to come, I might take a couple of steps up the line just to clear the plate area and be away from players for the conversation that is going to be brief.

If a coach chooses to raise his voice and yell at his players, well that's his choice and he has parents to deal with. In no other circumstance, on a ball field or elsewhere in life, is it acceptable to yell, scream, and intimidate a child (that doesn't belong to you). If you can successfully shut him down it will most likely turn into a great teaching moment for the youth umpire and add to his growth.

[mstaylor]

When going in to help a youth umpire be careful not to undermine his authority or confidence. I would be inclined to shut the coach down, explaining to him to bring it to a reasoned discussion. Then montor the PU making his explanation. Try to let him his argument as best as possible unless there is a werd rul thing that you need to make sure he has right before he explains it to the coach.

I started as a 17 yr old so I know the pitfalls of being thrown to the wolves with no training and aggressive managers. It is important to protect your youth umpires without coddling them. Don't cut their legs out try to help, it will mess with his confidence and the confidence the managers have in him.

[hckyosgood30]

I 100% agree with everyone on protecting developing jr umpires. I help train the jr umpires for my local LL. Mike has it right by getting the coach with a, "thats enough". However, I will usually let the snipping go for a few clicks, especially if its the HC in his box, and there is no cursing involved. You never know how these kids will react and sometimes (very few mind you) they will surprise you for the better. I had a similar situation a few weeks ago. Nothing egregious, no cursing and I let it go for about 30 sec. Right before I stepped in my 15 year old BU gave the coach, "that's enough coach, lets play baseball" coach gave a snide comment back. Then by all wonders the kid tossed him. Sometimes letting kids fight there own battles is the only way they learn to gauge a situation with a hostile coach. However with that being said you do, need to be very protecting and careful in those types of situations, and need to know the personality of the kid your working with.