Thursday, April 1, 2010

Adios, Jones!

Second game of a 12U doubleheader, top of the 4th inning, a 3-3 score. Leadoff batter rips a line drive that splits the outfielders and skips to the wall in left centerfield. On his way to second base, the batter/runner steps over first base. No reaction from me as I carry the runner to an apparent stand-up double. All four defensive coaches realize the runner missed the bag, defensive players acknowledge such and, while the ball is still in play, toss said ball to the first baseman. “He’s out!” Offensive team then becomes offensive.

That, ladies and gentleman, is how, after 100+ games, I ejected my first manager.

A few points for coaches to consider here. First, an umpire doesn’t want to make that call. The player did a good job of hitting and no one wants to see him penalized. He won the battle with the pitcher and to take him off the field for such a silly mistake is uncomfortable.

Second, umpires know to look for runners touching bases. In fact, a leadoff double is one of the easiest situations in which to recognize a missed base. Ball hit to the gap, umpire runs toward infield and, as he pivots, he watches for the runner to touch first base -- and check for possible obstruction. That’s textbook. It’s actually unusual for a runner to miss a base but it’s even more uncommon for the defense to realize it. In youth baseball they never notice. Not only did the opposing team see it, the home plate umpire got it as well.

Anyway, first base coach jumps up and down, points to a corner of the bag and screams that his guy touched it. “Sorry coach, he didn’t” is my reply. I head back to my “A” position and the manager, coaching third base, is now screaming. “Horrrrible call! That’s horrrrible! I cannot believe you made that call! What are you thinking?!”

“Coach, that’s enough!” This manager had to be spoken to during the previous game for his staff’s behavior and apologized to me before the start of this game.

Well, the manager continued his ranting.  I walked over to his side of the field to calm the situation but it didn’t take him long to get himself ejected. The game was quiet after that and the visiting team ended up winning comfortably. Manager missed a good effort.

As I’ve told numerous coaches and parents, these kids will play many, many games and they are going to forget individual opponents and even entire games -- and tournaments. Get ejected or tossed from a park? The player will most certainly remember THAT one.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

A Few Things You Might Not Know (Part 1)

Many of us are former coaches…

At the three parks where I officiate, almost all of us have been former managers and assistant coaches, in many cases at the travel ball level. Some of my colleagues are still coaching. We understand the expectations of the coaches, what they are looking for and how they might react in certain situations. We also know the little tricks managers employ so there’s not much that will surprise us from the dugout.

Most of us are serious about umpiring…

We go to instructional classes, take tests and attend camps. Each year a few of us head to the Southern Umpires Camp for four days. It’s an investment in time and in money (our own) and the return makes it well worth it.

Not only are we usually closer to the play than any coach or fan, we almost always have the best angle...

If you’re a fan sitting in chair, 120 feet away from the play and behind a chain-link fence, do you really think you saw the play better than the umpire? Even if you are a coach on the field, as umpires we’re looking to have the best angle on the play. Many times that is more important than being closer to the play. Which leads us to…

We don’t care…

We don’t care if a player is out or safe, if a pitch is a ball or strike, or which teams wins. Each team and their fans want every call and every pitch -- they’re invested in each play but the umpires are not. We just call what we see and our objectivity helps us get it right.

If you don’t like the call, yelling isn’t going to help…

We understand that not everyone is going to agree with every call and we realize that fans and coaches are going to complain. That will not, though, help you get the next call. We call what we see regardless of who will agree and regardless of what we called on the last close play. If we started trading calls, that will lead to even more complaining.

Familiarity and friendships mean little…

We might know a player or coach or parent on the home team but when the game starts all that goes out the door. The game moves too quickly, even down at the 11-year-old level, to try and give a team a break or two. If we miss a call, there’s nothing else going on, we just missed a call. Which leads us to…

We miss calls...

We hate it but we do. We’re not perfect and we try to get every call right, but it happens. We don’t give make-up calls and we move on. There’s never been a game where I’ve thought I had a perfect outing, got every call and every pitch correct. There’s always room for improvement.