Absolute worst thing I've heard an umpire say.

I have two from the same guy. 

Last year playing league playoff game.  League rule is that each team gets one balk warning.  Kid on first takes off, pitcher balks.  Now we have played in the league for 4 years and every time there is a balk warning it is a dead ball and the players stay/go back to their original base.  Sometimes it sucks - usually the runner would have stolen the base or the nice line drive double gets called back.  But that's the way it is played in the league.  The umpire decides he is going to change years of precedent and leave the runner at 2B on the balk warning.  Says you shouldn't have the warning rule.  WTF.  Of course, that runner comes in to score at the other team pulls ahead. 

Now the following year, same umpire in a HS game.  I go up to my friend in the stands and said "Oh no, not this guy.  He makes up his own rules.  Watch."  Game is progressing without incident.  And then it happens.  Pop up along 3B line.  Its a very windy day and the ball is blowing all over.  Pitcher and 3B both miss the ball which lands fair and quickly darts into foul territory.  My buddy looks at me, and I at him, and says "foul ball, it didn't touch anybody."  Umpire says it "landed fair."  Kid is safe at first.  I turn to my buddy and with a big smile say "see, I told you." 

One thing I learned over the years, being a patched HS ump does not mean a thing. In Illinois it only takes $50 to become a patched umpire.  As soon as you pay your fee you are patched.  You do need to take an online exam, attend a clinic and attest that you have read the rules interpretation page online. But you become patched as soon as you pay your fee.  You are on "probation" until you complete the other requirements, which are not too strenuous.

I'm assuming the ball landed fair and rolled foul before it crossed the 2nd to 3rd base line?

Yes. 5-10 feet up the 3b line.  

Sadly, I think this one will be leader in the clubhouse.

3rd round of State Playoffs, Game 1 (best of 3 series).  Bottom of 7th, we're home team in a 1-1 tie.  Bases loaded with 2 out.  Pitcher picks up front foot and puts it straight down, then begins walking toward 3rd.  Plate ump doesn't call a balk.  (four man crew).  HC calls time and asks him to consult with other umpires.  After their discussion, they tell the HC that they don't want to end a playoff game on a controversial call.  Never mind the correct call, these clowns simply don't want to make the right call because it could be controversial.

Can't get much worse than knowingly making an incorrect call and telling the HC coach as much.

Lost that game in 8 innings, won the next two to advance, but it should have been a two game sweep and saved an arm a game.

Many years ago before I decided to get behind the dish... My oldest son in a U12 tourney throws a CB that nips the corner, ump says ball.  OK whatever... Next pitch, same pitch quite a bit more of the plate.  Batter rolls his head back, starts towards dugout, coach in 3b box says - c'mon you knew it was coming... Ump says BALL... Of course defensive coaches go nuts and what we get from the umpire is "Coach I'm not gonna end the game as good as this on a call like that"... Suffice to say we were leading at the time and ended up losing on I think walks - guess calling balls was OK, but strikes wasn't... 

If he makes that calls, he gets scratched from other coach and papers write him up and people post on here how kids should decide the game, not the ump.

I saw an ump one game call a runner out on 3rd after a pitch because he took his lead outside the field of play on a pitch.

I think I win...

12U rec ball.  Two green umpires.

Batter hits a soft pop up along the first base line.  Pitcher gets there and gets a glove on it about 5 feet inside the line. It bounces out of his glove into foul territory.  PU yells out "foul ball".  Wait - it gets better....

I'm the defensive coach.  I know it's fair - but he called it foul.  The fielders hear it called foul so they just walk over to where the ball has come to a rest against the fence.

The first base coach yells at his runner that it was fair and to keep running.  The field ump walks over and has a conversation with the plate ump - while the runner is still rounding the bases and eventually comes home.

My catcher and pitcher are standing there with the umpires, I'm walking out to the umpires, and the opposing head coach is already talking to the umpires as the runner reaches the plate.

As I reach the conversation, they have already decided it should have been fair.  Okay, it's 12U rec baseball with beginning umpires - if they want to place the kid on first, I'm not going to raise a big stink.  But no... They decide that it should have been a live ball the entire time and that the runner should score....

By the end of the argument a couple of coaches (one from each team) ended up getting tossed for expressing their opinions on the umpire's decision making prowess.  Then you also had the parents on both sides taking up pitchforks. It was a pure circus.

On the plus side, after I called the umpire coordinator about the incident he instituted a new policy where an umpire with less than a year's experience had to have a veteran partner.  Doesn't guarantee much - but at least it was something. 

I suppose we could start another thread with the stupidest things umpires have heard from coaches and parents.

Just from my four games this weekend:

--Coach who was sure it was okay for his pitcher to wear gaudy reflective sunglasses because they have prescription lenses. (I stifled the urge to retort, "Well, as long as he can see, I guess it doesn't matter if anyone else can.")

--I call a bunted ball foul after it was muffed by the pitcher in foul territory. After being muffed by the pitcher, the ball continued rolling in close proximity to the foul line. A dad screams, "Cmon, Blue, you called it too soon! It was still rolling!"  Then he complains to the other parents about how the ump robbed the kid of a potential hit.

--The coach who sent a random dad out to represent the team at the plate conference because he was too busy giving last-second instructions to his team to attend.  (Subsequent events would reveal those last-second instructions to have been ineffectual, but that's not the point of this anecdote.) In the first inning, the coach requests time to come out and ask my partner about a catch/no catch decision he just made.  I intercept him and chase him back to the dugout, saying only the head coach can discuss the call. "I am the head coach," he replies.  "I'm sorry, sir, but you weren't at the plate conference. You're not the head coach for this game. The gentleman in the cargo shorts and flip flops is the head coach today." If the coach is too busy to talk to me before the game, I'll be too busy to talk to him during the game.

--The coach who sent various pitchers out to the mound in the last innings of a blowout loss with no idea how to assume a legal position or deliver a legal pitch--and with several pieces of illegal equipment I decided to let pass unremarked unless the opposing coach objected. After my partner and I call a couple of the more flagrant balks that actually did have the potential to confuse runners--nothing ticky-tack, just enough to satisfy our professional consciences, perhaps 10% of what would have been called in a scholastic game, and none until the outcome was well settled--the coach starts whining loudly about umps who won't let the boys play.

--The dad in a lawn recliner under a circus-tent sized portable awning yelling baserunning instructions to his son, exhorting him to take a big lead from first base, dance about, and distract the pitcher. Son takes second on a pitch in the dirt.  Dad jumps up, knocks over his recliner, and screams, "You're really getting in his head now! Way to go!"  What's wrong with that bit of enthusiastic support, you ask? The lad's team was down by 11 runs in the last inning, and he took the base on defensive indifference.  The pitcher was oblivious to all the dancing around. Nobody cared.

--The coach who was red-faced and screaming at his players using language that was coarse if not profane even during pre-game warm ups.  As the sun gets hotter and the quality of play degrades, the coach gets redder in the face and louder and more borderline in his language with each succeeding misplay--except for errors by the shortstop (probably the coach's son) who gets told to shake off the bad hops and whatever other misfortunes beyond his control caused the lad not to make any plays.

I know it feels good to vent about umpires. And it's probably better to vent here than out loud in public. But it does cut both ways.  Whenever I or a partner feels bad about missing a call or being out of position, consolation comes quickly when we remember that even with our mistakes, the quality of our umpiring was at least as good as the quality of play and the quality of coaching.

Completely forgot about this one, until one of the folks I was coaching with at the time mentioned that only time I got tossed from a game.  Im a pretty laid back guy and don't get worked up over too much...

Little League rules, 11U special games tourney for the teams in our area which did not make it out of districts.

First Inning, kid leaves base early.  I call time, ask ump about it.  He says he saw it and will take care of it.  His way of taking care of it, "hey kid don't do that again".  Sigh, call time again.  "Hey Blue, how about he goes back to the base as spelled out in the LL rule book".  Blue, "I got it coach.  It won't happen again.  He'll stay there and we'll play on". Now I'm thinking do I lodge a formal protest or just play on.  Decide to just play on.

4th inning of a very tight game.  Lots of blown calls throughout the game.  Batter lays down a nice bunt up first base line.  Runs into the ball in fair territory coming out of the batters box.  Runner makes it to first.  No call by ump.  I call time.  Ump, "Don't worry coach I got it..... Do over".  This is when I loose it.  "Hey Blue, can you show where it says do over in the rule book". Sounds more innocent that the way it was yelled.  I'm storming out onto the field to have a discussion.  Tourney director up in the scorers booth comes over the PA system, "Coach you need to cool down, get back in the dugout". I ignore this.  Over the intercom, "Coach, Coach, I'm warning you".  Being yelled at over the intercom is just firing me up.

Me, "Everyone single one of you s***s A$*".  Needless to say my day at the fields ended right there.

Doesn't matter the situation.....but the explanation started with "I assumed....." or "I anticipated...."

I assumed the tag would be made.

I anticipated the runner would beat throw.

Fly ball down the LF line, hooks around 20+ feet foul and lands over the fence... As the batter rounds first, the homeplate umpire signals "Home-Run"... Opposing coach goes ballistic (rightfully so, IMHO)... When asked, "How could you call that fair?" The umpire says, loudly and clearly, in front of everyone, "I don't know, I couldn't even really see it..."

LOL! 

We had a similar situation last summer with a tag out. Pitcher fields the ball and attempts a tag out of our runner. Newby plate umpire admits that he didn't see what happened. Veteran field umpire runs over and calls our runner out. There is no way he could see the tag because the pitcher's back was between him and our runner. The fans had a clear view of what happened and he did not make the tag. Coach asks field ump how he could make the call and he said "I visualized it." Parents in the stands erupt in laughter. It was too ridiculous to argue and for the rest of the season, this ump was the "I visualized it" ump.

Last week of HS baseball just a few weeks ago. Runner on 1st with 2 outs. One of our batters with a huge strike zone (as in he swings at everything) is at the plate. He has 2 strikes on him and swings at a low pitch. Catcher can't handle the ball and it's a dropped 3rd strike. Runner starts running to 1st, but for some reason the umpire loudly calls the batter out. Defense quits attempting to make a play and starts to run off the field. Immediately, the umpire realizes his mistake and yells "My Bad". It was pretty funny. At least the guy admitted his mistake. Ultimately, the inning ended since the defense didn't have a chance to make a play when the ump basically called the ball dead. Oh well, it makes for a funny story.

I don't like to pick on the umps. They have an impossible job and not one I would ever do. I grew up with an umpire dad. For many years he would drag me to his games when nobody else was home to watch me. I have a lot of vivid memories of sitting in the stands as people said horrible things about my dad. It was not a fun position to be in. I always try to remember that and think about who might be around listening to what is being said. We are all people and we make mistakes.

Oh please post some more!!!!  It is all in good fun!

Yep,

We all screw up.  I think I've matured a bit, but I'm sure in my first few coaching seasons I looked like a moron on many occasions.

Of course I think a large part of learning is being able to recognize you own foolishness.

Admins, if you're going to delete a post, have the courtesy to at least tell the poster why.

It is very rare, but I have run into one umpire that flat out was knowingly unethical.

Little League all-star district tourney. At a critical point in the game, Ump rings up a kid (playing for a team from an affluent community that many people love to hate) on a neck high fastball. 

After the game, the ump was overheard by a coach of another team talking to his partners in the parking lot: "Ha ha! - Did you see me send that kid packing on the high pitch? I hate that team."

Coach told our coach, who went to league officials to complain. they agreed to not have the ump officiate at any more of the team's games.

The very next year, same tournament, the ump is there. this time in the field. In the first inning, two men on base, the batter hits a tailing foul ball that hits the railing clearly in foul territory down the right field line beyond the foul pole. 

Home plate ump calls it foul, pitcher gets ready to throw the next pitch. 

This ump calls time, calls the home plate ump over, and convinces him to change the call to a home run. The home plate ump actually did it. I was the official scorekeeper, so the ump has to explain to me why he is changing the call. I buttoned my lip, figuring it was not my place to argue, especially since it was my son on the mound. Our coaches argued, but no avail.

That kind of thing should happen precisely never. The call was correctly made, and it is zero business of any other umpire on the field to intervene unless asked. 

I did go to the league official with our coaches after the game to renew our objections to this ump ever being on any field, much less one that our team was playing on. Of course he told us we were just whining, and to go away.

While I'm far from an umpire apologist, most of these stories come from Little League or 9u or 12u or whatever they call it these days. You shouldn't expect Joe West to roll out for those. It's kid ball.

Joe West?  Ouch!  Ironhorse, you could've definitely found a better umpiring example than that guy.  Just sayin...

Haha yes. I hate him. First one on my mind after the Holliday debacle last night.

Absolutely BRUTAL ball/strike calling for both sides last night.  He's just bad and has been for quite some time.  Literally the worst plate umpire in MLB last year and looking to defend his title again in 2015.

Iron Horse - 

totally agree. I always cut LL umps slack. But that doesn't extend to unethical behavior, especially in a district tournament, for which they hand select the best, supposedly.

Yeah, he messed that up. He gave Holliday way too much rope. He should have tossed him much earlier.

I thought I heard/read somewhere that LL has a policy for the LLWS of not having "repeat" volunteer umpires... So you could have a very good umpire get to only go once to the LLWS - ever... FWIW: Like anything else the assigner has a lot to say with "who" gets picked for district games, but it's also all about availability. When I first started doing games - assignments were done by the district administrator. Each League had to provide a pair of umpires to go to some other League to umpire their district game. The goal being no home cooking. The DA would handle sending League A to umpire the game between League B & C.  Not all Leagues used "qualified" umpires - they were volunteers though!

Unrelated... surfing through the TV choices last night I landed on the Softball WS game when one announcer essentially asks (paraphrased) "How do they pick the umpires for these games?" - it was an absolutely loaded question the way it was asked and the intonation seemed to be more towards questioning the capabilities rather than providing information for the viewer... Both my son and I started laughing...

Another gem from a coach last week in an 18U travel game (though the players looked younger than that):

Runners on first and second, one out.

I'm the base umpire in position C (behind the pitcher a little bit to the shortstop side).

Left handed batter hits a soft humpback sort-of-line-drivish ball to the third baseman.

Runner from second had an aggressive lead and an even more aggressive secondary lead.

Third baseman catches the ball, throws to second base, doubling up the runner by two or three steps.

Head coach, who is in the third base coaching box, starts yelling at me, "Come on, Blue! You gotta give me an infield fly call on that!"

I explain to him that the ball didn't meet the criterion of being a high fly ball, but more important, the infield fly rule is designed to protect runners on balls that are dropped-- not on balls that are caught. 

Coach persists. He's obviously not getting it. 

"OK, Coach. Let's suppose I called it your way.  Infield fly. Batter is out. Your runner is still out at second."

"Huh? Oh. Well, I gotta at least ask."

Not sure he ever figured it out.

I guess all the real 18U teams were down at Lakepoint in Georgia last week.

I win,

I was coaching my son in a 9-10 year old little league game.  We had a fairly short, chubby kid running on second base and a good athlete at 3rd when a pitch bounced up to the plate.  They both got good leads but the catcher semi-blocked it and it rolled up the 3rd base line and the runner at third decided not to go.  He returned back to the base but the runner at 2nd was slower getting back.  After the catcher faked a throw to  third, he then turned and threw to the pitcher but didn't realize the pitcher had moved towards home and threw too high and it ticked off the pitchers glove as he reached up and it traveled in the direction between shortstop and the second base bag, bouncing off my runner's ankle and was redirected into left field.  Well, my runner at third scored and the runner at 2nd ended up at 3rd after he got up.  The umpire called time, said the run counts but the inning is over because the runner was hit by a "live ball" and is out.  I immediately ran out and said "what?".  He said if a live ball hits a runner he is out.  I said the rule book says "batted ball" not "live ball" and I would show him.  He said if I got a rule book I would be thrown out of the game.  I said " ok, if my shortstop fielded a ball and then pegs the runner going to first would the runner be out the rest of the game?  That would be a "live ball" hitting a runner, just as the thrown ball by the catcher hit my runner."  He then realized the stupidity of his argument, and changed his call right then, but not to the right one.  He said my runner was out because he intentionally kicked the ball into left field.  I asked him to explain how my runner was facing towards 2nd base and kicked it the opposite way then fell to the ground and lay there for several seconds before limping to 3rd.  He then again threatened ejection and I went back to the dugout.  The other umpire listened intently and when I asked his opinion said it was a judgment call and wasn't his to make. 

The other coach had his mouth open at the argument, didn't occur to him that the run should not have scored if the runner was out and the ball dead when it hit him,  we won 6-5. Except I don't want kids to be hurt I desperately wanted to try having my shortstop throw at runners the rest of the game. "It was a live ball, ump, he's out"

13u USSSA tourney. Bottom of the last inning, runners at 1&2, two outs. Dropped strike three, B/R and all runners advance. We're down by 7 runs at the time. HU calls B/R out. I mention he dropped the third strike. "First was occupied," he explains. "But, there were two outs." His answer is that you can only advance to first on a dropped third strike with two outs and first occupied if the bases are loaded. I argued calmly for awhile, but eventually just walked away. Down by seven, I didn't see a reason to protest. However, talking to the BU by the dugout before he leaves, I voice my displeasure in the call. This young (20-22yo) BU actually tells me, "Coach, you need to buy a rule book." Two games later, I do bring a rule book to the plate, with the appropriate rule highlighted when I have the same crew. I silently hand it to him and he (not silently) throws me off the field. I would normally never show an ump a rulebook, but this went beyond just not knowing the rules to simply making s&*t up.

Was at a tourney from the 1st-5th.  Sort of the typical bad umpiring.  A few solid guys. 

The worst was an older guy who I have seen doing tournaments for years, probably in his 40s, calling armpits to mid thighs strikes.  No low strikes at all....except, every now and then for no real reason.  This guy gives up on breaking balls too.  If a guy throws a curve and it is starting up high he will stand up out of his crouch, then ball then breaks to the catchers glove, middle of the plate....ball.  The ball would have been crossing just below the belt line.  Brutal.  

Last game for my sons team they had a runner on second, fly ball hit and the OF makes a diving catch, no call from either ump.  The kid is sort of in no mans land between 2nd and 3rd...goes to third as there was no out call.  Throw comes to second, double play. 

The best ump of the bunch is a kid about 17.  Consistent zone both up and down and on the corners.  Runs a tight ship, keeps the game moving along.  

I don't bag on umpires too much because I don't think I could do much better.  Just the obvious things....make an out call on a diving catch....make me nuts.  My son is a pitcher, so, if I were behind the plate I am sure I would be a pitcher friendly ump.  Get the game in in a hour...."STRIKE!"

Dude, 40's ain't old. 

I agree, being in my 40s myself. 

I meant older than the other umps.  

I was umpiring a game a couple of years ago. There was a close call in the field made by my partner.

After the game; he commented to a coach that the play "could have gone either way."

I was dumbfounded. You make the best call that you can. If you get it wrong; that is part of the game. But to say it "could have gone either way" I find to be offensive.

Couldn't every call go either way?  Safe or Out. Ball or Strike.  Fair or Foul. There isn't a third option for most calls. Each one being the judgement of a single individual and must be made within a second. Generally 1/2 the people there will agree with any particular call. Of course the other 1/2 will agree at some point later on - sometimes even saying "that's a make-up call" when they feel the other team is on the bad side of another call.

Although I agree in general - not something to admit to a coach in the heat of battle or just after the game!

If a team/program goes to a particular tournament and every time they go they claim the umpiring is bad; however, they keep going back. So whose judgement in that scenario is skewed? Does every team feel that way?  Are there no other tourneys anywhere you can go to? If the reason you don't go elsewhere is it costs more or is too far away, then the axiom 'you get what you pay for' or 'you pay for what you get' holds true.

John F, that is a good point "If a team/program goes to a particular tournament and every time they go they claim the umpiring is bad; however, they keep going back. So whose judgement in that scenario is skewed? Does every team feel that way?  Are there no other tourneys anywhere you can go to? If the reason you don't go elsewhere is it costs more or is too far away, then the axiom 'you get what you pay for' or 'you pay for what you get' holds true."

When my son was younger, in a certain area we went to often, we asked which umpiring crew was affiliated with the tournament. there were three umpire associations. 2 were good, one in general did not have quality umpires- not sure why but seemed that way to us. This judgment was made over several years and did not seem to matter which tournament but which umpiring assoc.So when we made decisions of which tournaments to go in that area, we asked. and if it was the one we did not like, we didn't go.

12u game, no outs, batter up, first pitch he attempts to bunt.  The ball hits the ground and backspins/bounces back to hit the batter.  Field ump yells "OUT!"  The coaches are baffled, HC asks how he can be out if he's still in the batters box...and isn't that the plate umpires call?  Plate umpire just shakes his head like "Don't pull me into this dude" (Field Ump looked about 40, plate ump looked about 20)...and the batter is called out again by the field ump and the team is told to get the next batter up, NOW.