A couple of questions

quote:

Just a question: sometimes a charge is applied to protest. If the coach wins the protest and the game is continued another day should it be fair the same umpires do the continued game free as I am sure they were paid in full the first time.

I certainly think the umps should finish the game unless it is believed they have lost their objectivity. This shouldn't be the case but it does happen.

'the best umpires are the ones no one notices'




what levels do you coach? Where base umps clean bases, I guess.

Michael Taylor, piaa_ump and others who post here are among my favorite umpires despite not even knowing them.

We have a lot of experience with umpires, in a different way than normal! We have had bad and good experiences. We spend over a half million dollars a year on umpires, so we have our own ideas about what we are looking for. To us, not necessarily the teams or coaches, here are the most important things we look for.

1 – Professionalism
2 - Effort
3 – Attitude
4 – Dependability
5 – Knowledge
6 – Understanding
7 – Judgment

We want the best person not the most powerful person!

I have seen many arguments avoided or calmed down by umpires who are polite and reasonable. I have seen many arguments started and/or escalated by umpires who are looking for a battle. Umpires do not need to be power hungry in order to be in charge of a game. I’ve seen many that make the game better and I’ve seen others that think everyone came to the game to watch them.

Those who are the best umpires, will understand what I’m saying here. Somewhere along the way, they have probably worked with one of the bad ones! Funny thing is… Often the most calm, cool and collected, (the umpires who don’t need the power) are the ones who actually have the most power. That's because they deserve it!

Well said, I would work for you anytime.
I was at a clinic over the weekend and the subject of the internet boards came up. The instructors felt that they caused as much bad as good because you can't tell who relly knows what. I disagreed. If you are on the boards for any length of time you can figure out who does and doesn't know very quickly.

Lonblue:
Not sure if you were asking me . I have coached all ages ,but the last ten years were 14 -19 yo. I have hung it up for a 1 1/2 years , I wanted to watch my kid in his last year of college baseball. Looks like I will get one more he had TJ a couple of weeks ago.
As for base cleaning the only one I could care about is home plate. It doesn't make a difference If a umpire cleans the field bases or not, unless it just beyond seeing, which one of the players would clean it without even thinking about it.
I had very little problems with umps while coaching or supervising. The only 2 problems were (1) The umpire lost it as well as the coach and just dropped f bombs left snd right. The coach was suspended and so was the ump. The commisioner wanted the ump gone for good, but he was a great ump. After three weeks the assoc called me and asked about him continuing, He apologized and I put him back to work ,everybody has a bad day. Plus these kids were 15-16 and talked a lot worse wasn't like they never heard the word before. (2) A ump just contined to tell us how ****** our city, league, people, dog,cats you name it was . I simply told him to leave and not return.
We took care of the umps. They all got lunch on the house and water or gatorade throughout the day. I could not understand why he was so ticked off . The two problems both occured in the Pony/Colt league.

Fair enough - all you say is reasonable.

I just ping off on the tired old saw, 'no one should notice a good umpire' because that's not the entire story....we all know that not every situation is covered by the rules. There are plenty of 'strike-callers', but not so many 'umpires' who manage the game - keep it moving, build a good rapport with the catcher, work with the coaches (or manage them if they get out of control), sell close calls, hustle for every call, etc. A lot of these things are not noticed by the fans/typical coach, but those who know appreciate a good, hustling, knowledgable umpire who doesnt stand there all game like a drone and refuses to ensure a good game is had by all.

Example: the 'ball outside the glove tagging the runner' play. The book says it aint an out - the ball has 2 layers of leather between it and the runners back instead of one. In reality, its not called that way, and everyone knows it. When a fielder holds the ball and glove together (ball on o/s of glove) and slaps a runner on the back, you try and claim thats not a tag. Im not.

You can be a strike-caller out of the book and some Internet forums. It takes experience, good judgement, a minor in interpersonal relations, and a willingness to learn from mistakes to be a game-managing umpire.

JMO, as always, your mileage may vary, no warranty expressed or implied.

"Not only do many of you think you know the rules better than anyone else, you think you are better than anyone else. To belittle a fellow umpire because he brushes off the bases is rediculous."

wasnt going to respond to this, but felt the need to set my thoughts down....Umpiring is an odd fraternity, and a difficult and unforgiving one s well.... I personally do not think the responses were belittling...

I do however believe that they are good advice... we are subject to evaluation and the accepted norms and methods are the check points along the way... I sure wish I had had a resource such as this when I was starting out and making all the mistakes that we discuss now... I most certainly would have progressed much further and had a much easier time of it....Looking back I see terms and phrases such as "I respectfully disagree" and do what is accepted in your association....

as to the comment that we think we know the rules better than anyone...thats is absolutely imperative to know the rules better than anyone....umpiring well means being confident and confidence comes from rules knowledge...when I walk out there I need to know and believe that no one knows the rules better than me..and yes, I need to feel that I am the best person to do the job...i dont do this to be arrogant...I do it because I think the players deserve that.....

This is a wonderful site for umpires...I believe we treat each other with respect and genuine concern for each other...not all umpiring sites are this way...so i will just end this as I normally do...

Just my .02....

"You don't have any 'traction' when you pull a rule book out while on the field. Almost always an automatic trip to the parking lot. There's almost no way to pull a rulebook on the field that does not show up the umpire (s), regardless of their incompetence (and I agree your umpires were incompetent"

Last time I had a rule book brought onto the field during a rec game and the situation went something like this:

Coach: C'mon Blue, yer blowin' the call. It's somewhere here in the rule book.

Me: In the rule book? Coach, it's a judgment call. In my judgment the batter/runner did not reach the base before he was tagged. He's out.

Coach: Well it's right here, on page 108.

Me: On page 108? Let me see the book. When he hands me the book I tear page 108 out, stick it in my pocket. I can't read it now, we're in the middle of a game and it's time to play ball. You're violating the rules being out here arguing a judgment call.

Never heard another word from the coach.

I've seen a video camera taken to the umpire in an 8u coach pitch game in between innings to show the umpire the "replay" of a play at first.

Rule books, video cameras and some coaches have no business being on the field.

Great post MichaelVA98 I love it

I have a question for whoever can help, is there a standard rule for ties at any base??

I all ways thought ties go to the runner.

There are no ties, or crying, in baseball.

Good answer Lonblue67

I'll keep that in mind, my 4 year old is starting tee-ball and we were playing catch(with a soft baseball) when he caught the ball the wrong way and bent his finger back, well guess what he started crying and I tryed explaining to him that there's no crying in baseball he looked at me like I was crazy.

No ties,No crying in baseball some people just dont understand.

quote:

I've seen a video camera taken to the umpire in an 8u coach pitch game in between innings to show the umpire the "replay" of a play at first.

This happened to us at Cooperstown last summer. My friend and I were both shooting throughout the week. In one game a couple close calls went our way and the other team went nuts on the ump (same guy on both calls). In each case, after the inning, we talked the ump into coming over and looking at the video and in both cases it confirmed he got the calls right. Never seen an ump smile so big.