Okay, we play on the Western Slope of CO where there is a mixed bag of very high quality umpires and others.
This past weekend we had a particularly, shall we say "take charge" umpire who came to our dugout between innings and asked to see our Team "Rip It PROB 33". I, coach, gave it to him of course. He shook it, grabed another bat and compared weights then started picking at the end cap with his finger nail. I asked him not to do this as it could cause the bat to become unplayable.
He then started tapping it fairly hard against a fence post and again I asked him not to do that as it could dent it. The **** bat costs nearly $300 and we run on a tight budget here.
I then asked if the opposing team complained and he said "no".
I said "I thought you guys were out of the bat inspection business this year unless receiving a complaint" to which he replied "I'll inspect any bat I desire".
I waited for the bat to be returned.
Following the games he went to our dugout and without permission/or asking picked up the bat and began again inspecting it and writing down the identifying information....basically ruffling thru our team supplies when it was time for him to get going home. The bat has the appropriate "BBCOR label" of course and is listed on the WSU NCAA/NFHS certification of course.
During the games he was, almost always, hanging with the opposition players and coaches, laughing/joking/etc.....never once came over to our side of the field. It was pretty clear he had many friends on the other side which is normal in our neck of the woods but generally umps stay in the middle or split time on both sides of the field. He also made quite a few "calls" about interference for oversliding the bag that went for the other teams attempt to complete a DP where one of the runners foot made it half way across the bag without coming even close to contact nor any observable change in his throwing motion. He even made this call against a 90lb kid/runner when the SS was about 190. Think he gave them 3 DPs over the course of two games.
Judgement calls for sure, but suspicious and we won both games handidly.
He asked me the standard question "does my equipment meet specs" before the game and I told him it did. I am kind of insulted that, by his actions, he called me a lier and a cheat.
So, I'm wondering, this behavior seems rather inappropriate and I'm wondering if I should submit a "umpire report" on him.
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