It really is the ump's world, kids just play there

I hope it almost never happens.

My job is to facilitate the safe and orderly conduct of the game that unfolds before me and make each call as accurately as I can. It is not my job to reward sportsmanship or effort. It is not my job to decide who the good guys and bad guys are. It is not my job to decide what endings comport with my sense of dramatic esthetics.

If a game ends on a pick-off or a walk-off balk or some other unsatisfying final play, that's how it ends. The game is over.  Others can talk about what a shame it was--I'll be on my way to the parking lot.

P.S. I'm even more surprised to hear that any umpire would decline to ring up the last out of any game that long after midnight!

My question would be this....what were the records of the teams playing?  I coached at Cooperstown...and according to the guy we took as an umpire, they know who is playing and who has (or doesn't) have a shot at advancing.  If these two teams were both 1-4 obviously not going to be a factor in the weekly tourney, I can see it happening there.  If one was 4-0 and the other 0-4....then I think he made a mistake in doing that.  Not that I agree with it...but with the huge disparity in talent levels at Cooperstown, I can see something like that happening once in a while

Even though at CDP you are *constantly* reminded that the game is for the players, if you knowingly make a bad/incorrect call because you didn't want to see a game end in a particular way, then they can remove you from the park. Imagine this guy packing his crap at 145AM because Lou sees the play and questions him on it and gets a similar answer?  

The fact that he admitted it is scary...  I can see saying, hey I had a bad angle, I got a bad look, the lights blinded me, I was asleep, I slipped on my pivot...  He's just fortunate that didn't bite him resulting in a longer game or a huge comeback because the pitcher melted down (they are U12 after all)...

Never......At some point along the umpire development path, the trained umpire understands that the goal of the umpire is to insure that the game is played within the rules and to report on the outcomes of the plays within the game.....

The umpire who contains himself to the decisions assigned to the umpires, whether or not this is legal or illegal, safe/out, ball/strike, fair/foul finds that his games usually are faster and less contested. I'm not saying that there will not ever be controversy, but the chances are more limited.

The umpire who inserts himself into the direction of the game by making calls based on outside influences deserves the abuse he gets.....calling a batter safe or out to make a game more fair or to avoid making a controversial play is asking for trouble...

As a trainer of umpires, my first admonition is to call what you see.....regardless of consequence or situation......

It occurs with poor umpires at lower levels of ball. Our LL didn't have a mercy rule. My team was up 15-1 after three innings. I removed all the best players from the game. The kids who normally split the game we're going to play the rest of the game. 

The umpire decided he was going to even up the game. The strike zone for my team's pitchers became the size of a pie plate. The game turned into a walk a thon with an occasional hard hit grooved pitch.  

My pitchers got so freaked out I had to put in my son for the last two innings. I told him just throw strikes and don't get flustered with the result. In two innings he allowed five of the seven walks that year. He gave up his only homer on a grooved pitch to an all star.

Final score: 19-15 in our favor. The umpire turned the game into ugly ball from hell. The next day I talked to the league UIC. I told him I've never got upset over mediocre LL umpires. I respect they're volunteering their time. But I never want to see that umpire again. He fixed a game. 

The other team steam rolled most teams right up until the semi finals...we were very low in the seeding, believe they went into it 6-0 and we were 2-4.

In turn, when my son was a high school soph he was at the plate with two outs, two runners on, down three runs. His team needed a win to advance to the playoffs. He singled in two to make it 6-5. Everyone in the park knew he was going to steal second. That is, everyone except the pitcher who coaxed him into a big lead with mediocre tosses before picking him off with his best move.

Sorry kid, season over, no playoffs. Better luck next year. This is how the game should be called.