Question regarding approaching umpire

Aside from each managing organization may have its own unique rules a tournament may have its own unique rules. As a coach it’s on you to know your rule book and exceptions created by individual tournaments.

Never pull a rule book out on an umpire. But you can make him think if you can refer to specific sections on important rules. 

I coached ASA 18u Gold years ago. My daughter is turning 32 this summer. I coached USSSA baseball through 16u. My son just turned 27.

The only time I yelled out to my kid’s high school coaches was when I knew what section to refer for a dispute with an umpire. My son’s baseball coach knew his baseball. He didn’t know the rule book. 

If you've coached a long time, you know that the proper move is to ask for and get a time out granted and then to ask for an appeal specifically to see if the plate ump had the foot off the bag.  There is no basis in arguing with the base ump - he called what he saw (biased or not).  Your only angle can be the appeal.  End of the inning can be tricky.  You gotta get out there right away.  If you did that, then you are within your rights, but again, you need to take the proper steps.  If the base ump tries to chase you off, ask who is the ump in charge and explain what your intended process is and again, ask for the appeal.

I know it ain't easy... as head coaches, we are typically competitive and naturally want to stand for our team.  We are emotionally engaged.  We are also the only ones with the right to step out onto the field in these situations.  My suggestion is to learn to be the HC with the reputation of always coming out for the right reasons, with a controlled demeanor and with the right course of action.  I have learned that it can earn far more frequent and objective appeal opportunities than being the guy that just flies off the handle emotionally... not that there haven't been times.

Keep the "too friendly with the ump" thought process out of the equation.  You've probably learned over time that it is a very small world.  You'll keep coming up against the same coaches and umpires.  Some will keep things formal and separate friendships, others will be more open and casual about it.  If something becomes too blatant, you take that up with supervisors and/or ask that that umpire not be assigned to any of your future games.  Have specific reasons.  If your argument has merit, you won't be the only one to have complained and your request will be granted.  I would also suggest a slightly different approach than "how about a call for my girls".  Always have the mentality that you are only looking for the right call.  Make-up calls will happen, but rarely when you are asking for them or looking for them.

Keep at it!

I've calmed down over the years. Used to see some awful calls by awful Umps, and would go off(as a coach). I finally learned a couple of things.

1- you are not going to get them to change their call. Best thing to do is to have a cordial, respectful, QUIET conversation between innings about the rule in general. You MIGHT get a call down the road.

2- Any implication that the Ump is biased is not going to get your team any calls, especially if your accusation is loud and public.  A good ump will just ignore you and carry on. A lesser one will make you and your team pay if they can. 

  I finally got to the point where I really appreciated a good ump, and made sure to let them know it after the game. We have too few of them in the game. They don't get paid enough to put up with conditions that come with the job.

Re being friendly with umpires ...

Coach a few years, see the same umpires repeatedly and you will be friendly with them. I was on a first name basis with many umpires as a travel coach and parent to umpire before and after high school games. I don’t believe being conversational with umpires over the years ever got me a call. Being courteous got me respectful responses in our disagreements.

Sounds like you did everything right.  Didn't yell or put on a show.  Never heard time out needing to be called when the ball is not in play.  Could be a tournament specific rule (but I doubt it).  I love my brothers in blue, but sometimes you get a guy with a short fuse.  It is a small fraternity - so even though the ump may be in the wrong - you will almost never get the UIC to publicly agree with you.  With that said, your complaint was heard - and the UIC will have that knowledge when assigning future games.   There were times I was even called for my opinion on a partner / situation by the UIC after there were complaints.   

It is no excuse, but sometimes the umps are just exhausted.   It is no secret that our numbers are dwindling.  Those that remain are getting older.   There are times I have done 3 - 4 games back to back on the turf in 90+ degree heat.  Yes I know you southerners think 90 is easy - but in the northeast 90 is sweltering.  There will be those that will be out of position as the day goes on - you lose a step or two or 10.   There will also be those that make a call just to get the game over quickly.  Not saying it is right - but it happens.  I have also received direction from the TD to make sure games stay on schedule.  

It could be a combination of all of the above - and even a carry over situation from the prior game the ump didn't let go of.   None of this makes the conduct you described acceptable.  But as someone mentioned - a kind word when you see an ump do a good job goes a long way.  It is even more meaningful when it comes from the losing side.

In a perfect world, the ump you get would be top quality.  But in reality what you get are umps that have free time and need the 35-55 per game (depending on level of pay) willing to stand in the sun and get yelled at by 1/2 the fans for every close call they make.   

There are very few of us that umpire because we enjoy the game.  This is especially true at the youth levels.  Just keep doing what you are doing - understanding that there are going to be good and bad days.  When you do come across a bad apple - let the UIC and TD know.   None of us want to work with that partner.

I have not been coach as long as some of the members on this board. I did have the opportunity to be an assistant coach behind a gentleman that had been coaching for close to 40 years. He had a simple process that he would use about 90% of the time, he had said, that over the years he had the most success using this approach. Whenever discussing with a base umpire he would go out and ask the umpire politely what he saw, not what he himself saw. Once the umpire describer the situation/play, “Throw was made to first, ball was caught before the runner crossed the bag”. The coach would ask some clarifying questions, were you able to see if the first basemen’s foot was still on the bag? If the umpire would say yes or no, he would request if the field Ump would check with the plate ump, in case he saw something different or had a different angle on the play. Whether the call was overturned or not, he would thank the umpire and move on. He had said, that after an encounter like this, he would get more close plays going his way (especially if the other coach was a hot head), and would be able to approach the umps to question just about anything. I had only seen him rise his voice or jump on an ump once. That was only due to a dirty play by another team that caused an injury to one of his players, the other player should have been removed from the tournament for their actions, and was not.

I'll vouch for it's a lot better to start a conversation with "can you tell me what you saw" than many other means to start a conversation... 

w/r/t calling timeout - it's a gray area especially at the end of an inning, but there's no harm in calling time - it alerts the umpires and players that you have something that needs to be clarified. Umpires are generally taught to be aware of this in inning and game ending situations. Good pre-game prep will have non verbal signals to alert whether one has information to help the other.  For instance, dropped 3rd string - field umpires can use an open/closed fist to indicate catch or not.... 

No matter how politely you "tell the field ump hey many give my girls a call, too." - that doesn't seem to be a quiet or respectful conversation between 2 individuals...  Was it really just 2 calls?  If I were on the field that would seem to be a warning sign that a coach perhaps has more than just a problem with more than 1 or 2 of my calls. I generally know when something was close or missed and certainly doesn't help any coach's future cause to have them say something loud enough for more than just us to hear. I know what the message is, but the delivery is key.

When it comes to bangers - not much you can do - it's a judgement. The best you can hope for here is something like the pulled foot where angle doesn't help and your partner can give you information to change your judgement.

You noted "pretty clear" - hard to know without being there. Rotate your eyes/brain to the position/view the umpire had - do that in less than 1 second and think was it really that clear. What else was going on. Sometimes you just make a call too quick, you know you were wrong, but you're stuck with it. Sometimes something blocked you out. I had a strange one this year on a deep fly ball hit to the LCF gap (fading daylight too) where a "possible" catch occurs right as a runner's action out of the corner of my eye after rounding 2B caused my focus to adjust for a split second and I lost sight of the ball (yikes).  You're taught your #1 job is the catch, but you know there's the base touch, possible obstruction, possible other "crap" that can happen that just occurs at the right moment. As a coach you'd be watching catch/no-catch and it'd be clear to you, but less clear to the slightly distracted field umpire. Likewise a coach could see a clear obstruction, but my eyes are focused to see the clear catch. 

I can understand an ump wanting time to be called if he has a coach holding up play by wanting to come out and question calls. They have a schedule to keep. We also forget how many times they get hit by errant pitches or foul tips.