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Umpire at North Forney / Royse City Game

C Catcherz_Dad100+ posts

I'm posting this in hopes that this umpire reads this board or in some way gets word of this posting.

 

The plate umpire at the North Forney v. Royse City contest on Monday night, the 18th, should be ashamed of himself and the pathetic act that he put on.  In the bottom of the 1st inning, Royse City was at the plate when the ump requested more baseballs.  The on deck batter got two balls from the dugout and tossed the first one in the direction of the ump.  With the ball in mid-air, the ump yelled at the on deck batter to bring him the balls.  The ball that had already been tossed landed four feet or so in front of the plate ump and he [the ump] proceeded to kick the ball back to the on deck batter.  Now when I say kick, I mean that he wound up and gave this kick some effort.  He missed kicking the ball square and it went off the inside of his foot, hitting the batter that was in the right hand batter's box. 

 

Fortunate for all, no one was hurt in this exchange. 

 

Sir, if you are reading this.  Please don't exert your miserable existence on the playing field and in front of these young men.  You do yourself or your profession no favors when you choose to act like an a**. 

 

The game and the athletes deserve better than what they were given this night.  If this gentleman is associated with any of the TASO Chapters that frequent this board, please visit with him and demand that he not display such poor etiquette and disgust for the game.  I know it's probably only a paycheck to him, but it's so much more to those that are playing for free. 

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C Catcherz_Dad100+ posts
Originally Posted by trojan-skipper:

For every jack-wagon like this I've had the pleasure to work with about 30 really good guys who like to suit up and get on the field.... but, yeah, those other ones are out there...

I agree with you 100%.  That's what gets my ire up so much when I cross guys like this.  The good ones by far outweigh the bad.  I typically wouldn't bring something like this to light, but someone will read this that knows this gentleman and hopefully they can convince him to cross back over to being one of the good ones.  Honestly, I wouldn't know the guy's face if he walked in to my office right now.  That being said, he has a chance to change his ways and make another first impression on me.

TX-Ump74TX-Ump74100+ posts

OK... I am not condoning his actions as they were unprofessional.

 

HS and below are the only levels where people think tossing balls to the umpire or tossing them around the plate between innings is ok. This is an unacceptable practice and as an umpire I do expect that whoever is coming out to give me the baseballs, hands them to me vs. tossing them at me. If I jester to toss to me them fine but never assume ti is acceptable to toss them out around the plate between innings. It is disrespectful to just toss the baseballs out around the plate area and expect the umpire/me to go fetch. We are not dogs and we don't play fetch. We generally work hard behind the dish and I don't get a break between innings so why can't one of the 15-18 yr olds on the bench trot out and hand me the baseballs.  I refuse to pick up baseballs thrown out between innings; I usually just ask the catcher or batter to grab them. I then again ask that they are handed to me and not just tossed out  This guy should have not kicked them back but explained that they needed to bring them out to him. This can generally be resolved at the plate meeting by just asking the coaches not to just toss them out.

 

It is like water for the umpires... what does it take for a home team offer up water between innings to the umpires so they don't have to go looking for it in the dugout or in a bottle they bring on the field. Pretty simple...

 

C Catcherz_Dad100+ posts
Originally Posted by TX-Ump74:

OK... I am not condoning his actions as they were unprofessional.

 

HS and below are the only levels where people think tossing balls to the umpire or tossing them around the plate between innings is ok. This is an unacceptable practice and as an umpire I do expect that whoever is coming out to give me the baseballs, hands them to me vs. tossing them at me. If I jester to toss to me them fine but never assume ti is acceptable to toss them out around the plate between innings. It is disrespectful to just toss the baseballs out around the plate area and expect the umpire/me to go fetch. We are not dogs and we don't play fetch. We generally work hard behind the dish and I don't get a break between innings so why can't one of the 15-18 yr olds on the bench trot out and hand me the baseballs.  I refuse to pick up baseballs thrown out between innings; I usually just ask the catcher or batter to grab them. I then again ask that they are handed to me and not just tossed out  This guy should have not kicked them back but explained that they needed to bring them out to him. This can generally be resolved at the plate meeting by just asking the coaches not to just toss them out.

 

It is like water for the umpires... what does it take for a home team offer up water between innings to the umpires so they don't have to go looking for it in the dugout or in a bottle they bring on the field. Pretty simple...

 

It doesn't matter, TX-Ump. He screwed up. Work on changing etiquette at another time. 

Soylent GreenSoylent Green1,000+ posts

Definitely sounds like an ump who was more focused on himself than on the game and I don't doubt your account of what happened. I agree that hopefully he gets the message and conducts himself more properly in the future... we need more good umps.

 

On the other hand, until you've donned the gear and stepped behind the plate to run a baseball game... we should be hessitant to cast too much judgement in the direction of any ump.  (And if you HAVE umped at higher levels, you will tend to be very slow to be critical to umps.)  It's a tough job and should be respected as such.  Players need to understand (and they do as they continue playing at higher levels) that you do certain things to accomodate the ump: hustle to pick up foul balls when you're on deck, get some water out between innings, NOT pop off or react to ball/strike calls as a hitter or pitcher.  And, yes, hand incoming balls to the ump rather than toss them in his general direction. 

 

This guy trying to kick the ball back at the player to demonstrate the point is clearly weak soup for any ump... and you are right to call it into question.  But at the same time... players need to show umps the respect of trotting incoming balls out to him in a respectful fashion.  I'm sure this player didn't intend to be disrespectful, but it's a good lesson for players at HS level to know that they need to trot incoming balls to the ump and not just toss em.

C Catcherz_Dad100+ posts
Originally Posted by Soylent Green:

Definitely sounds like an ump who was more focused on himself than on the game and I don't doubt your account of what happened. I agree that hopefully he gets the message and conducts himself more properly in the future... we need more good umps.

 

On the other hand, until you've donned the gear and stepped behind the plate to run a baseball game... we should be hessitant to cast too much judgement in the direction of any ump.  (And if you HAVE umped at higher levels, you will tend to be very slow to be critical to umps.)  It's a tough job and should be respected as such.  Players need to understand (and they do as they continue playing at higher levels) that you do certain things to accomodate the ump: hustle to pick up foul balls when you're on deck, get some water out between innings, NOT pop off or react to ball/strike calls as a hitter or pitcher.  And, yes, hand incoming balls to the ump rather than toss them in his general direction. 

 

This guy trying to kick the ball back at the player to demonstrate the point is clearly weak soup for any ump... and you are right to call it into question.  But at the same time... players need to show umps the respect of trotting incoming balls out to him in a respectful fashion.  I'm sure this player didn't intend to be disrespectful, but it's a good lesson for players at HS level to know that they need to trot incoming balls to the ump and not just toss em.

Everything you said is spot on.  Unfortunately, however, this ump had a chance to change things for the better and instead he made a black mark on his profession. 

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