[GarthB]

Originally posted by Carl Childress

I’m posting this against my better judgment. I want it clearly understood from the outset that I will not respond to any posts growing out my message.

I’m not defending the actions of the assistant coach. Instead, I want to focus for a moment on the advice given him by several respected members of this Board.

Instead of pointing out specific statements from individual umpires, I want to explain a little about my philosophy of handing a game played by amateurs. It’s what I do, it’s what I teach, and it’s what I recommend you do.

1. For the most part those of us who post to this Board are not full-time, professional officials. High school and college head coaches, on the other hand, make their living in baseball. We should recognize that fact in our dealings with them. Part of their duty is to defend their players, their school, their fans. Assistant coaches are also professionals, at least in Texas. They’re college graduates, they have teaching credentials, they are entitled to respect by virtue of their positions in the community. They are educators, not “rats.” Most of those posting in this thread are, strangely enough, enforcing a Little League rule, one that forbids assistants from coming out to discuss a play. But there is no comparable rule in either the NFHS or NCAA. Of course, we don’t allow two coaches on the field a one time. But if I make a dicey call on a play at first, (“He’s out. He’s out on the tag!”), and the assistant wants to find out what I saw, or argue that I saw it wrong, he’s entitled by the traditions of baseball to do so. It’s silly to say: “Get out of my face. I only talk to head coaches.” The head coach is all the way across the diamond. If he had rushed over to talk about the close tag play, some of the umpires on this Board would have said: “Get out of my face. From where you were, you couldn’t possibly see what happened.” Pretty good mechanics, huh? For one reason or another, I don’t have to discuss my call with anybody on defense.

2. In my association (109 members this year) a standard practice is: When the base umpire moves from A to B, he calls time at an appropriate moment and kicks the dirt off the pitcher’s plate. Several proposed actions in this thread, espoused as they were by amateur umpires, astonished me. But failing to clean the pitcher’s plate is at the top of the “surprise” list. I cannot think of any reason why an umpire wouldn’t do that. How does that detract from umpire dignity? When a catcher asks me if I would clean home plate, I am only too eager to comply. I ignore the fans – always. But coaches? Batters? Catchers? Likewise, a first-base coach says, “Carl, I can’t see the rubber.” “Time!” say I — and I clean that rubber. It’s simply the courteous thing to do. How long did it take? Why unnecessarily give the coach reason to complain? Umpires should not demand respect; they should earn it. Arrogance has no place on the amateur diamond.

3. My mother was fond of this saying from the Book of Proverbs in the Christian bible: “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” It requires but a moment of the umpire’s time for him to listen courteously to the coach — any coach. Those of you who are newcomers: If you want to succeed as a human being as well as an umpire, take the chips off your shoulders. React to repeated infractions; don’t overreact the first time a coach screws up — or you perceive he’s screwed up.

I remember how, in the good old days on UT and then UT2, Carl used to say that he was a terrible base umpire. I used to think he was being modest. Today, however, I see that he was being honest.