Quote:
Originally posted by Rich Ives
There's a difference between a coach that knows the rules and knows an ump may not (hands/bat in your example) because he will back off when called on it because he knows the ump is right. See, the sly coach knows when he's bluffing and will stop, and he won't try it with you again (and probably won't try other rule manipulations either). It's a test of how to deal with the umpire.
Contrast this with the coach that doesn't know who goes balistic when the ump says the hands ARE NOT part of the bat and ends up getting himself tossed, suspended,losing his protest/fee, and losing several hours sleep so he can find the rule and PROVE you were wrong. Then next game he's in he'll insist that a ball that hits the plate is foul and start the cycle again.
I think you, as an umpire, will quickly figure out who is which too. Who would you rather do a game for?
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As an assignor for many years who had to deal with dozens of protests, (assignors are often asked to gather the evidence from the umpires) I never had a coach protest a game or get himself tossed over "the hands are part of the bat". (Correction: I understand that the other coach of the kid that got hit in my story was tossed when objecting to the umpires putting the kid back in the box with a strike.)
I have met many coaches who claimed that the hands were part of the bat. I don't know any who actually believed this, however. The older I get, the more I beleive that it's only umpires and fans who beleive the dozens of baseball rules myths that are out there. Coaches are too smart for this.
Peter