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Warren, I didn't mean to imply that an umpire would cheat on his responsibility. But I've encountered too many who don't know the rules. I don't know if I'd want to trust their ability to judge whether it's a rule violation or a judgement call.
The participants on this, and the other boards are experienced folks who know what's going on. I'd be happy to have any of them umpire one of my games. But because you are experienced, and generally do higher level games, you lose sight of those of us at the lower levels. We're in a different world.
My experience is pretty much centered around LL age leagues, tournamants, etc. I've seen a LOT of protestable calls. I only actually protested one 'cause it was so idiotic (Ol Smitty called "That's four fouls, you're out" - guess who won that one.) I've had an association ump call a foul ball on a ball hitting third base and then tell me "sorry, I was thinking of the high school rule." I've had runners called out for leaving too soon. I had another association ump tell me I had to remove a pitcher instead of moving him to another position. I've had IFs denied because the ball came down on camped infielders who hapened to be a couple of feet onto the outfield grass. I've had runners called out for running out of the baseline when the nearest fielder didn't even have the ball etc. etc. etc.
I'd hate to have one of these guys get the idea that they could/should/must deny a protest.
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