Quote:
Originally posted by DownTownTonyBrown
So here is the question. I've seen umpires that I know make the EXPECTED calls... either because they want to make the fans and coaches and possibly the players happy or because they don't make the effort to really see what happens (generally they are lazy umpires). I look back at both of these calls and know I could have just as well made the expected call, probably not effected the overall outcome of the game (maybe), and not taken any heat from either coach or any of the fans.
Nobody would have come to me after the game and said that I made the right call. Coaches would have been happy and I would likely get a call for state tournament assignments. Now??? maybe not.
But I wouldn't have felt good about intentionally making a wrong call, or intentionally being lazy and not seeing the correct call.
What is the umpire's job? Which is the right call, the one that leads to the less controversy and pleases the most people, or the right call according to what the umpire sees - which can obviously be influenced by the amount of effort the umpire puts into getting the correct call?
Surely some of you have had similar experiences - these were not my first controversial calls. But, what say you about your experiences and the umpire's responsibility?
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If you honestly felt you made the right call and it seems like you saw the play develop reasonably well than you made the right call and that's the end of it. I wouldn't question how a play looks to fans or coaches too much, especially at the plate. Our job is to get it right. There are schools of thought that you should reward the defense, or the offense, on close plays depending on how the play developed. Some of these arguments are valid. All things being equal, however, you "gotta call what ya see."
BP