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Let me set the stage and then get input.
LL Majors - my BU is 14 y/o Babe Ruth kid. Im PU
Team Red appealed to me _twice_ for R leaving early from 3B on a passed ball - both times the BU is on one knee in C looking at and picking at the grass... generally disinterested - certainly not watching my play at home. Both times the runner was safe at fairly close plays at home. On one appeal I literally had to call out to him to get his attention for opinion on the R leaving 3B early.
I went to the GD stance with people on base just to be able to watch the bases a little closer. I kept talking to the BU between innings trying to work on his mechanics. The Red coach is of course irate at the BU and threatening to protest, etc. The kid who knows these guys kept telling me the coach was an A$$hole, etc. He never changed his less than fully engaged style. Two other plays on 2B steals he called team red out on very close plays. I cant say for sure that they were out or safe, but my feeling was they were safe.
Team Red is losing 9-0 by now because of bats (not BU's calls IMO). But you can get a sense of the flavor of the game and Team Reds attitude, and I myself was embarrassed at my BU's work ethic.
OK Red at bat - BR hits to F6 who makes a decent play but bobbled the ball a little - I was watching closely and in good position - BR was safe. BU in A calls him out. Red coach and their stands go ballistic and coach appeals to me. I tell him you cant appeal to me on a call at 1B like that, he needed to take it to the BU.
Red Coach appeals to BU and the BU signals for me to rule on the appeal... I call out the runner (which of course pisses team black off). The conversation with black coach went something like Me: "Look coach, you were right there (1B base coach), you know he was out" Him: "I dont care, you only should over turn it on a pulled foot or something like that". That told me he even knew it was a bad call but was not happy with the overturn itself.
Anyway, I've never overruled my BU before, but I really felt like allowing the BU, who hadnt done his job to my satisfaction to this point and obviously did not like the red coach, to screw team red again when they are getting crushed was wrong. In a way I agreed with the black coach that I should not have done it, but my attitude was based on the whole game - normally, I would have sided with the BU even if I knew he was wrong.
Between the innings the BU tells me he thinks the out was a good call and I tell him that if he stands by his call, simply dont grant the coach appeal.
Thoughts on how I dealt with this please.
[Edited by wadeintothem on Jun 2nd, 2004 at 09:45 AM]
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