Quote:
Originally posted by LDUB
Coaches from A & B are both relentless about every single call. They even yell at me for calls that go their way. I call a batter from team B out on strikes. Manager of A yells to me "Thats not a strike, but we'll take it." Of course the pitch was a curve ball right down the middle, the catcher didn't even have to move his glove. So game goes on, A ends up blowing the game big time. They loose by 1 in the bottom of the 7th. So I give team B their game ball back, tell the manager good game, and I wish him good luck on his game in the finals. Go over to manager A. Give him the ball. Tell him good game and good luck in the third place game. While I said that I was reaching out to shake his hand. Then he says I'll shake your hand but I won't say good game, you were horrible, and you should go back to strike zone school. I just walk away. Little did he know that I was going to be calling the plate at his next game.
Next game C vs. D. Team C was very polite. The coaches and the players. Never once argued a call. Team D, their manager was on me about a few close plays at third. He would question my calls a lot, but not with the intensity that manager A had. Game ends, team C wins.
I walk back to the parking lot, and meet up with my partner, who had just gotten there. The last two games were two man. A few of the parents from team C tell me good game, and to not listen to manager D, because he always yells a lot in every game he coaces.
Next game the losers play for third place. D vs. A. Manager D comes up to me before the game, he had heard about what the parents said to me in the parking lot, I told him that I would not hold a grudge against him for arguing with me last game. He was fine the whole game.
Game is going along OK. Team D is at bat, R3 & R2. Ground ball to third. F2 steps foreward to about 6 inches off the plate up the third base line. F5 checks R3 and throws to first. BR is out. R3 is coming home on the play. Throw to the plate. R3 goes in standing up, but he had to tippy toe around the catcher. I go safe, obsturction ( I know that is not the prefered way to signal obstrucion, but that is how I did it.) All of a sudden, one of the coaches is up by me asking for an explanation, so I am explaining myself, I see my partner ejection someone out of the dugout. One of the coaches had said the call was bull$hit, I didn't hear it but my partner did.
Game ends. A loses by 11 or 12. I go to give the balls back to manager A, I toss him the ball, and say nice game, and stick out my hand to shake his. He refuses to shake my hand, he tells me about how bad a game I called, so I start to walk away, then he tells me about how bad a game my partner called, then he says that I know that both of us are terrible. I thought I had called a good game, I don't know where he was coming from. An assistant coach from both teams had come up to me durring the game and complimented me on my strike zone.
Next game B vs. C for the championship. I'm in the field, finally after 3 games at the plate. Third or fourth inning. Team B up to bat. R3, two out. I'm in C. Pickoff throw at third, R3 dives back, I bang him out. Of course manager B had a great view of the play from the first base dugout, so he asks me where the tag was. Inning and a half later. Team C up to bat. R1 & R3. I'm in B. Batter hits to outfield gap. R3 scores. I watch R1 touch second, and the BR touch first. Third base coach is waving R3 home, I watch him touch third running at full speed, then I swing my head back to see the cutoff man catch the ball in the outfield, just as the BR touches second. BR takes a step off second, and cutoff man fires to third. I'm thinking BR ain't going to third, why throw there? So I follow the ball, and I see F5 catch it. Just as F5 catches the ball (it was a head high throw), I see R1 diving back to third. He must have turned around after I saw him touch third. Another bang bang play. I call him safe. The play had caught me off guard, but I still managed to make the right call. Manager C runs out of dugout and goes up to plate umpire, he argues with him about my call, about 5 seconds later, he gets ejected. Game goes fine after that.
Well, I really don't know what the point of this post is. I have forgotten what I was replying to. Well it's been a long day. I better get to sleep soon.
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There isn't enough cheese to feed the rats you had.
You need to squelch the bad behavior with some ejections. Don't take this kind of crap when working alone.
I would've confronted the coach who said "that wasn't a strike but we'll take it." That guy needed to go, as did all of them.
I haven't worked alone in YEARS, but when I did, I didn't entertain the coaches with any arguing over calls. Not paying for 2 umpires removes their right, in my mind, to come out and "argue" anything. Come out and there's a good chance that you're getting tossed.
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