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Tonight I had two situations where I considered ejecting a coach, but I held back -- one because I wasn't sure I heard what I thought I heard and the other because the comment was directed at my partner and I'm sure he heard it and did nothing.
In the first case, I had a tough call at third. R1 stole second and the throw from the catcher squirted into CF. The runner was slow getting to his feet but still tried to go to third anyway. The throw from F4 in CF was dead on and reached F5 as the runner reached third. The runner started his slide early and kicked up a cloud of dust. The bag was invisible in the dust, but F5 clearly tagged the runner and did so before he reached where I judged the bag to be. I called him out and the base coach yelled a few comments like "c'mon."
A few innings later, R1 tried to stretch to third on a base hit even though his base coach was giving him the stop sign. The thow came in and he was tagged out. It was close, but he was clearly out.
At that point the base coach said "Get one right will you?" Or at least that's what I thought he said. The problem is that I don't know for sure. It was said quietly and I didn't hear clearly. He could have been berating his runner for running through the stop.
In the second case, it was late in the game with two out. When the plate ump called a strike three on the bottom outside corner, the third base coach (of the other team, not the guy from the first scenario) called to his batter, "that's okay, he just wants to go home early."
If he had said that to me, I'd have dumped him right away. But my partner just glanced down the third base line and turned away.
So here's the questions...
In the first case, how certain should I be about a quiet comment before I eject a coach?
In the second case, did I do the right thing? Since the comment was directed at my partner and he didn't toss him, was I right in letting it go as well?
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