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Originally posted by His High Holiness
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All;
It is things like this that separate the good umpires from the also-rans (Ok Tee, good umpires from LL umpires.)
It is threads like this that help the reader identify the authoritative sources from the wannabes.
The new umpire should study this thread closely and the responses. Clues abound about what kind of umpires are behind these posts.
Look at Windy's response, or David's response, or Jiceone's response. It is clear that these three posters have a clue about the thin ice that they are on in this situation.
Let us look at the politics for a minute:
The umpire blew a rule. Blowing rules end umpire careers. Recently, I told of how an umpire called a dead ball balk in a tournament game and two umpires on the crew had their careers sidelined. Yet, stupid posters here (probably LL) continued to insist that one could have a balk on a dead ball. In our situation, we have an umpire who has blown a rule. The absolute last thing in the world that he should do is call unwanted attention to his mistake. Tossing the coach at the plate conference will certainly call the attention of his assignor to his mistake. Very STUPID move. It is simply irrelevant that the ejection is justified. If you want to be right and derail your career, go ahead. I'd rather be wrong and get promoted.
I don't know if David and Jiceone were thinking of this when they wrote their responses, but it appears that their instincts are valuable umpire instincts. If you do not have them, you need to develop them unless you want to stay in kiddie ball.
No one can call me a wimp or one who tries to sidestep ejections. I wrote a series of articles on "Creative Ejections" where I instructed umpires on how to plan ejections. That is a radically aggressive approach. I average one ejection in every 8-10 games and have for years. But like one poster wrote, I want to eject them on my terms. The absolute last thing that I want to do is eject someone after I blow a rule. That is stupid beyond belief. I might as well retire from umpiring at the end of the game because my career will be permanently derailed.
So, what do you do? From the post, it is simply unclear as to whether the coach knew that the base umpire was the one who blew the call the previous night. However, once again, do not eject him even if you know for sure that he knows it was you. (From experience, my personal belief is that the coach does not know.) There are a number of ways to handle it:
1. After the coach makes his a$$hole remark say: "Yes coach, I blew the rule last night" and laugh it off. His reaction will dictate how you handle it. More than likely, he will apologize profusely and behave the rest of the night. You have acknowledged your mistake and cleared the air.
2. Do nothing, but look for an excuse to eject him later in the game. If he knew who you were and you do not react, it is guaranteed that he will test you again. Get him then. You can afford to be patient.
3. See him after the plate conference and apologize for your error. That way, neither of you is embarrassed in front of the other coach or other umpire. He will almost certainly apologize for his remark.
One way or another, this error must be acknowledged or your credibility is permanently tarnished. Never apologize for a judgement error but you must always acknowledge a rules error. The Internet umpire boards are full of idiots who cannot acknowledge that they are wrong. Few respect them here. This is a fatal flaw in umpiring. The coaches won't respect you, nor will your fellow umpires.
Peter
[Edited by His High Holiness on Aug 4th, 2004 at 02:13 PM]
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Excellent writing, Peter. And for free, too.
A personal example you may be able to identify with. Many years ago,(emphasis on "many") I was working a conference games California. I blew a call at first. Skipper headed my way with a grim determined look on his face. He lit into me.
I let him go on for a while and then put my hand up about chest level, not in his face, and said quietly, "I'm sorry Skip. I effed that call. You saw it right, I called it wrong. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it now except guarantee you I will bear down and work my *** off for you the rest of the game."
He just stared for a second. Then he said, "I came out here ready to be run. Thank you." And he walked back to his dugout.
Later in the game I had a real honest to God, who the hell knows banger at first that went against him. He never said a word.