[UmpJM]

Originally posted by jicecone

I don't mean this sarcasticly however, IMO, when players and coaches use the word "bad" or as so commonly used now "horrible", I take that as meaning the call didn't go their way.

Now the other team may truly believe that it was a "good call".

I think "Correct or incorrect call" is more appropriate.

jicecone,

I am not being sarcastic either - honestly.

I think a "bad call" is when the umpire(s) did not see what actually happened and make their ruling on the basis of that faulty perception.

Now, I've been coaching long enough to realize that perception is affected by experience, and, to an even greater degree, bias. (Reference: G.W.F. Hegel, "Phenomenology of Mind")

That is, my perception of what actually happened is affected by my desire that my team do well. In general, the umpire's perception is going to be more accurate than mine, all else being equal, especially on "close calls".

I have (perhaps grudgingly) come to hold the opinion that "umpire judgement" is an essential element of the game of baseball. I try to teach this to my players (whose perception is even more suspect than my own in many cases).

That is, under the rules of baseball, it doesn't really matter what they saw happen or what I saw happen - it only matters what the umpire saw happen. It says that right in the rules!

Besides, usually the umpires are the only people at the game who really don't care one way or another who wins the game - the players care, the coaches care, the fans care - the umpires don't. Therefore, their perception, all things being equal, is likely to be the most accurate of anyone at the game. (I've developed a sneaking suspicion that some umpires may have certain subtle biases - say towards an "out" over a "safe" or a "strike" over a "ball" - but not at the expense of one team or in favor of the other. But we'll save that discussion for another thread.)

Now I was probably a little hasty in characterizing tjones1's ruling a "bad call" - it's entirely possible that his perception that the ball did not hit the bat was accurate.

However, when my perception of what happened matches the opposing coach's perception, and the umpire saw something different, I'm reasonably confident he didn't see what really happened.

For example, in a game last Saturday when I was coaching, the opposing team's batter was called out despite the fact that he clearly beat the throw to 1B. That's what I saw ( and I wanted the runner to be out), that's what the opposing team's 1B coach saw. To me, that was a "bad call".

In my mind, an "incorrect call" is when the umpire misapplies the rules in making a call based on his judgement of what happened. I find that thinking of it this way helps me approach the "discussion" with the umpire in the proper frame of mind when I request "time" to appeal (and, possibly, protest) his ruling. It wasn't a terrible call; it wasn't the most ridiculous call I've ever seen; it was simply "incorrect" (at least I believe it was). Hey, everybody makes mistakes. I do. Maybe the umpire did in this case.

So, that's how I think of it.

JM