Wed Nov 02, 2005, 07:03pm
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Official Forum Member
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 915
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Quote:
Originally posted by David Emerling
Quote:
Originally posted by gordon30307
Quote:
Originally posted by David Emerling
Quote:
Originally posted by gordon30307
Hi Dave:
Fortunately for me I've never been involved in a game where a controversey has occurred because of a lost count etc. Nor have I ever heard of this happening to any of my peers.
As to what fans think, I know that I generally have a 50% approval rating which I'm quite happy with. Actually I could give a "rats a**" what fans think. I'm not there to please them. Actually if I'm not noticed by anyone (except my fellow officials) I'm quite happy.
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I've umpired games where I've screwed it up before, and when it was brought to my attention, it was quickly rectified. No big deal. It's usually something simple like I forget to click over the indicator.
However, I've been in games (not as an umpire, but as a coach) where the count *was* screwed up. The umpire calls "Ball 3" and our side says, "Hey, that's ball FOUR!" The PU maintains that it's only 3. Our scorekeeper agrees that it was 4 while the other scorekeeper is understandably silent on the issue. When asked, the other scorekeeper simply shrugs his shoulders. So, we ask that the umpire ask his partner who, agrees with US. That's 4. Now the umpires are in disagreement. It's a mess.
This kind of stuff can happen with or without an indicator.
Yet, I maintain, it's better to screw it up WITH an indicator than WITHOUT.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
And I've seen this on several occasions.
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Hi Dave,
In the situation that you described above if your scorekeeper (I'm assuming that you're the home team) and his partner agreed it was ball four and he didn't award first base than he's knuckle head. This can happen with or without an indicator. I've had this happen to me and if my partner is positive (I always trust my partner) his count is correct I'll change the count and we play on. Hey it happens to everyone.
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Maybe you misunderstood the scenario.
Our team is at bat.
The next pitch is thrown.
PU calls it "Ball THREE!"
We maintain that it was ball FOUR. The batter should walk.
The opinion held by everybody was ...
Our team ... ball FOUR
Our scorekeeper ... ball FOUR
Their team ... [silence]
Their scorekeeper ... "Uh, I'm not sure."
PU ... ball THREE
BU ... ball FOUR
The bottom line is that the two umpires didn't agree.
It happens. The umpires worked it out and still got it wrong, but there's really nothing we could do about it.
It happens. And the point of my story is that I've seen this happen several times over the years. Quite frankly I never bothered to notice whether the PU was using an indicator or not but that's mostly because I didn't really care all that much about the situation. It wasn't like the game was on the line.
But *HAD* the game been on the line and it got screwed up ... at some point in the dispute I would be curious WHAT the umpire had on his indicator. If the answer is, "What indicator?" - I'm not too impressed.
What? You don't own one?
You don't think you NEED one? Apparently you DO!
To me, when things get screwed up (and I'll agree they can get screwed up with or without an indicator), it is just WORSE without an indicator.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
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I understood.
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