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Originally Posted by LomUmp
Hey all,
My guess is probably not much, unfortunately. Any questions, see Delmon Young, who threw a bat at, and hit around the shoulder and head area, an umpire while in the AAA level, The next year, IIRC, there he is, at the MLB level, having the last laugh, because he was promoted after sittimg out the majority of a year for an unexcusable act!
The only difference will be how the injury heals and how long it takes. Remember, in the general public's eye, umpires are ALWAYS the bad guy for enforcing rules keeping players in line, or whatever else.
LomUmp  |
We may be few and far between, but there are some of us who don't subscribe to that.
Hopefully, I will do a good job representing that part of the public here.
Is there anyone who knows what kind of representation, if any, umpires get on any level when it comes to rules committees, drafting of disciplinary codes, etc?? When it comes to the Delmon Young thing, I certainly felt (still do) that a lifetime banishment wouldn't have been too harsh. That guy purposefully and willfully threw (not flipped) that bat at the umpire. That demonstrates an intent to injure, and any situation like that should be given the ultimate punishment IMO.
However, I can also see the side of the argument in a situation like that that says one can only be punished by whatever rules are in place. And if there aren't any rules in place, someone has to make a decision that invariably isn't going to please everyone, and maybe not anyone. So how does Professional Baseball (because I'm almost positive amateur rules have these provisions) go about effecting necessary changes to the rules that will have clear/concise and stiff penalties for offenders, which would hopefully serve as deterrants to future violations? What participation do umpires have at that level? Or is it just one of the conditions of the job that umpires enforce the rules, without having an opportunity to be part of the process?
Seems that if all parties (Club, Player, Umpire) can get together at a rational level and hammer out guidelines that are reasonable enough for all 3 sides, that would go a long way to hopefully eliminating this mess that they're in now.