I agree that I would not wait for someone to leaf through the book, but if I made a call and a coach who I knew had strong rules knowledge told me that I had it wrong and could show me the reference where it was wrong immediately, then I woudl reverse it. If they simply disagreed with me, I would tell them my understanding of the rule and that would be the end of it. (The latter example is of course the way it goes 99% of the time)
I am actually lucky in that our league does not have the animosity in it that most LL organizations seem to be filled with. Most of the coaches are also umpires and we all know each other very well so we simply do not run into a lot of the issues that you guys seem to.
The other day I had a player swinging the bat back after he had hit the ball and hitting the catcher with it and I warned him that if he did it again, I would call him out. The coach piped up and said that he would not be out, but would rather be ejected and he was right. I told him, "you know what, you're right" and we went from there.
While I understand that HS and NCAA umpires and coaches are in a very different position and have significantly greater pressure on them than I do in LL, I sometimes wonder if they forget that the game is for the kids and not for the adults. In the right environment, having some help and making sure you get the call right is the best way to go.
Now, all of that having been said, I will be doing a Memorial Day tournament in a couple of weeks and will be using a different approach there. Something tells me that it won't be all peaches and cream.
