[SanDiegoSteve]

Tuss,

If this guy is terrible, your assignor needs to know. If you explain it to him from a knowledgable standpoint, explain your knowledge of positioning, appearance, mechanics, etc., then he should respect your opinion of ol' Smitty. You sure can't tell these old timers anything knew, they'll just blow you off and tell you that's the way they do it and that's that.

You have every right to scratch this dude off your assignment roster. I've scratched a few over the years, and a few people had me scratched as well. Sometimes it's just a matter of personality clashes, and other times it's a crappy partner. But you've been around long enough to have enough pull as to get rid of an undesirable partner. Hopefully, he will get enough complaints from other umpires to where someone will sit him down and straighten a few things out.