[QUOTE=TussAgee11]Let me take care of some house keeping first:
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To Pete Booth
Most of them are totally relaxed, having been around baseball most of their lives, at levels a lot more important than an over 30 league. They, on the whole, don't flip a s*** when something doesn't go their way.
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From the original OP
Quote:
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former R1, at top of his lungs, viciously, ready to pop a vain, as loud as possible, looking right at me, now somewhere between 5 and 10 feet away (and when I say screaming, I mean, SCREAMING): HE WAS OFF THE BAG!
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So they do not flip a switch huh?
I do not care where you umpire, mens adult leagues are MENS ADULT LEAGUES and you have your fair share of head cases.
You would not see this at the Collegiate, HS varsity or Legion level.
If a player did scream like you mentioned above behind my back at a HS Varsity or Legion Game my next statement would be
"skip we have a substitution correct"
and the Problem would be solved.
The aforementioned technique DOES NOT work in a Cry Baby League such as an adult mens league game.
As you continue to umpire for this so called "calm league" you will encounter more and more of these type problems.
Game management skills used at a College, HS Varsity or Legion level game simply do not work when it comes to rec league type games such as the mens adult leagues. They are lax in dealing out punishments etc.
I agree with Ozzy. You should not have engaged the player PERIOD. Simply walk away and as long as the player is not acting like a lounatic it's time to play ball. As soon as he "took it a step further" by screaming it's time to go.
If you did not engage the player in the first place would the incident have escalated as it did - we do not know but as mentioned it does not surprise me when it comes to mens adult leagues and NO it is not just in my area.
Pete Booth