[PeteBooth]

First things first "mens League" - Enough said.

Have some feed-back with your assignor as to why he felt you should not have tossed the guy.

As far as EJ's go you will get a variety of answers as you have seen.

We are all from different parts of the country and have our own experiences in umpiring mens leagues games.

I have in mens league games "sent messages" however, that would be difficult to do in your case since the batter already K'd and IMO a message should be sent "right away" not some-time later on.

Example:

F1 had a mean hook this particular day and fooled B1. I called strike 2. After that B1 proceeded to draw a line around the plate and said he would need a tree trunk to hit that pitch.

F2 noticing that I did not toss B1 used his head. He set-up some 5-6 inches off the outside edge where F1 threw it. I rang up strike 3 and ALL knew what I had done.

I kept B1 in the game but also by my actions TOLD EVERYONE I will tolerate such nonsense.

The next time B1 came up he said "Blue can we start over" which I said Yes

However, that "message" was sent "right away"

Your OP is different. If only you, F2 and the batter heard the F Bomb I might be inclined to "let it go" however, if others heard it as well, then to keep control over the game (Men's leagues are notorious for getting out of control at the drop of a hat) he is gone.

It boils down to what you as an umpire tolerate and also the kind of league you are dealing with. As mentioned we are all from different parts of the county and what works in Montana might not necsssarily work in NY. As far as your assignor goes as mentioned above I would ask him why he thought the batter should not have been tossed.

Pete Booth