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Agree, Wade. If it's a few minor points, or going over some coverages and positioning, I'll make every attempt to go over it with my partner.
But, sometimes, I get stuck with somebody so totally clueless that I just try to compensate for him the best I can and hope that I never see the guy again!
The guy I mentioned above was an example. It quickly became obvious that he had zero idea of the basic field positions for the base umpire- either where to set-up before the play or where to go once the ball was hit. Pretty much just totally random positioning and movement.
His attire on the bases was an UNTUCKED shirt with a BALL BAG worn on a thin ELASTIC BELT on the OUTSIDE of the shirt, so that the shirt was cinched at the waist and the untucked end bloused out like a TUNIC.
One time I had to go to him on a checked swing appeal. He was so engrossed in a conversation with the first base coach that he didn't even realize I was asking him. I repeated myself, he glanced up and SHRUGGED HIS SHOULDERS!
When we flopped positions for the next game, he wore his shin guards on the OUTSIDE of his pants. His signaling and his strike zone were about as random as his field positioning.
Where would you even start? This guy needed a basic "Umpiring 101" clinic far beyond anything I could give him in a few short minutes.
As for anybody dinging me for my partners ineptitude, I let the guy who assigned him know what was up. I'll be darned if I'm going to take the fall because somebody else assigned an umpire that had no business being on the field for games at that level.
We had a couple more games scheduled together, which I wasn't looking forward to. When there was a shortage of umpires on one field, I quickly volunteered to go cover the other field solo!
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