Quote:
Originally Posted by billken
I agree with your first statement...we are saying the same thing.
I think that kids who work out daily, spend countless hours in the cage, travel to summer games, and are dedicated to being their best do have more skin than I do. I dedicate a fair amount of my time and energy, but not 4-5 hours a day to officiating. Obviously, a coach who's job depends on wins and losses has a fair amount at stake as well.
I'm not going to have a policy that assumes that I'm infallible. I'm going to be confident, do my best, and apply my knowledge of the game and the rules to my calls. But to say that my partner can't ever help me is, in my opinion, elevating me to some sort of God-like being. I can own my calls, but I can ask for help in certain circumstances and still be a very strong official.
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This philosophy would be great if officials took it to heart and asked questions of partners when the question was truly required.
I've had this happen twice in 20 years. Once I had F4 run in front of me for the "money shot" at first base and the other time F1 short-hopped F3 on a comebacker and I couldn't tell if the fielder had control of the ball (I was lazy and that one was avoidable and a lesson for me). So once in 20 years I really felt I *needed* help. I see some people exceed that in a single *game*.
Unfortunately, the attitudes I see from umpires in a lot of games is that the coach comes out and asks the umpire to "get help" and the umpire simply doesn't have the stones to refuse or thinks it's rude to do so. What those umpires don't realize is that (1) the coach doesn't care about "getting it right", they care about getting it their way and (2) it's our job to put ourselves in the best position to make the call, make it, and have the intestinal fortitude to stick with it.
I worked with a guy a few years ago who, on a grounder while he was in the C position, didn't move to make the call at first. Three times he came to me for help on plays at first base because of his poor base work. I am convinced that on just about every play at first base, the base umpire can put himself in a great position to see what needs to be seen. Angles first, then distance. Don't be afraid to run. Adjust to a poor throw with a step or two and a lean.
The problem is that too many umpires (1) don't know how to work the bases and (2) act as though they can always go to the plate umpire for help on that "tricky" pulled foot, swipe tag, or other such squirrels.
And of course, once the base umpire goes for help, it's open season on such requests and the coaches will *never* stay in the dugout. They'll be out on everything close, trying to shop the call to the most advantageous bidder.