Quote:
Originally posted by Jim Mills
It warms my heart when someone uses superior knowledge and intellect to his advantage on the diamond. I like to give him the opportunity to do so. There is some merit to the others' position. I think there's more in ours.
I'm wit'cha, Warren.
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Whew! I was beginning to think I really WAS on another planet altogether! (grin)
I agree with you, too, Jim, FWIW. I'd prefer that the guys running each team sorted it out for themselves, without my intervention. For me, again using the rider concerning the level of play that I regularly call, there is MUCH more to a great baseball game than hit the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball.
One of the BEST games I've witnessed was a District League 1st Div Final that included one fundamental error by one of the head coaches (manager in your pro leagues, head coach in ours) which changed the whole complexion of the game. It came down to using up a visit to talk to his pitcher when that visit was clearly going to be more valuable to his team later in the inning. He wasted it. When he really needed the visit 2 hits later, he didn't have one! (His pitcher was a great batter too, and because he had no visits left the coach was forced to remove him from the game rather than being able to simply move him to another defensive position).
My umpire mate and I watched in disbelief at the time, and we both wanted to scream out to this guy "Don't do it! You'll tip the balance", but we couldn't. It wasn't our place. That simple mistake by the coach cost his team 5 runs in one inning, and broke open the game when they had it by the short and curlies! They lost. End of story. All because of one visit taken inappropriately.
With great games turning on such minor issues, is it any wonder I don't want to see the umpire become a factor? Having said that, I repeat that I CAN see the sense in general amateur play, but I'd need to be convinced that there was no tipping of the balance first. If both coaches are ignorant of the rule, explaining it to both of them shouldn't be a problem. The balance is maintained. At the levels I officiate, though, that's seldom the case.
Cheers,
Warren Willson