Quote:
Originally posted by Skahtboi
... that we are accepting the paycheck to do only one thing. Enforce the rules. We are not there to enforce only the ones we want to, nor are we there to rewrite the rule book. We are there, plain and simply, to enforce the rules of the association for which we are calling...
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Valid points, but perhaps overly simplistic. You only briefly touched upon one of the points I was trying to make. I believe your statement above should be, "[our job is] to enforce the rules as we are instructed to by the association for which we are calling." I agree with you that that is who we are working for.
In high school, the case book is a clarifying document that tells us how to interpret certain rules. Our local and state preseason meetings provide us with further clarification of how things are to be interpreted. Reviews, evaluations and other communications from our association officers during the year offer even more detailed clarification.
What should someone do when their organization is setting a precedence of calling certain rules a certain way, when that individual umpire feels differently? Almost no one has a problem with ignoring the uniform rule when it is a 32 degree night in early march, and they allow the players to wear un-matching jackets over their jerseys. Another example could be the many of us that have organizations teaching that the "neighborhood" front end of the double play at second is an out.
But there is conflict that can occur when a rule specific states something and the organization feels it should not be strictly enforced even when an individual umpire feels differently. There is bigger conflict that can occur when an organization allows something to continue unchecked during a whole season but one individual rules differently in the playoffs. This would cause a team to have no alternative method prepared. (In my example above, they had not trained the pitcher to pitch any other way than how she was.)
Is this fair? No. Was I part of the problem? Yes... probably. My refusal to go against the direction of an association officer (the UIC mentioned in my previous post) helped cause the problem. Should I have bucked the direction of the association officer? That is more philosophical than umpirical. (No, that's not a word, but it should be.)
I just wanted to point out regarding WestMichBlue initial post of this thread that there might be other things for an advanced umpire to consider when making a ruling of this type when the season is wrapping up and the teams are "now in a 'one loss and you're out' run towards the State Championship."