Quote:
Originally Posted by Reffing Rev.
I have stepped away from umpiring to coaching
Since I am a very active football official I read and know the rules as well as I hope my football coaches would.
Tonight I ran into the "hands are part of the bat" umpire.
From my coaching box I couldn't tell if it was bat knob or hands and when PU said foul ball I assumed it was knob. My batter acted like it was hands and so I came to check on her and umpire said, "the ball hit her fingers" I then came all the way to PU and stood side by side facing the infield and said, "you know that the hands are not a part of the bat, right?" He assured me the hands are an extension of the bat and I encouraged him to ask his partner, who then agreed with him that the hands are a part of the bat. I returned to my box during their very brief conference and let the game continue.
After the game PU has to leave through our dugout and I'm packing up gear and PU comes up to me and tells me how much he does not appreciate the way I disrespected him. At that time I apologized and encouraged him to look up the rule and I would do the same and next time we see each other we would know what needs to be done.
In this or a similar situation, how would you like the coach to approach you, or should he?
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From what I read, you did nothing wrong. The umpire sounds like he was wrong on several levels.
First, not knowing the rule.
Second, coming over to a coach and stating that he doesn't like the way he was disrespected on the field. He was not disrespected by you. You did exactly what you should have done and respectfully informed him he was wrong. I would not like to see what this umpire is like when he actually gets disrespected by a coach. The bigger issue is he approached a coach in the dugout area. Personally I hate having to leave through a dugout. I try scouting the field prior to the game to find the "escape route" in case the game has close calls the teams don't agree with. If I can't find a way out to avoid the dugout, I try getting through as quick as possible and certainly don't approach the coaches in the dugout. If they approach me I try to be respectful, but I don't seek out the coaches on my way out.