advice on chirping

[wobster]

There is one in my area, about a mile from my work! Thanks, Rut.

[His High Holiness]

Originally posted by wobster
So I should have went to the manager and had him get rid of the fan? Come to think of it, that would have been more professional, but I am not sure it would have gotten the point across that we are there to play baseball, not argue with the umpires call. What do you think? I do not know, personally.

Maybe I should have taken out the 15 year old coach on first base giving me hell, and had the manager take out the fan? To me, the coach didn't cross the line, but he was an assistant, so he doesn't have the same rights as a manager.

Any ideas how I could have handled this better?

Wobster;

Yes, it was a poor idea to confront the fan directly. Make a coach do it. However, you have more important things to worry about right now.

Start thinking like Saddam Hussein or Joseph Stalin. You wrote: "To me, the coach didn't cross the line,..." Your mind is on the wrong track.

Joseph Stalin did not worry about whether his actions were justified or whether his subjects deserved the Guglag or worse. Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein were trying to instill terror in their subjects and they selected the handiest targets. If no one was guilty of anything, then they made something up and punished someone for it. Everyone else got the message and behaved. Joseph Stalin was thinking about the future of his reign. He couldn't have care less about justice or whether someone deserved what he got. You need to start thinking along the same lines when it comes to coaches.

At that moment in your game, the coach that you mentioned was the handiest target for your learning experience. He was also the handiest target to establish your reputation as a reda$$. Take it. Dump him. Sometimes it's better to dump someone for a minor indiscretion than it is for a major sin. By dumping someone for extremely minor BS, you send a message to the serious head cases that you are an irrational a$$hole.

That's not a bad reputation to have when you are trying to get started in umpiring and are making a lot of mistakes. If they know that you will dump them for something minor, that all other umpires would ignore, you can bet they will be on their best behavior.

That gives you the opportunity to work on mechanics, balls/strikes, and other important things that you must master to move up the food chain. You simply cannot get better at umpiring if you are constantly fighting brush fires about behavior.

Peter

[wobster]

Thanks HHH, I never thought of it that way. So I should have handled it like this -

First base coach argues, I tell him to be quiet and play baseball, he doesn't, he is gone.

Fans start giving me BS, I tell manager to remove him. If he does, great, if not, toss the head coach.

Sounds more appropriate than the way I did it.

[His High Holiness]

Originally posted by wobster
Thanks HHH, I never thought of it that way. So I should have handled it like this -

First base coach argues, I tell him to be quiet and play baseball, he doesn't, he is gone.

Fans start giving me BS, I tell manager to remove him. If he does, great, if not, toss the head coach.

Sounds more appropriate than the way I did it.

Wobster;

Now you are getting it. You've made great progress but remember this:

You would not have learned anything if you had not tried and made some mistakes. The mistakes that you made are simply irrelevant in the big scheme of things anyway. After all, it's a game, not a girl getting pregnant or a drunk driver killing somebody.

Go eject some more, make some more mistakes, analyze your errors, and continue to improve. With that kind of progress in 5 or 10 years, you will pass me by and most of the other posters here as well. At age 53, I am on the downhill slope.

Peter

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by His High Holiness
At age 53, I am on the downhill slope.

Peter

That is not because you are 53.

Peace

[Jason]

Originally posted by tornado
How do you handle dugout chirping?

Tonight I was asked repeatedly, "Where was that pitch?"
I also overheard the coaches wondering why I wasn't giving their pitchers the same calls the other team got.

I usually indicate location by moving my head. If a pitch is inside to a left handed hitter I pause turn my head to the right and say ball. Etc Etc Etc...

Most people in the stands have no clue, but a coach who knows the game and has seen me work knows what I'm doing and for the most part I rarely hear the, "where was that at?" Same people say not to do it, but it's my style and it's got me to where I am today.

Chirping from the dugout is nothing. Unless they question my integrity. For the most part chirping is apart of the game...heck the fans are good at it. =)

[DG]

You need better role models than Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein. How about Chesty Puller or George Patton?