advice on chirping

[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