Umpire attacked

[Carl Childress]

The events happened Friday night, 31 March.

4A (second largest Texas school) district game
Teams are tied for first place.
Home 3, Visitors 0.
Bottom of third, R1, R2.
"Thoughts" attributed to the umpires were communicated to me as the State Board member for this area.

The visiting pitcher in the set position gets his sign, lifts his non-pivot foot, and then resets it. Both umpires call "Time. That's a balk!" The predominately home crowd begins to chant "Balk! Balk!" The catcher stands up, but the pitcher continues and releases the ball. The home plate umpire believes the ball is headed in his direction, so he tries to back away, trips, and falls on his back. Coaches and trainers rush to his aid.

MEANWHILE: The pitcher turns to the base umpire and asks, softly: "F**k was wrong with that?"

The base umpire says: "You don't need the bad language. You double set."

Says the pitcher, louder: "That's a bullsh!t call, Blue."

Base umpire: "I told you to keep that language to yourself."

Pitcher, still louder: "I don't care. It's f**king bullsh!t."

Base umpire, not loud: "You're ejected."

He begins walking toward the knot of people attending to the plate umpire, now on his feet.

The pitcher yells, screaming obscenities, and heads for the base umpire. His two coaches grab him before he reaches the umpire and wrestle him away. He continues to scream, then breaks free, rushes to the home plate umpire, and with both hands knocks him off his feet and onto his back. This time, his head cracks hard into the ground.

The boy's father comes from the stands, grabs his son ("Are you nuts? What's wrong with you?") and, with the help of a coach, manages to get him off the field and into the family car.

The plate umpire cannot continue behind the plate. The umpires switch positions and finish the game. Visitors, down 3 at the time, win 13-6.

The UIL requires each school to have an administrator at every game, freshman through varsity. The administrator in charge conferred with the umpires, and asked a question of the plate umpire, which is the point of this post:

"Could you forfeit this game because of that behavior?"

Assume the answer is "yes."

My question: Should the PU forfeit?

[BigUmp56]

I would be awefully hard pressed to forfeit a game, punishing an entire team, for the actions of one out of control player. From your description it sounds like the coaches did everything they could to contain this player. So, my short answer would be no.


Tim.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Carl Childress

The events happened Friday night, 31 March.

4A (second largest Texas school) district game
Teams are tied for first place.
Home 3, Visitors 0.
Bottom of third, R1, R2.
"Thoughts" attributed to the umpires were communicated to me as the State Board member for this area.

The visiting pitcher in the set position gets his sign, lifts his non-pivot foot, and then resets it. Both umpires call "Time. That's a balk!" The predominately home crowd begins to chant "Balk! Balk!" The catcher stands up, but the pitcher continues and releases the ball. The home plate believes the ball is headed in his direction, so he tries to back away, trips, and falls on his back. Coaches and trainers rush to his aid.

MEANWHILE: The pitcher turns to the base umpire and asks, softly: "F**k was wrong with that?"

The base umpire says: "You don't need the bad language. You double set."

Says the pitcher, louder: "That's a bullsh!t call, Blue."

Base umpire: "I told you to keep that language to yourself."

Pitcher, still louder: "I don't care. It's f**king bullsh!t."

Base umpire, not loud: "You're ejected."

He begins walking toward the knot of people attending to the plate umpire, now on his feet.

The pitcher yells, screaming obscenities, and heads for the base umpire. His two coaches grab him before he reaches the umpire and wreastle him away. He continues to scream, then breaks free, rushes to the home plate umpire, and with both hands knocks him off his feet and onto his back. This time, his head cracks hard into the ground.

The boy's father comes from the stands, grabs his son ("Are you nuts? What's wrong with you?") and, with the help of a coach, manage to get him off the field and into the family car.

The plate umpire cannot continue behind the plate. The umpires switch positions and finish the game. Visitors, down 3 at the time, win 13-6.

The UIL requires each school to have an administrator at every game, freshman through varsity. The administrator in charge conferred with the umpires, and asked a question of the plate umpire, which is the point of this post:

"Could you forfeit this game because of that behavior?"

Assume the answer is "yes."

My question: Should the PU forfeit?

I wouldn't forfeit the game, although I would be tempted (if it's allowed) to SUSPEND the game since the plate umpire seemed to get injured fairly badly -- if he can't finish behind the plate he shouldn't have finished on the bases, either.

Is it possible to suspend the game and allow the league/conference to decide?

And I thought I had an exciting day today with my college DH with the 24-1 game in the nightcap.

[briancurtin]

i dont think id take the game away from the other 40 or so players and coaches involved. the coaches did what they could, but the kid needs serious help if hes going to act like that in a game.

i agree with rich though: im not entirely sure about switching positions to finish the game. if i got slammed down to the ground and smacked my head hard enough that i didnt feel well enough to finish behind the plate, im not going to run around out on the bases for the next few innings.

[DG]

I don' think a forfeit is in order here. But maybe a suspension is, and let the conference sort it out. If PU can't continue as PU how can he continue as BU?

[SAump]

I cannot see a forfeit after three complete innings of play. Perhaps if it were after five innings or if order could not be restored. I would probably suspend the game for thirty minutes to allow both sides an opportunity to cool down. It may also help the umpire who was injured in the attack to regain his composure. I would definitely not put up with any other shenanigans after the physical contact occurred. I would request that the school administrators request additional security personnel.

I would also have another plate conference before resuming the ballgame. Both coaches will be on notice that the ejection threshold will be much shorter. Coaches must understand that if ejected, they will have to schedule a trip to explain their actions to UIL officials in Austin, TX. If a player is ejected, they may be subject to suspension from school for insubordinate behavior, as well.

Kudos to his father for his actions to take responsibility for his son. I would be hard-pressed to allow such behavior to go unpunished. I think the umpire's association would be within their rights to request from the athletic director that the one player's elgibility be forfeited for the rest of the season. The visiting team may have won the game, but I think they should lose the player.

[Dave Davies]

C2, I'da Stagger Lee'd that sucker.

Dave
****

[UmpJM]

As reprehensible as the player's actions were, a ruled forfeit of the game does not strike me as the appropriate penalty.

A forfeit is the appropriate penalty when a team is either unable to (e.g., insufficent eligible players to field a team) or refuses to continue playing the game. That's not what happened here.

One player on the team had what borders on a psychotic episode.

If it were up to me, the player would be suspended for at least the remainder of the season.

If I were his parent, I would have him tested for steroid (and other drug) abuse. The behavior strikes me as symptomatic of "roid rage".

If I were his coach, he would be off the team. Period.

JM

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

As reprehensible as the player's actions were, a ruled forfeit of the game does not strike me as the appropriate penalty.

A forfeit is the appropriate penalty when a team is either unable to (e.g., insufficent eligible players to field a team) or refuses to continue playing the game. That's not what happened here.



JM

Do you feel that those are the only grounds for a forfeit?

[jxt127]

Well just as a start there was absolutly nothing about the pitchers actions that resemble a psychitoc episode in any way shape or form.

If the teams did not seem to be under control after the incident I would suspend the game. Let the league sort it out. But if it just seems to be the one player losing control and no general undercurrent of anger then play on. Both teams would be on a short leash.

As for the PU moving to BU I'd have to trust that he felt ok to do that. On the other hand I'd certainly say there is no problem with suspending the game for it either. My judgement on this part of it kind of suspect since I've been knocked out three times in sports (twice in hockey, once in softball) and stayed in the game after. Not the sharpest when it come to that.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

As reprehensible as the player's actions were, a ruled forfeit of the game does not strike me as the appropriate penalty.

A forfeit is the appropriate penalty when a team is either unable to (e.g., insufficent eligible players to field a team) or refuses to continue playing the game. That's not what happened here.

One player on the team had what borders on a psychotic episode.

If it were up to me, the player would be suspended for at least the remainder of the season.

If I were his parent, I would have him tested for steroid (and other drug) abuse. The behavior strikes me as symptomatic of "roid rage".

If I were his coach, he would be off the team. Period.

JM

And if I were the umpire, I would be wondering where the police were -- in order to arrest him for battery.

[Carl Childress]

Originally Posted by Rich Fronheiser

And if I were the umpire, I would be wondering where the police were -- in order to arrest him for battery.

The umpire, at my urging, filed assault charges yesterday. His coach removed him from the team. No doubt there will be other repercussions.

In my 50+ years of baseball, that is the only instance I've encountered when a prep player attacked an umpire. (In football, basketball, soccer, yes; in baseball, never, until last Friday.)

My question: How did a 16-year-old "skinny" kid (he was so described to me) break free from the grasp of two adult coaches?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Carl Childress

The umpire, at my urging, filed assault charges yesterday. His coach removed him from the team. No doubt there will be other repercussions.

In my 50+ years of baseball, that is the only instance I've encountered when a prep player attacked an umpire. (In football, basketball, soccer, yes; in baseball, never, until last Friday.)

My question: How did a 16-year-old "skinny" kid (he was so described to me) break free from the grasp of two adult coaches?

The coaches probably didn't think he would really attack an umpire.

It's a sad story, but sounds like it's an isolated one in your area. If we step back and think about it, this kind of thing WILL happen from time to time. People and their emotions are involved and thankfully most people that play (and are around) baseball have a good understanding of right and wrong.

Yet there are still enough stories that I've taken to calling Referee magazine "Softball, Soccer, and Assault Stories Monthly."

[C'monBlue]

I am in total agreement with everyone who says that forfeiture is too harsh a penalty for the act of one psycho player. How might this equation be different if the head coach did the pushing? Any thoughts?

[umpduck11]

What a tragically unfortunate incident for all involved,
particularly the official. Kudos to him for filing charges
against his attacker.
I cannot help but wonder if behavior such as this is
emboldened by what seems to me to be a deteriorating
respect of umpires from fans in attendance of games. The
comments from the peanut gallery lately seem more vitriolic,
caustic,and down-right nasty. I understand the necessity of
ignoring things you hear from the crowd, but you DO hear them.
I never react to them, except recently when a guy cussed and
threatened me, but lately even blue-hairs have been ugly to my
partners and myself.
I suppose if you paid your pittance for entry, you're free to bash
whomever and whatever you desire. I find it sad, at best.