Interference or Not???

[BlueLawyer]

X:

On another thread recently, we talked about ejections and what certain umpires will put up with.

There are lines with every umpire, and some vary, but all well-trained, experienced umpires will give you the heave-ho for certain magic words or acts. According to my training, these acts are certain to get a coach/player dumped:

1. "You suck/are terrible" and variations upon that theme- the idea is that it is a personal insult- notice that I didn't say "You got that call wrong" will get you dumped. It's an important distinction.

2. Artwork in the dirt after a called strike.

3. Cursing me/at me.

4. Any physical contact, direct (bumping) or indirect (spitting, kicking dirt on) with me. Also, charging from the dugout/coach's box aggressively.

5. Audibly cursing at all. By "audibly cursing" I mean where anybody but me can hear. I work, primarily, high school and youth ball.

6. Questioning my integrity- e.g., "it's hard to win against 11," meaning my partner and I have taken the other team's side.

7. Continuing an argument after a warning to stop.

8. Throwing at a batter after being warned, or if, in my judgment, the pitcher went head hunting at all.

9. Malicious contact.

10. Fighting/leaving dugout/position to fight.

This is not an exhaustive list. However, bringing the rulebook out and showing it to me on the field is a combination of 1 and 2 above, and will get you dumped by every umpire I work with. You are not respectfully suggesting I don't know the rule as well as I should, you are publicly displaying your superior rules knowledge to your players and fans. That's showing me up, and it will get you dismissed.

Strikes and outs!