Umpires Fined Or Repremanded
 

Why dont we ever hear about umpires,or any officials,for that matter,that get fined or repremanded or demoted for makind obvious bad calls.Why are they the," sacred cows" of sports? No one can question their ability to do their job properly,not even AFTER a game.A player,a coach,even an owner,can get fined BIG money,for just making a comment about an officials incompentence during a game,that may have even determined the outcome of THAT game.I understand that that they are human,just like the rest of us,and they will make mistakes,just like the rest of us,SO LET THEM SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES,just like the rest of us.

Are you a Pirates fan?

Let me guess. Your Little Billy's all star team was screwed out of a victory in the tournament yesterday. I'm wondering what the over/under is on how long this thread lasts.



Tim.

I'll support your position.....as soon as you agree to a hefty fine for a tragic lack of typing/grammar skills :D

Sports officiating is not an easy thing. If officials were fined for a botched call once in a while they would quit officiating. Besides, who is going to sit in judgement of the official? Sure the MLB has camera's and evaluations can be made but most games are played without that benefit.

I did a district playoff Cal Ripkin game the other day. Home team had just clawed its way back and taken a one run lead. Two outs man on first when the visiting batter hit an easy one to the shortstop. The second baseman was slow to get to the bag and the shortstop hesitated and then went for the bag himself. Close play but the runner beat the shortstop. However, the fans and the coaches of the home team didn't see it that way. They freaked. The visiting team ended up with a one run lead.

Bottom of six, two outs, runner on third, visitors still up by one. Batter chops the ball straight down. The ball bounces up an inch from his arm but does not touch him. The ball ends up going a few feet into fair territory. I signal fair, pitcher fields the ball, and gets the out while the batter is wondering what to do. The fans and coaches go absolutely balistic claiming that the ball hit the batter. I tracked the ball the whole time and know it did not. However, I could see how it would have appeared to them that the batter was struck.

The home team lost and they literally wanted to lynch me after the game. To them I'd made two obviouslyl bad calls. It got to the point were the fans were trying to chase me down and the tourney director threatened to throw them out of the tournement.

Fortunately three Babe Ruth commissioners, (including the state commissioner watched the game) and felt all my calls were right. I have a good rep and was selected to ump the regionals so they already know I do a decent job.

Anyway, if you left it up to the home teams fans or coaches they would have fined, castrated, and suspended me. However, they would have be wrong. Again I ask, who is going to be the judge?

This is why I don't do little league during the reg season.

Eric

Pudgedaddy..Pudgedaddy..sit down and relax. Take slow deep breaths..inhale..exhale..inhale..exhale..feeling better now? Think calming and warming thoughts..relax..breathe..relax..breathe.

Now, tell us what happen to upset you so much.....Did somone pee in your Wheaties? It bothers us that you are so upset, we want to understand so that we can help you through this stressful time in your life. Let it out Pudgedaddy

Instant Replay!!, plus fines based on:
1) total # of "obvious" blown calls in a game
2)how close the score is
3)different fine levels per base where called
4)time of year, playoffs, ect
5)if not MLB, then # of fans/parents complaining

On the other side: pay umps (over reg game fee) for:
1) $ for # of correct calls per game
2) $ for # of fans/parents complaining
3) bonus for ea ejection(coach more than asst)
4) $ for # of players who spit @ plate (Hey!, its where I work!)
5) bonus $ for good calls during playoffs

Any others ?

Answer me this.
 

Ok, let us take your argument to its logical conclusion. Umpires are athletes. We do not compete against another team, but we are part of the athletic process. So why not:

1. Fine batters for striking out with the winning run on base?
2. Fine shortstops for letting the ball go through their legs?
3. Fine coaches who give the steal size to the slowest runner on the team and he is thrown out but 10 feet?
4. Fine pitchers for throw meatballs on a 0-2 count?
5. Fine catchers for past balls?

etc. etc. etc.

Umpires no more deserve a fine for missing a call than an outfielder desrves a fine for dropping a can of corn. Stuff happens. The coach benches him. Likewise our assignors bench us for missing calls. It happens all the time. Believe me.

Peter

First of all official/umpires are hired and fired every year and every season. Secondly, if this happens you will never know about it. For one it is not your business if this happens and unless you know the roster of a league, then you will never know why they left in the first place. If you think the same umpires stay for several years, then you are not as bright as we should give you credit for. All rosters at all levels change or make some adjustments for a lot of reasons. And yes, someone might get fired because of one game or incident under the right circumstances.

Also the funny thing about what you said, "Let them suffer the consequences, just like the rest of us." Now what is funny about that statement is the fact umpires are not talking to the media on a regular basis. So you cannot compare a coach or owner to an umpire that never gives interviews. Secondly I do not know too many times when a player or coach gets fired over one play or even a series of outings. Baseball is a game where you can play just about every day and have several chances for success or failure. I do not see many players getting fired for one bad day at the office. If that was the case, Kerry Wood would have been fired from the Cubs long time ago.

Peace

Why are we responding to these morons?

Entertainment purposes. ;)

Peace

Hey Fudgepacky,

Why don't I come down to where you work and fine and reprimand you for every tiny little mistake you make? How would you like them apples?

Peter,

Just out of curiosity, what would be the fine for a defensive manager who, with a 1 run lead in the bottom of the last inning, two outs and runners on 2nd & 3rd, the #5 hitter at the plate, the on-deck batter hasn't hit the ball out of the infield the whole game, fails to instruct his pitcher to intentionally walk the batter? :o

Would the fine increase if the batter hit a line drive, oh - let's just say, over the F8's head, driving in the tying and winning runs? :o :o

Oh, and would it matter if the game was a semi-final playoff game when you were beating the top-seeded team? :o :o :o

As I said, just curious.

JM

John, John, John....are we talking about you here? You would never do such a thing, right?????:eek:

**DOUBLE the fine for called third strikes.

Bob

Players DO get fined and reprimanded for this- in what they lovingly call KANGAROO COURT...and to that end, our umpire's association has implemented it as well.
Miss a rotation? Face a penalty.
Exceedingly poor calls? Penalty.
Over-calling games? Penalty.
Showing up late? Penalty.
And so on.

Penalties are, for the most part, mild enough to still be humorous, but 'stiff' enough to get attention. Most of them are just for kicks- forcing them to show up early, or teach the association the positioning that they missed, or shine theirs AND their partner's shoes.
The point is not to punish, but to point out areas where people need work,and draw attention to it in a fun way, rather than have people talk about it behind people's backs.

The umpires don't work for the league, they work for the umpires association, which is contracted by the league- so any evaluation or disciplining that needs to be done will be done by the employer- the umpire's association.


Bainer.

SD Steve,

I believe, if you read the post in question carefully, you will see that it was posed as a "hypothetical".

Besides, I'm sure that any manager worth his salt who would pull such a boneheaded "error of omission" when his players had played so well (and the umpiring was truly "top notch"), would already feel pretty miserable about it - so I don't see the point of further emabarrassing him in a public forum such as this by mentioning his name. :o

Besides, anyone can make a mistake. I know I've certainly made my share.

Bob,

As a coach, I find your suggestion quite appealing.

JM

Hypothetical, my behind.:)

I have two questions for you, neither of which do I expect you to answer...

(1) When was the last time ONE solitary call determined the outcome of a game? Think hard about the possibilities before you answer.

(2) How many calls does an umpire make in an average game? A batter may
get five at-bats in a game, and if he hits in three of them. He's had a great game. If he does it for a career, he winds up in the Hall of Fame. Bearing these questions/facts in mind, how many calls can an umpire miss, and still have a higher "batting" average than a HOF 'er ?
:confused:

Maybe the umps need to start pointing out the mistakes the the managers and players make that cost their team a win.

Jeeze,my question was,why dont we ever hear about officials getting fined or repremanded for poor job performance.And why is it against the rule for coaches or players to speak their minds if they think someone is not up to standards.

SORRY for asking such a stupid question,all of you have a great day.

for the same reason that i dont hear about you being repremanded for poor performance at your job.

ive heard this a lot, but can you define what standards you are talking about? please refer to direct quotes or numbers from said standard.

no problem, and you too.

Hmm, odd for a troll to quit so soon. So many forums, so little time....

Well, why don't you take this good piece of advice?

Wow, it took you 20 hours to come up with that one. Good job.

Steve, just wanted to say that I appreciate your not hitting the "quote" button when you reply to his crap - that way I don't even have to read it in the replies!

You're welcome. Thanks for reminding me, he's going back on the list.

Actually, we do "hear about it." A number of officials have lost assignments , been fired or publicly criticized by their superiors over the years. One only needs to have moderately competent reading skills and access to the sports section of a newspaper to "hear about it."

It is agains the rules for game participants to engage in that behavior because they have, in the past, abused that behavior to intimidate officials, even some who did nothing wrong, and incite fans. They hoped to shape future decisions by those officials.

The powers-to-be undestand that the integrity of the game is important enough to keep the participants from directly accusing and "threatening" the officials in public. Participants may still complain, but they need to go through the appropriate channels.

Yeah, but if the quote button wasn't used a lot of us would never know that he posted. Somehow all his posts vanish. Is auto-delete an option I missed somewhere?

More constructive input from this guy, Bob.

Sheesh.........


Tim.

Umpire Discipline
 

A few quick thoughts:

Sports officiating is one hell of a lot tougher than it looks. I have always held the opinion that if you can call balls and strikes well and consistently, you can do any job in officiating that requires judgment. No marked lines for up and down on the zone- which changes with every batter- and the call requires three dimensional, spatial judgment. Plus at decent levels the ball breaks a lot or comes in at 90+ mph. Plus at not-so-decent levels, you either expand your zone to call crap pitches strikes or you endure 3 hour, 10-9 walkfests every game. And fields are poorly lit. And and and. . . Baseball even recognizes how tough calling balls and strikes is with a rule protecting us from managers and players leaving their positions to argue.

Fining me for bad calls will drive me (and I am, in all immodesty, pretty damn good) off the field. If I go, you get somebody maybe not quite as good. I have bad nights (last Wednesday comes to mind- ugh!) but I am a consistently good umpire who takes the craft seriously. If I was consistently bad or mediocre at best, I would self-select out of the best assigments. Nobody wants crap on the field, least of all me. But smoking me for one bad call or even one bad game is counterproductive, I think.

On the other hand, umpire discipline should be part of every association's duties. I have drafted a somewhat-overlawyered umpire discipline code for my association. e.g.- Bet on a game you're calling? Banned for life.

So fining me for a "bad" call is a "bad" idea. Besides, how are you going to enforce it? No park I work has QuesTec or even professional photography, as a general rule.

Strikes and outs!