No Brainer?

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

What if he was disgusted with the umpire's call of strike 2 that put him in a hole, forcing him to protect the plate on strike 3? Maybe he wasn't angry with himself after all.

Maybe maybe maybe, what if, what if, what if... If I'm 100 feet away and my partner's right there, I'm not playing maybe what if and tossing him. And I think that if you are, you are wrong in doing so (even if it turns out in retrospect that your partner was just being lazy and didn't have a valid reason for not tossing him).

in FED calls for ejection for any throwing of equipment in disgust, whether at himself or the umpire's call.

Valid point - but he didn't say which set. I assumed OBR.

As far as OBR goes, the interpretation from the MLBUM includes ejection as one of the penalties for flagrant throwing of equipment, if in disgust with an umpire's call.

Yes, but from 100 feet away I can't see making that leap. In fact, I'd assume it was in disgust at missing the ball, not some previous umpire-related disgust.

If this was in a youth ball game, I would eject him just for safety reasons, since his actions were potentially dangerous.

Me too - but probably not as BU.

[SanDiegoSteve]

mcrowder, where did I say the BU should throw the guy? I was talking about the PU doing the tossing. I'm not playing what-if either. That very well may have been the case that he was mad at the umpire. They usually are, even when the umpire had nothing to do with them striking out. I'm just saying we don't know the mind of the batter, and why he was disgusted.

The only way I'm ejecting him from 100 feet away is if I'm certain that the PU did not see the offense, like the PU ringing up strike 3 turning away from the batter. I have documented this very situation (slinging the bat at the dugout) happening to me, in a previous post. Only it was the first batter of the game, the team was down to 8 players with the ejection, and we got to go home early. Very Early.

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

mcrowder, where did I say the BU should throw the guy?

Steve, I was responding to blue's question asking OP why he (as BU) didn't eject him. Implying that this was an automatic thing, when in OBR it's not.

[RonRef]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

Steve, I was responding to blue's question asking OP why he (as BU) didn't eject him. Implying that this was an automatic thing, when in OBR it's not.

We have fellow umpires aguring about a no-brainer ejection. This is a total sportsmanship issue, this person must be tossed. It is our job to enforce all sportmanship issues and hold the player accoutable. Mcrowder, stop being a rule book tommy and do the right thing, grow some balls and toss the kid. What message are we sending if there are other kids in the stands watching this young man toss his helmet and bat and the umpires don't do anything about it, let's noy be our own worst enemies!

[mcrowder]

Ronref, you are completely out of line.

Let me restate my position, since you obviously didn't understand me the first time.

If I was PU in this sitch, I guarantee I toss the kid - FED, OBR, LL, Dixie, NIAI, NCAA, ASA, USSSA, whatever alphabet soup you choose, I toss the kid. I suppose there is some 1 in a thousand situation (outside of FED, obviously), where I would not, but I cannot think of what the extenuating circumstance might be right now.

My issue was with the admonition on the OP, who was the BASE umpire. People were asking him why HE didn't toss the batter, from 100 feet away, when PU, right on the spot, failed to do so. I point out that it is NOT an automatic ejection except in FED, and this is not BU's ejection to poach, so to speak, in other jurisdictions. Since it's not automatic, and PU did not eject, I'm assuming until proven differently that PU had reason not to eject. (I also grant that in retrospect, this particular PU was being lazy - not a good reason not to eject - but BU didn't know that until later). I'm not about to step all over my partner in a sitch like this where such an ejection is not automatic and he made (supposedly) the conscious decision not to toss him.

[waltjp]

Wholeheartedly agree with Mcrowder here. My partner and I are going to have some real problems if he is across the diamond and dumps someone on a play that I am covering. You're not my daddy, I don't need you looking over my shoulder.

[jwwashburn]

Originally Posted by waltjp

Wholeheartedly agree with Mcrowder here. My partner and I are going to have some real problems if he is across the diamond and dumps someone on a play that I am covering. You're not my daddy, I don't need you looking over my shoulder.

A good principle but not an absolute.

How far do you take this?

If the pitcher punches a runner in the face after covering home on a passed ball and the home plate ump does not eject?

I would risk the wrath of my partner on this one. It is a very dangerous situation for a kid to be throwing bats and helmets around. I have seen two injuries that required ambulances because of this kind of behavior. No way am I going to see that and let it go. Can anyone think of any reason other than laziness or ignorance that would cause the PU NOT to eject?

Joe