Coach slaps Player...

[BlueLawyer]

Years and years ago, (i.e., back when I was a kid), corporal punishment was not only accepted but also expected as a form of disciplining kids. Not so much now.

My state statute defines child abuse as, among other things, the striking of a child in the face. When I was a prosecutor, I was a mandated reporter.

Society's move towards "hands off the kids" has mixed results, at best. On the other hand, no one with a brain can deny that for years, child and spousal abuse was ignored by society as "none of our business". Somewhere in the middle, there is sanity.

I cannot agree with the philosophical approach that since it happened in the dugout, it's none of my (the umpire's) business. If the kid or the coach had dropped the F-bomb (i.e., "You're f-ing terrible, Blue!") on me from the dugout, you can be sure I would have dumped him- regardless of the geography. I have ejected players and managers from dugouts before. And, I cannot agree that any treatment a coach gives his own player is likewise none of my concern. If it disrupts the game or it is a genuine physical threat to the kid, I'm making it my concern.

This situation, in this game, I would not have involved myself. That does not mean I am automatically disqualifying myself from every situation bearing some cousinly resemblance to this one.

Strikes and outs!