Fall Ball Sportsmanship

[stmaryrams]

Game yesterday, Fall 13-14 yr old league with FED modified to shorter base paths and plate distance. My son's team just clobbering the other team. Our coach tells the team to go station to station with no steals even on a passed ball and then tells them to go to wood bats only.

He had players in new positions and politely asked the plate umpire if he wouldn't mind expanding the strike zone when our team was at bat to give the other outmatched pitchers a fighting chance.

I was impressed with this display of sportmanship in these days of win at all costs coaches and parents.

My question is have you ever been approached by a coach to do that to his own team and what did you do? Our umpire was extremely consistant it's just that the other kids had little chance in this game.

[bluezebra]

Yes. And I refused. To change the strike zone is wrong. What do you do if the losing team makes a come-back? Change it back? Be consistent, PERIOD

Bob

[ctblu40]

If a game gets that far out of hand, I usually expand it on my own.

I had a BR 16-18 post season game that was 18-2 in the second inning. By the fourth inning, nobody wanted to be there, nocoaches, no umpires, no players, no parents.... NOBODY! At that point, the players aren't paying attention and, IMO, it becomes unsafe. I do my best to move the game along.

[LMan]

I have gone to both coaches in a blowout or two and suggested opening up the zone, for BOTH teams. No coach has disagreed yet, as long as the zone was the same for both.

[ozzy6900]

I can't believe what I am reading here! You all talk about never "injecting yourselves into the game" but that is just what you are doing here! If you people were in my charge, I would never give you another assignment! You should be ashamed of yourselves!

[Carbide Keyman]

Originally Posted by LMan

I have gone to both coaches in a blowout or two and suggested opening up the zone, for BOTH teams. No coach has disagreed yet, as long as the zone was the same for both.

I did an invitational tourney game in which both teams would be described, kindly, as weak.

Both coaches indicated to me that they would not be unhappy if the strike zone were expanded so that thye would get finished and on their way more quickly.

I said yes. Big mistake.

Fourth pitch of game, off.coach starts b!tch!ing about my zone.

Next half-inning, other coach b!tches about zone.

Long story short, ended up dumping both managers and one assistant.

Never, ever again.

[ctblu40]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

I can't believe what I am reading here! You all talk about never "injecting yourselves into the game" but that is just what you are doing here! If you people were in my charge, I would never give you another assignment! You should be ashamed of yourselves!

I've never suggested that an umpire should never interject himself in the game. How can an umpire work effectively without interjecting themselves in the game? Even if you've got the stick in a game between 1st and 2nd place teams, you're interjecting yourself in the game.

[LMan]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

I can't believe what I am reading here! You all talk about never "injecting yourselves into the game" but that is just what you are doing here! If you people were in my charge, I would never give you another assignment! You should be ashamed of yourselves!

In double-digit blowout fallball games? Really? The same kind of games where coaches pitch the kid 'whose always wanted to try it', which kinda got us to the double-digit blowout in the first place?


*shrug* oh well. Part of the perils of being me.

[archangel]

[He had players in new positions and politely asked the plate umpire if he wouldn't mind expanding the strike zone when our team was at bat to give the other outmatched pitchers a fighting chance.[/QUOTE]

I would politely say "no, just tell your batters to swing away"...And in my area, we have mercy rules, so the game may drag on, but will end in a timely manner, without my "insertions"....

[archangel]

oops, I mean "injections"

[UMP25]

Ah, I see the ole black & white absolutists are out again.

[PeteBooth]

He had players in new positions and politely asked the plate umpire if he wouldn't mind expanding the strike zone when our team was at bat to give the other outmatched pitchers a fighting chance.

I have a problem with The aforementioned.

Why ask Blue to shorten the game?

If the game is that bad, why not approach the opposing coach and ask him if he wants to call it quits.

IMO, that's why it's important to have a Mercy Rule. Once the game does not resemble baseball anymore, it's time to stop.

If the coach who is getting clobbered does not want to end the game then unfortunately we have to. I am not going to stand back there all day long in a blow-out game when managers pitch kids who haven't pitched before or worse yet have an untrained F2 where you are playing dodge ball behind the dish.

Trying kids at different positions etc. is for practice not game time.

In Summary: your sons team coach should have approached the opposing coach and had him agree to stop the game.

Pete Booth

[Justme]

Originally Posted by stmaryrams

My question is have you ever been approached by a coach to do that to his own team and what did you do?

Yes I have been approached by coaches asking me to 'open' my strike zone.
My answer is always NO! I hate those one sided games or games with lots of walks too but I'm not going to change how I work to accommodate a teams lack of talent or lack of coaching.

With all that said, my zone is 'bigger' at the start of the little guy games than when I'm doing an Adult League game loaded with former college / pro players.

[ozzy6900]

I don't care if it is Fall-ball, Summer-ball, or Spring-ball. Changing the strike zone as ctblu40 and LMAN suggest is Fool's-ball.

There is nothing that you can say to convince me, gentlemen. You two (and anyone else that does this) should hang up your uniforms and never darken the baseball diamond again.

An umpire is supposed to be unbiased. At least that's the way it's supposed to be. So by the same token, if it's a tie game do you guys shrink the strike zone to help the batters? Come on, you guys are BS! Please don't embarrass yourselves by responding any further. Take your sorry a$$es and burn your uniforms. You make the rest of us sick!

[ctblu40]

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

I don't care if it is Fall-ball, Summer-ball, or Spring-ball. Changing the strike zone as ctblu40 and LMAN suggest is Fool's-ball.

There is nothing that you can say to convince me, gentlemen. You two (and anyone else that does this) should hang up your uniforms and never darken the baseball diamond again.

An umpire is supposed to be unbiased. At least that's the way it's supposed to be. So by the same token, if it's a tie game do you guys shrink the strike zone to help the batters? Come on, you guys are BS! Please don't embarrass yourselves by responding any further. Take your sorry a$$es and burn your uniforms. You make the rest of us sick!

Considering that you don't know me and have never seen me work a game, these are pretty harsh words.
I assume that you work both NCAA and HS baseball (just from your posts). If this is the case, are you telling me that your zone for a Big East game is the same as it is for a Shoreline Conference game? Or worse yet East Haven JV vs Guilford JV? Please... an umpire must be able to call an accepted/ expected zone! If he can't (or won't) he better stick to 1 level or the other.

There is a time and a place to adjust your strike zone... if you don't know that by now, you'll never stop working those 25-2, 3.5 hour games... enjoy!