Annoying Rat

[umpire99]

I had a situation the other night that really upset me. I had a play at third where the runner overslid the base. I called him safe. The head coach of the team in the field came out and asked if the tag had continued after the runner left the bag. There was no way I knew this for sure, but I told him that it had not. The coach then asked if I could go to my partner for help. I did and my partner did not see the entire play either. The next inning there was a close play at first. I made the call and the same coach asked if the ball had possibly been dropped. I had no idea if it had, but I was upset with the coach by now so I shouted, "No it did not! Would you like me to get help on that one, too!" The coach calmly said, "No thanks. Not if you are that sure about it." I then went to the coach and explained the call at third from the inning before. I was still not sure about what happened, but I had now had time to come up with an explanation that I thought would convince the coach that I was correct. He said, "Sounds good, thanks," and went back to his dugout. The more I thought about it, the more upset I got that he had ever questioned me in the first place. In the bottom of the seventh inning, I had a chance to end on a good note. The coach's best hitter was at the plate with a 3-2 count. He started a swing, but it was obvious that he held up. I rung him up from the C position and gave a wink and a nod to the coach. He didn't say a word. It also got me home sooner. After the game, the coach told my partner, "good job," and he told me "Thanks for coming." He must not have been too mad at me. Maybe I will get him again and things will go better.