ever have one of these days..

[LLPA13UmpDan]

Originally Posted by Tim C

I have never told a fan, who is in dead ball territory, where to stand during any game.

They have a right to stand where ever the game managment has made available. I doubt if any umpire has a "right" to tell people they cannot stand behind a screen behind home plate.

I worry about the things I control that occur inside the formal playing area.

Regards,

Tim, even thought im a young umpire, i support that. I focus on whats going on inside the fence, not outside. if your a specatator and you wanna yell and scream at me, i dont care, i might even get a few laughs out of it. You wanna act like a baby, go ahead, i dont care

[BigUmp56]

there are many quality amature umpires who will not allow fans standing directly behind the backstop to berate them and disturb the flow of a game. When they're allowed to do this it not only effects the umpire on the stick, it also effects the players, both offensive and defensive.


Tim.

[LMan]

Originally Posted by orioles35

What was the other one?

That would be Dan's next thread.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by PWL

I just have to ask this question.

Well, you didn't just ask one question, so I'll answer all 3:

Why would you make them move from the back stop to the stands?

Because I'm not going to have some idiot standing behind me, who's sole purpose is criticizing my strike zone.

what happens if they say anything from the stands?

Who cares what they say from the stands? They paid their usually nothin' to get in, and can boo and hiss all they please.

Often time fans bring lawn chairs and sit directly behind the plate to a certain extent. Do you make them pile into the stands

I also have no problem with people setting up their lawn chairs behind home plate. I'm talking about obnoxious people who are just standing trying to disrupt my working the plate, and are not actually there to root for their team. I know when to say something and when not to. In well over 3,000 games, I can count on one hand the number of times I've made someone move from behind the screen.

[GBL]

Originally Posted by PWL

Besides, I don't work kiddie ball and a site administrator is on the grounds to handle the situation. If they become a distraction at a youth league game, it will get handled properly.

There are thousands of good umpires who do work "kiddie ball" and have real issues with parents and spectators acting in an unsportsmanship manner behind the backstop. When this happens it can have a real impact on the kids attitude toward the game and umpires. Since the vast majority of baseball games worked in this country are at venues without a "site administrator" it falls to the umpire to maintain control of the game, the kids, the coaches and yes the spectators if their actions are affecting the others.
Since you don't work such venues perhaps you should take a pass on commenting on this issue.

GL

[cbfoulds]

Originally Posted by Tim C

~Sigh~

SDS noted:

"Because I'm not going to have some idiot standing behind me, who's sole purpose is criticizing my strike zone."

Steve, I work at inner-city schools where the screen behind home plate is from 10 to 12 FEET behind the dish.

In games played by shaving aged players I would never consider telling someone they could not stand there or anywhere else in deadball terriitory.

I find it very odd to me that any umpire, working big boy ball, would even consider telling fans to move.

I just don't "get" your position.

Regards,

Well, Tee...
In the abstract, or in general, I agree: HOWEVER---

I have, ONCE, required a "fan" to move in "big boy" [Legion playoff] ball.

At a venue, very much like those you describe, where the "dugouts" are fenced areas directly behind the backstop wings, I called a site admin. and directed him to move or remove a fan who was not only commenting on my zone, parent's marital status and species, but was inciting the home team bench to similar excess. Since I could not be certain if any given comment [each deserving of immediate ejection if made by a "game participant"] was coming from this idjit or those on the bench, I found it impossible to confine my attention to disciplining the players and coaches.

This was also the occasion on which I removed a scorekeeper from the bench area because he replied to my directive to "take control of your bench, or I will" by whining that he was "just a scorekeeper". Fine: if you are useless and intend to remain so: do it from the stands.

Not my finest moment(s); but lacking other, better alternatives; .... you know ?.......

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Tim C

Steve, I work at inner-city schools where the screen behind home plate is from 10 to 12 FEET behind the dish.

In games played by shaving aged players I would never consider telling someone they could not stand there or anywhere else in deadball terriitory.

I find it very odd to me that any umpire, working big boy ball, would even consider telling fans to move.

I just don't "get" your position.

I too work inner-city schools, in some pretty rough, gang infested areas. Some of the backstops are even closer than 10 from the plate. Oddly enough, I usually encounter the least amount of trouble in these games.
Most often, it is the ritchie-rich schools in the 'burbs that produce the worst of all.

I did not say that I told fans to move. I said that on less than 5 occasions, I've had to tell a troublemaker (not a valid fan) to either be quiet, or move into the spectator area.

You can bet that if there was some crazed lunatic hanging over the dugout of a MLB game, and he was ragging on a player, that security would be right there removing said individual. I see it happen at the old ballpark frequently.

We, unfortunately, do not have security services working our HS games. We are the security, because there is nobody else there that will do it. I have rarely seen an A.D. at baseball games, and the coaches have no jurisdiction with the public crowd.

Good for you that you would never do what I have done on less than 5 occasions. You weren't there, so you really can't legitimately comment on my particular situations. Were it just some fan chirping about my strike zone, that would have been okay. But these were extreme cases, in which some individual decides to use profane, vulgar comments personally directed at me, which were said well within the hearing range of young children in the crowd. I have never felt that I was doing the wrong thing, and in most of the cases, I was praised by the fans for my actions.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Tim C

I am not going to fight with you anymore . . . frankly it is not worth the effort:

In the MOST GENERAL OF TERMS:

In all my 38 years of umpiring I have NEVER had to move any fan out of any position in dead ball territory.

Two posters here have said they have . . . and that's fine.

For an umpire to state he had had to move fans 5 times in his career speaks for itself. While I cannot even begin to comment on the specific examples it appears that this is the same umpire that for the last few years has told us how advanced not only the baseball is that is played in his area but how SUPERIOR the umpires are.

Frankly the facts in this thread don't make sense to me.

Regards,

Gee, I've only been on these forums since last year. From where do you get the last few years?

As I said, it was not fans that were moved, but baseball's version of an internet troll or spammer. I have no problem with fans, and the comments that accompany them. And I said less than 5 times. I can only remember a couple of times, which can be counted on one hand, as I stated.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Gee, I've only been on these forums since last year.

He's right, Tee. It just seems like forever.

[orioles35]

If the batter is in the box with the bat between his legs, does that mean his penis is part of the bat? Just wondering.

[DG]

In summer of 05 in the finals of a state tournament of 16-18 year olds I asked the TD to remove a fan who was cussing at the pitcher for hitting the batter in the elbow. Turns out the batter was his son, and the count was something like 1-2 so I don't think he did it intentionally. This team crowds the plate, that I already knew. And I found out later they get hit quite often, which I could have guessed, and the fans complain about it alot. Duh!

In any event, the TD went over to talk to the guy, and I paid him no more attention. He must have talked the TD into letting him stay because he was still there when I looked over there later, but he never said another word. Mission accomplished.

That is about the extent of my involvement with fans during games that I can recall.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by GarthB

He's right, Tee. It just seems like forever.

Now that is one of your best ones ever.