Umpire Interference
 

Gentlemen:

I had the toughest call I have ever had to make today :rolleyes: (tounge in cheek). I called interference on the umpire.



Runner on third, batter hit the ball to F4, F4 throws the ball to F3 for the out. Meanwhile R3 runs home and runs into the umpire who is standing too near the line. R3 is called out on the tag at the plate. I called time. I put R3 back on 3rd. I then gave the umpire a royal a** chewing.

BTW. This was 9-10 year old house league mustangs and I was the only umpire:D

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

You realize, of course, that this isn't umpire interference.

Garth I know, but the coach was so happy to get the out nullified and his kid back on third that I just went with it.

Allow me to play the part of the Grinch.

I don't do that level of ball, but I believe that this is how myths get started. The coach, parents and kids now "know" that if a player runs into an umpire it's interference.

This is similar to the butterfly theory. The energy of this well meaning misapplication of a rule will, one day, turn into a sh!t storm where a kid is called out, the umpire is not believed and a coach gets ejected.

You got lucky the offensive manager didn't know the rules, and protested your call.

Garth, I hear what you are saying but I doubt that's going to happen with this group. They were about the mellowest coaches I have ever dealt with. Parents too. Which was actually quite a relief. Last week I almost called the police because a parent was drunk and yelling obscenities. But that's another story. It was the offensive coach that asked me to put him back on third. It wasn't going to change the game. Heck the game was over in 75 minutes.

Now guys don't go flaming me on this one. I thought it was kind of funny so I put it out here. Shame on me for drinking tequila on Cinco de Mayo and posting.

Nobody's flaming you. You made a mistake and misapplied a rule and you made another mistake in thinking it didn't matter.

It doesn't matter how mellow these coaches were today. Their mood today has nothing to do with what they "learned" about umpire interference. It's what mood they're in when an umpire enforces a similar situation correctly.

If I were you, I wouldn't work with an umpire who can't get out of the way of a 9 year old. And he should think twice about working with an umpire who misapplies the rules.

And, yeah, I know you worked alone.

Garth..Some people can see humor in these situations... obviously you have no sense of humor. Go to bed. It’s late.

Sorry, I've had to clean up messes left by umpires who thought it was humorous to make up rules.

Have another drink and maybe you'll think that's funny, too.

holy God, settle down.

it's a 9 year old baseball game using ONE UMPIRE.

guy is trying to run all over and make calls at about three bases at once it seems like and knocked some kid over or whatever happened.

who cares? I dont think this is severly going to effect the entire baseball playing careers of these kids, do you?

settle down for ten seconds and realize that this probably will NEVER EVEN HAPPEN AGAIN. If it happens in your game and you have to eject a manager over it, then I ask you to find this guy and yell at him, because obviously he caused the whole mess in your life.

good luck and please for the love of all that is holy, chill out.

who cares? I dont think this is severly going to effect the entire baseball playing careers of these kids, do you?


Yes, it will affect them, because they will not have correct knowledge of the RULES. They care--They are out there trying to do their best and expect the same from the umpire.

Hey, by the way, are the hands a part of the bat as well?

This may be funny to a drunken poser who's just collecting a check for putting on a blue shirt or a casual fan, but bring this to an actual umpire board where we take our role on the field seriously and you should expect this kind of reaction.

You are out there to apply the rules correctly, not make stuff up to make the coaches happy.

I'm still trying to figure out how he got run over by a runner coming home from third after making a call at first. How are you anywhere near the 3B line? But then again, it's all just funny......

It sounds like the offense got a break, so it would be the defensive manager who would have a protest.

In the play at had, and given the level and apparent "mellowness" of the coaches, Forest could have apologized, explained the rule, explained that he messed up, learned from it, ...

What he shouldn't have done is put the runner back at third.

This is the instructional level. This is where players and coaches learn the rules. This is where "hands are part of the bat", "home plate is foul", "pitches that hit the dirt are dead" and a runner bumping an umpire is umpire interference are all learned.

Now, I admit a guy "trying to run all over and make calls at about three bases at once" and getting run over by a nine year old is funny. We can discuss appropriate one man mechanics if you'd like. But walking away from a game in which you just imbedded a rule myth is not humorous. Not at any level.

Right you are Bob.

Shouldn't this have been called 'umpire obstruction', and how is it scored?