Strange Partners

[tibear]

Had a tournament this past weekend where I had a couple of games with some "different" partners.

I was base umpire in both cases.

The first guy didn't have a ball bag, indicator or plate brush. Used his hand to clean the plate and kept the extra balls in his pant pockets. Had a catcher interference happen in the game where the catchers glove ended up 10 feet in front of home plate. PU calls a foul ball (as the batter did catch a bit of the ball and went back to the fence). The offensive manager asked PU if there was CI, at that point he looked a bit confused so the manager asked if he would check with me to see if I saw anything. Of course I put the batter on first and we continued. Later I told him if after the batter swings you see the catcher's glove on the ground, there is a very good chance that there was CI.

The second guy was priceless. All of the diamonds in the tournament had fences all the way around the field and at one point the grounds crew were walking around the field by the home run fence to move their equipment from one diamond to another. The PU called time and told the grounds crew to hurry up because they were interfering with the game. The head groundskeeper (who was also in charge of the entire tournament) kicked the fence and said there's a fence so keep the game going. The PU then asked everyone to look at the groundskeeping people and acknowledge their presence!! The PU also made a point of announcing every pitching change to the crowd by walking to the mound and announcing..."Ladies and gentlemen, now pitching for ..... " Had a heck of a time keeping a straight face during that game!

Any other quirky partner stories??

[Rcichon]

Where do they come up with these people?

I can see possibly halting play until the crew moves away from straight-away center but the rest of that is a joke!

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by tibear

Any other quirky partner stories??

Wrinkled shirt. No hat. No belt. White sneakers. Fanny pack.

Oh yeah, all the same guy who shows up 5 minutes before game time when he's assigned the plate. Upon seeing me in my gear and ready to take the field he states, "I hope you have a big f'ing strike zone."

[lawump]

Originally Posted by waltjp

Wrinkled shirt. No hat. No belt. White sneakers. Fanny pack.

"

How about blue belt...with brown buckle and with green ducks sewn in. (You know like a Dockers (tm) belt).

[GFD406]

Worked with on here that wore his Lobster Shin Guards on the outside of his pants--- hat turned around----

[UMP 64]

We have a 20 vet who wears hat backwards PU, arrives 5 min. (maybe) before game, wears ball bag when BU, indicator in rt. hand, NEVER leaves HP area (2 man), with 3 or 4 man, never goes out on FB, gives 20 second warm-up between innings, no-move when BU, never in "C". Basically pathetic. I made him turn his hat forward with a threat on bodily harm the last regional game we do. This is so sad that some people do not want to learn and do things the proper way. Oh well. What can we do since he and the assignor are TIGHT!!!!!

[jsblanton]

My first year doing any HS ball. I walked into home plate area to ask PU a question between innings. He answered me and said,"What the h%$# are you still doing here. Get your butt out to right center field where you belong." Ever since, unless it is really important, I ask my question after the game is over. It was a great learning moment for me. I never did thank him for it but I should have.

[Jim Porter]

Originally Posted by jsblanton

My first year doing any HS ball. I walked into home plate area to ask PU a question between innings. He answered me and said,"What the h%$# are you still doing here. Get your butt out to right center field where you belong." Ever since, unless it is really important, I ask my question after the game is over. It was a great learning moment for me. I never did thank him for it but I should have.

There can be times when it is necessary for the base umpire to approach the plate umpire between innings -- particularly if you're getting crossed on mechanics. I'll assume you were going to ask the type of question that could've waited until the watering hole.

[tiger49]

How about a partner who carried a couple of beers in his bag. just to have them break all over his gear. However he learned his lesson. Next time he just carried the six pack with him to the park and left it by the fence.

Had another guy this year who with a runner coming home picked up the batter's bat in his right hand. When he went to call the runner out at the plate while still holding the bat he punched the bat out to the side hitting the on-deck batter right in the nose.

[tibear]

Originally Posted by tibear

Had a tournament this past weekend where I had a couple of games with some "different" partners.

I was base umpire in both cases.

The first guy didn't have a ball bag, indicator or plate brush. Used his hand to clean the plate and kept the extra balls in his pant pockets. Had a catcher interference happen in the game where the catchers glove ended up 10 feet in front of home plate. PU calls a foul ball (as the batter did catch a bit of the ball and went back to the fence). The offensive manager asked PU if there was CI, at that point he looked a bit confused so the manager asked if he would check with me to see if I saw anything. Of course I put the batter on first and we continued. Later I told him if after the batter swings you see the catcher's glove on the ground, there is a very good chance that there was CI.

The second guy was priceless. All of the diamonds in the tournament had fences all the way around the field and at one point the grounds crew were walking around the field by the home run fence to move their equipment from one diamond to another. The PU called time and told the grounds crew to hurry up because they were interfering with the game. The head groundskeeper (who was also in charge of the entire tournament) kicked the fence and said there's a fence so keep the game going. The PU then asked everyone to look at the groundskeeping people and acknowledge their presence!! The PU also made a point of announcing every pitching change to the crowd by walking to the mound and announcing..."Ladies and gentlemen, now pitching for ..... " Had a heck of a time keeping a straight face during that game!

Any other quirky partner stories??

One other thing I forgot to mention about the second guy. A player hurt his ankle sliding into a base and once time was called he walked over and asked the player where he got hurt. The umpire then said, "It's a long way from your heart son, suck it up and lets play ball." He then turned around walked back to the plate and yelled, "Play ball!"

[MichaelVA2000]

Had a partner that wore an PONY softball shirt, NSA softball ball bag and an ASA softball hat. He would alternate between an ASA strike mechanic and a baseball strike mechanic off to the side. For infield fly situations he varied between the softball signal and the baseball infield fly signal. He may have also used infield fly signals he made up or he could have been just rubbing his belly.

[lawump]

I know this is gross, but I swear on my kids' lives that this is true:

Typical high school locker room (we were changing at our cars in the parking lot). My partner reached into his pickup truck and got a small hand towel. I assumed he was going to wipe the sweat off of his brow. Instead he put the towel down his pants, and wiped his ***. He was NOT wiping sweat off his ***...he was wiping his *** as in the last toilet he used didn't have any toilet paper or something.

I remember it 14 years later. OMG its still gross in my memories.

[bluezebra]

I worked a very good men's league (some had played pro ball in the Mexican League, some had college experience) in the San Fernando Valley (CA) when I lived there. I'm BU with a partner I never worked with before. Pre-game at the plate. Ground rules, exchange batting orders, etc. Everything's fine so far. I take my position past 1B, indicate I'm ready. PU puts on his mask, says "Play ball". Next time he came out from behind plate and removed his mask, was when the game was over and we were heading to the parking lot. Actually, he didn't remove his mask until were were in the parking lot.

Needless to say, I called the assignor when I got home.

Bob

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by lawump

I know this is gross, but I swear on my kids' lives that this is true:

Typical high school locker room (we were changing at our cars in the parking lot). My partner reached into his pickup truck and got a small hand towel. I assumed he was going to wipe the sweat off of his brow. Instead he put the towel down his pants, and wiped his ***. He was NOT wiping sweat off his ***...he was wiping his *** as in the last toilet he used didn't have any toilet paper or something.

I remember it 14 years later. OMG its still gross in my memories.

"Thanks for the memories!" - Bob Hope.

[njdevs00cup]

Hat backwards. Gave the location of every ball with both a hand gesture and a verbal. Told the pitcher he'd need to bring up those low pitches! Closed his fist to punch a batter out, no verbal!