I didn't wait 2 years, but...

[Don Mueller]

30 something adult league in the spring.
Typical adult league stuff no ejections or anything close to one.
There was a 16 or 17 yr old kid in the visitors dugout, one of the players kid and was occasionally helping out warming up a pitcher and getting bats.
Very long game and getting dark, visiting team down 2 or 3 after 8.
Went to both coaches after 8 and said I'm going to try and get this in but we might not finish, if it gets too dark I'm shutting it down.
We get a few minutes into the 9th and I realize that if visitors tie or go ahead there is no way were getting through the bottom of the inning without flashlights so I call the game. Obviously visitors are irate.
Partner and I go to our cars and a minute later a car pulls up to the end of the lot, about 30 yds away and the kid who had been in the dugout (in the car alone)
shouts "Hey Blue, You s@@k!" and then peels out.
Fast forward about 5 weeks, guess which team I have as visitors at another park? Yep same team and the kid is in the dugout.

Would you do anything?

Here's what I did.
Went to the dugout before the plate meeting and asked the kid which player was his father. Called his dad over and explained what his son had done.
Then I asked the dad if he thought that was acceptable behavior? He of course was embarrassed and said no. Then I said "You can take care of dealing with this or when the game starts I can take care of it, which do you prefer?" He caught my inference but had no idea what I expected from him.
He asked what I suggested and I told him I thought his son should leave the park and consider it a 1 game suspension. He agreed and the game went off with nothing more than typical adult league stuff.

You are going to get hammered for ejecting a spectator and for bringing up something from a past game!

Good move btw.

Speaking of which. I have my first adult league games (non-college summer league that is) or the year coming up on Sunday. 28 and over NABA. I will suffer through it somehow.

[SanDiegoSteve]

If I went around seeking revenge on everyone that hollered nasty things at me, I would be too busy to ever do anything else in life.

If you came up to me and complained about my 16 year-old kid, I would tell you to go pound sand. Then try to take it out on me during the game, and see what happens then.

[Don Mueller]

Originally Posted by rei

You are going to get hammered for ejecting a spectator and for bringing up something from a past game!

Good move btw.

Probably, but technically speaking I did not eject him. I only suggested to the father what he should do. Dad sent him home, not me.

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by rei

You are going to get hammered for ejecting a spectator and for bringing up something from a past game!

Not nearly as much as he should be for starting the 9th inning of a ballgame that he wasn't absolutely sure he could get finished.


Tim.

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

If I went around seeking revenge on everyone that hollered nasty things at me, I would be too busy to ever do anything else in life.

If you came up to me and complained about my 16 year-old kid, I would tell you to go pound sand. Then try to take it out on me during the game, and see what happens then.

Can you even walk?

Originally Posted by Don Mueller

Probably, but technically speaking I did not eject him. I only suggested to the father what he should do. Dad sent him home, not me.

True true! Like I said, good move.

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

Not nearly as much as he should be for starting the 9th inning of a ballgame that he wasn't absolutely sure he could get finished.


Tim.

How can you be "absolutely sure" you can finish an inning?

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by rei

How can you be "absolutely sure" you can finish an inning?

By not putting yourself into a position where only a "few minutes" into the last inning you call the game because you're worried the visiting team might tie or go ahead. He shouldn't have started the last inning. I'd venture to guess most here know how much time they have left before it's going to be too dark to complete an inning. I shouldn't have said he could have been "absolutely" sure, but he could have used much better judgment.


Tim.

[Don Mueller]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

If I went around seeking revenge on everyone that hollered nasty things at me, I would be too busy to ever do anything else in life.

If you came up to me and complained about my 16 year-old kid, I would tell you to go pound sand. Then try to take it out on me during the game, and see what happens then.

Just to clarify my intentions.

It was not revenge. If my kid pulled a stunt like that I'd be appreciative of an ump alerting me to it even if it was a few weeks later.
If I wanted revenge I would have been much more public about it.

If the father had told me to pound sand then I certainly would understand where the kids behavior came from.

[Don Mueller]

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

Not nearly as much as he should be for starting the 9th inning of a ballgame that he wasn't absolutely sure he could get finished.


Tim.

Can't argue with you except to say these guys pay a lot money to play and I was trying to get the game in.
They were going to be peeved either way but I probably would have been better off calling it at 8.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by rei

Can you even walk?

What do you mean by this?

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by Don Mueller

Can't argue with you except to say these guys pay a lot money to play and I was trying to get the game in.
They were going to be peeved either way but I probably would have been better off calling it at 8.

Understood, Don. I said it because just like you did, I learned the hard way how ugly it can get when we have to pull the pin during an inning we shouldn't have started. And for the record, as a parent of three teenage boys I would have wanted to know about the incident as well if it were one of them involved.


Tim.

[Jim Porter]

You really have to use your judgment when darkness becomes an issue and be clear about the terms. Never go in foggy -- "I'll try to get it in." You should've known when sunset was and made the eighth inning the last inning of play -- before the eighth begins tell them, "We're not getting in nine, so this will be the last inning." I've done it that way for years with great success -- the teams appreciate having a neat ending to the game and knowing when their last at-bat is coming.