The Smitty Chronicles
 

Loved Tuss' Smitty thread. It made me think of incompetent or over-the-hill officials I have known.

The ones who pi$$ me off most are the shopworn vets who love to dispense advice.

There was a guy in my area who was the best ump around--all you had to do was ask him. He came to spectate at a HS game I was doing and chastised me between innings for wearing a watch. I didn't take it off. After the game he asked me how I dare defy him. I calmly said, "Well, sport, if I take your advice and really follow it, I'll end up being just as mediocre as you are."

I knew a similar guy who did hoops. I was on his board. Once I watched him do a key state game where he totally botched a player DQ. At the next meeting, the same ref went into a longish screed about fouling-out procedure, citing his own botched work (but not referring to himself). I knew I was leaving the board soon, so I stood up and asked, "Hey Frank--who worked that game?" He sat down, speechless, and the room cracked up.

I worked on that same board with a sharp, young ref who couldn't BUY a varsity game. So he quit, went to a camp and was doing D-2 college a couple of years later. I watched him do a game in my area and one of the board honchos came up to me and said, "Hey Ace, isn't that Harry Refname out there?" After I assented, he said, "But he's a jayvee official!"

I said, "Not anymore."



Ace

I'm curious as to why you'd feel the need to wear a watch during a game. They guy could have been a total douche bag for the most part, but he was right on this point.


Tim.

In Ace's defense, Tom, I have to say his response wasn't all that uncalled for given what the guy said to him.



That's an invite for a terse response.


Tim.

I do not think it is fair for us to refer to poor umpires as "smitty", because it reflects negatively on coaches and implies that most coaches are not up to the task.

So a guy makes a mistake, owns up to it and you feel the need to embarass him. And then only because you were leaving the board
In my neck of the woods we call that "coward"

Please explain. Maybe it's a language thing between Canadian English and idioms and American English and idioms.

ahhh heck its Friday, I'll play

How does the word 'Smitty' refer to coaches? Too much Labatt's last night, eh, cd? ;)

The guy was not owning up to his mistake. He was telling everybody how to deal with DQs and cited his own game mess up without saying it was his game and he botched it.

If an official can't deal with being a bit thrown off in an association meeting, how in the heck is he going to listen to a coach in his ear for 4 quarters?

I have no idea what you're saying, but I'll try to respond.

You can be a poor umpire and not a smitty. Its really not hard, take advice, wear a proper uniform, and have an inquiry as the rules of the game and the mechanics.

You could miss every call in a given game and not be a smitty. Just a bad umpire.

CD, here in the US, a Smitty will wear his hat backwards at the plate, wear his shin guards on the outside of his pants, and have a ball bag full of seeds. On the bases, he will brush off the pitcher's plate, brush off the bases, and flash the count back to the PU. As Tuss stated, it is not the bad umpire that is the Smitty. And Smitty has no references to coaches, it is strictly pointed to umpires.

They'll also come to games and offer "sage wisdom" to you through the backstop between innings, such gems as "Did you know the tie really doesn't go to the runner?"

I smiled, nodded and reminded him the bat also had no hands and that you could overrun first base and turn towards second. He got confused on that last one. :D

[quote=TussAgee11]The guy was not owning up to his mistake. He was telling everybody how to deal with DQs and cited his own game mess up without saying it was his game and he botched it.

If an official can't deal with being a bit thrown off in an association meeting, how in the heck is he going to listen to a coach in his ear for 4 quarters?[/quote]

Tuss,
There something to be said for that.

But, I hafta judge intent. If the intent is to flame and humiliate, then making such statements is rude, impolite, disrespectful and ill-mannered.

Why do I doubt that "smitty" used the word "defy" in his query?

I always thought a "Smitty" referred to a coach, and that umpires used it as a synonym for "rats". Now it seems it is a term used solely to describe umpires with a bad attitude.

How did that name originate? "smitty "

Oops !!! Ya got that rear-end to. :)
I don't think attitude comes into play for them, unless they just don't care about their appearance on the field.

Guessing here, that one of the members was telling/relating a story about an umpire, without giving the actual name.
Smith, being a rather common name, was selected and to carry it a bit further, and to make that umpire more familiar, because he may be in Anyville, USA , "Smitty" evolved. :)

zebra2955,

I believe the term was originally coined by Carl Childress in an article he wrote for Referee magazine prior to the inception of Officiating.com. I believe Mick's hypothesis pretty well summarizes Carl's intent.

JM

Not bad attitudes necessarily, but many bad habits which they believe to be the proper way of doing something and refuse to listen to anyone who tries to correct them. Ozzy gave a good partial list of things that identify "Smitty."

Thanks for the info

I would differentiate between 1) a Smitty: One who thinks he knows all, but doesn't; One who tells all how to do it, but can't; One who thinks he's the great gift to officiating, but isn't; Is oblivious to his foolishness.

And 2) umpires, as Ozzy describes, who are just clueless. An official can plain ol' stink and be lousy, but it's when he starts spouting off, the Smitty label is attached.

I'll add:
-Upon meeting you for the first time, he recites his resume and "experience." Take a deep breath and enjoy the day's ride through Hell.:rolleyes:
-States he has a HUGE zone, only to be size of a tea cup.

My first game ever w/partner: 11-y.o. game. Partner gets out of his car, straps on his shin guards outside the pants. I walk over to say I'm here and already dressed for the plate. He then takes off his guards and proceeds to put them back on, under his pants.

I worked a summer league game (17-18 year old kids) today with a guy who didn't have a ball bag, wore a brown belt and even work khakis :eek:

I think I know that guy!!
Did he also wear a fishing hat?

I KNEW some of youse would jump all over me for wearing a watch. Why can't you cull through this to the actual point of the post?

Thois is my problem with the board--too many of you try to rip a post apart without getting to its crux.

When do YOU go to a game you are not working, and, during the game, walk up to an official and give him grief--for anything--much less something as minor as wearing a watch. BTW, he was not my assignor, an officer on the board... nuttin'.

Jeeze, Louise.

Ace

In my neck of the woods, we don't throw names like that around.

If anyone was a pantywaist, it was the veteran ref who couldn't own up to his own mistake, yet decided to subject his audience to a long diatribe, when he, in fact, was the erring ref. He deserved every bit of my treatment. That was the point of my post.

I'm done with you, CO. I can't brook such babbling.

Ace

So...would you like "youse" to be pronounced like "ewes". Or would you prefer that it rhyme with "louse"? :rolleyes:

No, he didn't.

Rita

Guys/Gals, when you are watching a game do you take the time to walk up and critique the officials working the game? I don't. The point is, this guy had no business even approaching Ace and saying anything, except perhaps, "Hi, how you doing Ace?"

I've met Mr. Smitty.

See: http://forum.officiating.com/showthread.php?t=32975

I don't think anyone would disagree with that (at least, I hope no one would).

The problem is in presenting extraneous information such as the watch issue, and then throwing a hissy fit when some people (correctly) call it. For shame!

Maybe
 

I would. If I never wanted to work there again or if I was picking a fight.

Being from New Jersey, I can speak authoritatively regarding the pronunciation of youse (plural of you).

Unfortunately, the font that contains diacritical marks isn't available on this site, but it's yooz, if you imagine the o's connected like a pair of glasses and a "short vowel" sign above them. The "oo" is the sound of look or put.

An exception is that at the beginning of a clause, formal north Jersey pronunciation is identical to the English verb use, as in "Use are a buncha bums."

In both north and central Jersey, it's always the former (short vowel oo) pronunciation in the middle of a clause: "Me and him will stand youse all."

It's easy to tell when someone is affecting New Jersey speech when he uses youse in the singular. Just like y'all in the south, youse is never singular. Such a flub is sure to raise eyebrows in any bar in Hoboken.

Source: The Dictionary of New Jersey Speech and Diction, by Francis "Frankie the Pronunciator" Ferrara.

Is it possible the two "yoots"--

Two what? What was that word?

What word?

Two what?

What?

Did you say yoots?

Yeah, two yoots.

What is a yoot?

"What are you a $%^@ing world traveler now?"

Love that movie. :D

yoots?

youfs!

Not in My Cousin Vinny. It's yoots!

Fred Gwynne was hilarious in that movie. It was his final role.:(

Finally a little bit of back-up
 

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I am sooooo sorry that I wore a watch during a game.

I am sorry I didn't put with the sh!t of someone coming to my game and making comments.

At least RPat got through to the gist of my post.

Ace

Bullchips
 

"correctly" my a$$.

I didn't throw a hissy fit, I just zinged him back. Privately.

This guy wasn't my pard or my boss. He has no place whatsoever to come up to me and initiate any conversation about my game. Period. So, when I come back at him, I am wrong?

I repeat: Bullchips.

BTW, I had seen this guy do plenty of games, and make more than a few egregious mistakes, and had never said a word to him about his work.

Once, when I was doing a JV hoops game, one of the varsity refs for the ensuing game came into our locker room at halftime and yelled at me for a double-dribble call he didn't like.

I kicked him out the room. And wasn't nearly as nice to him as I was to the watch guy. The varsity guy complained to the board about me. And the board backed me up.

Some of you may think that as long as a spectating official is "right," that you can jump into someone else's game.

I'll never do such a thing.

Ace

Ace is 110% correct!! Not once have I ever approached an official during a game to make a unsolicited or uninvited comment or correct a mistake. It's not my place, nor is it my business to do so. I spent several years as the UIC of an umpires association and I only involved myself when something extremely serious or hazardous was occuring, and that was very RARE.

I am surprised !
With few exceptions on this forum, I envision many of our members on this forum evaluating, assisting, and advising younger/newer umpires during a game, just as if it were a quick and personal local clinic between 1/2-innings.

Of course, Mick, I have WORKED games with younger/newer umpires and have offered advice and encouragement between innings. The issue is would I do so from the 'other side of the fence', and that answer is NO. Course, you knew that ...

I was wonderin' about acting more as an observer, than as a partner, with the newbees knowing that you're there, and being happy for the input.

Ace, I think you're misunderstanding me.

Frankly, I thought your zinger to that particular umpire was witty, and though it wouldn't be my style, I am NOT criticizing it. I couldn't help but smirk when I read it.

What I was getting at was your huffy reply when others pointed out that Smitty was right about the watch. That certainly sounded like a hissy fit to me. You claimed to know that some would pick that nit, so why did you bother citing it?


And I repeat that you're misreading my post.

Being a younger umpire, I can tell you how flustered I got 2 years ago when an older member of the association (who was there as a site director none the less) tried to talk to me from the backstop in between innings, about me letting the kid throw his 5 prepatory pitches/ one minute in between innings. He said I had to get the game moving.

If I was where I am today in the umpiring profession, I would have replied more wittingly, but I was actually so flustered that it put me on edge for the rest of the game with my game management and attitude.

If it was my partner, it would have been fine. But a site director? Who, being an umpire, should know better!

Tuss,

I can relate. Had a situation at CDP 2 years ago where I had just done 2nd base in a 4 man system and was excited about our scheduled rotation that would have me at 1st base for an important game.

Then along comes an older umpire, who hadn't done the previous game with us but jumps on our crew anyways and tells me "you're young- my knees are to sore to be the rabbit". So having had to put up with old guards all week, I gave in and did second base a second time. Boo.

Mick,

ONLY if assigned as an observer/evaluator. Otherwise if something bad catches your eye e-mail the assignor.

Heard a great one from a coach tonight. He complained to me that TWICE in a game last week PU called "foul" on a batted ball that hit third base.

PU's rationale: "It hit the foul side of the base." Priceless!

Oh, and one of his batters ended an inning tonight with a ball down the 3rd base line. As I walked up the line, I muttered, "looked like it was headed for the foul side of the base." He laughed.

Ha!:)

First, how did this guy come up with "rabbit" for 2nd base umpire in a 4 man crew? All three base umpires have to do some running on every play just about.

Second, the guy was old, and had bad knees, but what about him makes him a "smitty?" Not the fact that he's old. Or has physical ailments. I know plenty o' fantastic umpires that are old guys. Neat as a pin, knowledgable of the rules, hustle, great judgment, etc. Just because he's old, or has a bad back, or bad knees doesn't make him a Smitty, which is what we're talking about here. Smitties come in all ages, shapes, sizes, genders and races.

Putting up with "old guards" sounds like ageism to me, which is not cool at all.:(

I wasn't calling this guy a smitty, but he proved himself to be an old guard by trying to throw his weight around.

The "rabbit" is the term I've always heard people use for 2nd base, while 3rd base is called the "rocking chair". But you're right, you have to do some running at every position, just more going in and out at 2nd base.

Steve,

"Rabbit" is a long standing term for U2 in a 4 umpire crew as he goes out on far more plays than U1 & U3 combined.

IMO in regard to the OP - this umpire is being a Smittie by barging into the rotation and forcing someone to change for his convenience.

I am unfamiliar with the phrase. Learn something new every day.

You have a point there. That is kind of Smitty come to think of it.

What's a word for digging a trench in the dirt as you go from U3 to second base over and over and over and over again.

Groundhoggin'!!!!

I agree with you that this guy overstepped in doing this. Would you have felt differently had he given you the courtesy of asking if it was alright with you to switch positions with him?

Tim.

If he had asked whether I would be willing to take 2nd, I would have said that I'd really prefer to do first. I certainly would have felt differently. I am sure he would have been just fine doing 2nd base on Little League sized diamonds anyways.

Sorry ACE
Based on your post it appeared to me that the only reason you stood up and embarrassed the man is because you were "leaving the board soon".
If he deserved every bit of your treatment I would think he deserved it whether or not you were leaving the board.

But you're probably right, I shouldn't be so cavalier about throwing out a word like coward.
There's probably better ones to describe officials that will publicly embarrass their fellow brothers and then not stick around to face them.

Umm, to be fair, I believe that this whole thread has bashed our "brother officials."

90% of officials talk about the other 10% (normally behind their backs). The other 10% don't talk to anyone, because they are smitties.

At least Ace did it to the guy's face, not because of a problem he had with him as an official, but as a person. Honestly, who stands in front of a room lecturing about how to do something without admitting they made the mistake too... maybe a politician. Sometimes you gotta do what's right... and expose people for who they really are, especially when their peers are eating every word of what they are saying...

10%? The percentage of smitties in my association is somewhat higher.

Around here 90% of our umpires are half "Smittys."


Tim.

Yeah, it's pretty lame to not be able to get around on 60 ft. bases. I thought you were working on a big diamond the way he was begging off taking second base. I mean, how far do you really have to run on the small diamond? (rhetorical)

60% of the time, it works every time.

At this mathematical pace we'll have a fastball rising in no time...........


Tim.

Only if you reach 88 mph.

98% of statistisics are made up on the spot.

Sounds like Yogi...

"90% of this game is half mental!"

"Nobody goes there anymore, its too crowded."