HS JV
After several innings, my "partner" UIC got
tired of telling boys to tuck in their shirts.
So, he told a boy to tuck it in before his
at bat. While the kid was doing so,
he directed the pitcher to pitch!
Then he called a Strike.

I had tried to call TIME when I saw the kid
out of the box, but the pitcher ignored me
because he was told to pitch. Of course,
the batter's coach went wild, and I don't
blame him. I decided not to intervene
and let him take the guff. I could have
corrected the situation since I had actually
called TIME.

I felt this was a cheap shot, not good game
management, and I just left the field at the
end of the game without discussion. His
windshield got smashed by a foul ball during
that game.

Your partner was out of line. Imagine if that pitched ball had hit the kid while he was tucking in his shirt. When I was coaching, I'd have gone ballistic at what he did.

Anyway, when the ump directs a player to correct something, there's an implied time out. If the ump asks to see the ball, can a runner advance while he's inspecting it, just because no one actually registered an official time out with the U.S. Bureau of Time Outs?

I agree with greymule. What kind of moron were you working with? I hope you reported this to your UIC. Jerks like this have no business umpiring. They give the rest a bad name.

And, it was poetic justice that his windshield was broken by a foul ball.

Actually, you should have jumped in and let everyone know that the time out is implied when an umpire directs a player to tuck his shirt in. This is NOT judgement. It's the rule.

Bob

I was glad about the windshield, too.

You are right, I should have stepped in and
negated the nonsense. It's one of those
"I should have" moments that I have learned from.
I was actually kind of stunned when the kid
pitched, as I was not expecting it.

The guy is a jerk, and not a good umpire.
He's one of those that's been around forever
and thinks he's great. He squats down so low
that his head is entirely behind the catcher's.
Also prides himself on being a "rules guru." (ha!)
Not sure if complaining about one of the
good 'ol boys is in my best interest, though.

I do not condone the actions of your partner however you not saying anything to him after the game or not reporting him to your association was just as bad.

Sometimes people think if they just disassociate theirself from a situation, it will go away. Not true. He may be this bad because knowone has ever corrected him. Im sure their is something that every official does that can be considered wrong. Heck half the things we do right, most people think are wrong anyway.

Remember he wears the same color jersey as you. When he looks bad, so do you. So do something about it.

That sound like it was quoted right out out of the
Umpires "BIBLE". I agree, don't just complain about it, do something.

Something to think about...Last year my assignor was filling out contracts, talking with A.D.s, etc. when one a.d. in particular said to not send any umpires from my town (population 160). I was stunned because I knew I had worked good games for his teams. As the season went on, this school had me at an away game. My assignor asked the coach afterward what his issue concerning me was. The coach replied that it wasn't me he had a problem with, but a different official that I had worked with a year prior who was from the same small town as me. My point is that I almost got a bad reputation because of a partner I had that the coach was very dissatisfied with. There are times that we have to let our associations know to protect ourselves, especially when they've only heard one side of the story. This could have prevented me from ever working at this school again.

Jackie

All the associations I've belonged to, and I assigned for two sports, required an AD to specifically inform us why they redlined an official. If it wasn't a valid reason, we wouldn't consider the request. To just allow anyone to be redlined is wrong. A friend of mine was redlined by a football coach years ago. He had NEVER worked that school's games, home or away. Or for that coach at another school. Weird.

Bob

Interesting . . .
 

In the areas that I work coaches are allowed to "redline" a certain number of officials period. No reason is asked and no reason is given.

We have found this keeps the tension level lower.

Tee

Scennario: R1 and R2, 1 out, Infield fly awareness signaled. Fly to right-center alley, definitely not down the right field foul line. I watch to make sure center fielder cleanly catches the ball, then watch R1 and R2's tags after the catch. R1 advances to third. I watch R2 as he tags and takes a few steps toward 2B in case he decides to advance on the throw back into the infield. The throw goes all the way to 3B. I turn toward 3B as R1 has retreated to 1B, PU looks at me to make the call on the bam-bam play that was over before I turned all the way around. He proceeds to yell that I was out of position and was to cover 3B and make the call. That I made him look bad on a call he made from the plate on a bam-bam play at third base. After the second game, of which I was the PU, I pulled out the NFHS umpries manual. The situation was there almost to exactness on page 48 U2: Position C. He was wrong and was actually the one out of position. Yet the only ones who know this is the home field coach, who had benefitted from the call, and is also an umpire, whom I discussed with later. I have not been scheduled by any AD's to work with him since, but plan to note his error.

The key I'm making is that there are times and places to correct the other official, but make sure you do it tastefully and that you are correct. You should not penalize a team or player for something that you or your fellow official did or called wrong and can be easily correctted and explained to coaches in a manner that does not embarrass you or your partner.

don: It was unfortuante, unprofessional,
and uncalled for. Whether you were right or
wrong in your mechanics, your partner did not
handle things correctly by yelling out at you
and embarassing you (and making himself look
like a jerk).

Having a good pregame talk can help iron out
some situations and how you will each react.
Also, sometimes you can signal to each other
to show intent. But, at the very least, a
private conversation after a mixup is much
better than what your partner did. Becoming
angry and defensive makes matters worse.

On that particular play, in the mechanics we work
here, BU would have that call at 3B because the PU
stays home (with runner on 2B). Unless BU hears,
"I've Got Third!" it's his call. Clearly, you and
your partner were not on the same page.

With R1, R2 and a caught fly, the call on advancing R2 at 3B belongs to PU under all 2 man mechanics I've seen. With a caught fly, runers were required to tag. There is no likely play at home, so PU should move up to take 3B and leave BU with 1B and 2B potentials. Not a time for PU to pull out the popcorn and spectate expecting BU to handle potential at 3 bases.


Just my opinion,

Freix

With R1, R2 and a caught fly, the call on advancing R2 at 3B belongs to PU under all 2 man mechanics I've seen. With a caught fly, runers were required to tag. There is no likely play at home, so PU should move up to take 3B and leave BU with 1B and 2B potentials. Not a time for PU to pull out the popcorn and spectate expecting BU to handle potential at 3 bases.


Freix: My bad. You are right. I was thinking
of a ground ball hit out to the outfield, where
there is potential for a play at home.

Setting aside the stupidity of your partner for a minute, if the batter was out of the box, this should be a quick pitch and a balk anyway shouldn't it?

In this particular case, no, because PU was
directing the kid to pitch. It should have
been "no pitch" because I had (tried to)
called TIME, although it was ignored by the
pitcher (because PU was telling him to pitch).

The whole thing is just a bad memory now, that
I will handle differently if it ever happens
again (unlikely).