before we start (an equal opportunity post...)

[Adam]

My God! That sounds.......


reasonable.

[tiger49]

Bobby,

Just wondering if the thought of addressing him as he walked to your partner entered your mind? I probably would have addressed the situation when he turned and headed to my partner and said "Skip, no reason to be going to him he is just going to reinterate what you have already been told, and that is everyone is in the dugouts including coaches, as was discussed at the plate meeting!"

Now if he heads to my partner and gets a different answer then there are bigger problem's...At least addressing it like this gives your partner a better heads up as to what is coming his way.

I am also wondering what was discussed in the pregame concerning this?

[bobbybanaduck]

i see where you're coming from, but, i had walked down to about the 45' line to have this discussion. when we finished, i turned and walked back to my starting position thinking that all was well and good. when i got there i turned around and faced the plate and that is when i noticed the conversation going on. i could have walked backwards to my position, monitoring him like a hawk...but, like i said, i thought all was well and good. had i known, or had any inkling, that he was headed to the PU to make an appeal, you bet your behind i would have been on his heels.

there was nothing discussed in the pregame about this. it came up at the plate meeting because there were kids sitting on buckets in front of the dugout. our pregame conversation was mostly about 3 man mechanics and coverages as i was the only one on the crew with any experience.

[oyaisee]

I don't get it what's the big deal.... your buddy Mr. I'm to scared to umpire is NOT going to enforce that rule again..... SO you the guy THE Only guy who sticks to the rules.... and actually tells the coaches to do that.

Everyone else does not care!!!! so you might want to start with your other Umpire buddies first rather than changing the world in this 1 game.

[SethPDX]

Yikes.

The big deal is that he told the managers what was expected with respect to being outside the dugouts. When a manager complained to his partner, his partner agreed to ignore what bobby had just (correctly) instructed the manager to do.

If you don't care about people hanging around outside the dugouts in your game that's fine. The fact is, they don't belong on the field. But where the coaches are is not as big a deal in this story as is the fact that bobby's partner threw him under the bus.

If we ignored rules because "no one else cares about that" we would have many more problems than we already have every game.

[Rcichon]

Originally Posted by bobbybanaduck

i see where you're coming from, but, i had walked down to about the 45' line to have this discussion. when we finished, i turned and walked back to my starting position thinking that all was well and good. when i got there i turned around and faced the plate and that is when i noticed the conversation going on. i could have walked backwards to my position, monitoring him like a hawk...but, like i said, i thought all was well and good. had i known, or had any inkling, that he was headed to the PU to make an appeal, you bet your behind i would have been on his heels.

there was nothing discussed in the pregame about this. it came up at the plate meeting because there were kids sitting on buckets in front of the dugout. our pregame conversation was mostly about 3 man mechanics and coverages as i was the only one on the crew with any experience.

Umpires are like Parents: God gave you more than one for a reason.

When he (your [ex?] partner) admitted to throwing you under the bus, I would have immediately discussed with him alone the fact that we may not always like ALL of the rules we are charged with observing but that THIS one in particular has been proscribed by those that make such rules AND he must now advise said rat that this rule will be observed in this game as it is written.

Of course the parking lot discussion would encompass etiquette and food chain dynamics.