Bad day umping today

[Danny R]

My son plays LL Minors ~8yr-olds. The league needs volunteer umps, so I've volunteered. I have 4 games under my belt behind home plate and a couple in the field. I think I do a pretty good job: I continually read through the rulebook and am quizzing myself so that I can give the kids a well-umped game; I look up info on the web like this site to help make me better; I hustle out to cover plays; I have a consistent strike zone (I'm pretty strict about strikes being armpits or below, but I give 2-3 inches on the outside and inside, and I'll call strikes and pitches just below the knees if I think they're hittable); I make all calls loud so everybody can hear them; and I'm completely impartial. Up until today it's been great. People from both sides have come up after the game and said I've provided the best umping they've seen in this league. Today, though, there were some parents just behind me while I was umping. They were making comments to each other like "Jeez, how can he make any kind of call on that? He doesn't even have a good position!" or "Look at that! I tell you, making a Little League dad an umpire is one of the worst things you can do," and on and on. Not loud, not talking to me, just among themselves but within earshot. I never acknowledged any of it or gave any sign that I was hearing it. Between innings when I would walk around they'd say "you're doing a good job, ump." I know you have to have thick skin to do this job. But man it really irritated me. I know I shouldn't be bothered by it, but I am. I suppose I need to get used to it. Oh well...

[greymule]

Danny, you could call a 100% perfect game and the backstop flies would still buzz in your ears. Why aren't they out there if they know so much? And eight-year-olds? Call by the book and the game never ends. Make adjustments and the know-it-alls will start chirping. You're in a no-win situation, but somebody has to do it.

[bluezebra]

The worst gripers are the ones who sit on the backdides, and do little or nothing to contribute to the program.

Bob

[brandda]

I understand exactly how you feel. My favorite is when someone down the first base line tells you that your strike zone is off when you call a pitch a ball because it's outside. How the flip would they know?

Because you want to do a good job, criticism, any criticism, can sting. What I would suggest is three things:

1) Be careful which criticism you pay attention to. Most parents don't even know the rules so why worry? On the other hand there are probably some senior umps and/or coaches in your league who would be able to give you good feedback on mechanics/situations etc...

2) Look at comments you get as an aggregate rather than individually. It sounds to me like you are doing pretty well.

3) You just gotta believe. At the end of the day you are the only one who knows if you did a good job. Be honest and ask yourself if you blew a call or if your strike zone was inconsistent. If the answer is yes, then you have something to work on for next game. Easily the best game I have called behind the plate this year in terms of my strike zone was the one where the losing coach came up to me afterwards and told me that my strike zone sucked. It didn't bother me because I know it didn't.

Greymule makes a good point. Why aren't they out there? I have on more than one occasion offered my mask to someone to let them take over for me whenever they felt it was appropriate. I have not had any takers yet and the stands got much quieter after that. Trust me, the kids are better off because there are trained and conscientious umpires like yourself out there then they would be otherwise.

Keep at it. The first year is the hardest.

[phillycheese]

Making a Little League Dad an umpire is one of the best things you can do. If you enjoy the job and want to stick around, the league will have a willing umpire for years to come. (your kid is only eight, thats at least 4 more years of enjoying his games from behind the plate!!)
It sounds like you have the desire and will to be a good umpire. We all have to start somewhere. I'm fairly new myself at three years. My advice is to get as much training as you can. Attend all of your league clinics. And find someone you discuss things with. And don't bury your head too far in the rule book. Its one thing to know the rules, but another to know how to apply them. I'm still learning that one myself
Just use a lot of common sense, and have fun.

A quote I read somewhere about umpiring is that it is the only profession where your job is to piss half the people off all of the time. Don't worry about pleasing the fans.
You'll find plenty of enjoyment within the diamond.
Good luck.
Phil

[Marty Rogers]

I generally don't allow spectators to sit/stand
right behind home plate. I usually say it is
distracting to the pitcher (but really it's
distracting to ME). Many leagues in my area
have a tarp hung on the basckstop, which
blocks the view from behind home. If there
are bleachers right there, not much can be
done, I guess. If any distracting behavior
is going on (kids talking/shouting to batters,
saying things to the catcher, etc) I clear the
area out. On a lot of LL diamonds, fans can
be within 10 feet or so of the batter's box.
If it's a problem, they're gone.

As for comments/compliments from parents and
coaches: Don't take ANY of it too seriously,
good or bad. Winning coaches will usually
say you did a great job, and the same ones
will find your faults when they lose.

It sounds like you have great potential, so
I hope you consider being certifiied by your
local high school association. Even if you don't
want to do HS ball, it will help you in youth
leagues, small and large diamond. Good Luck.

[PeteBooth]

Originally posted by Danny R


My son plays LL Minors ~8yr-olds. The league needs volunteer umps, so I've volunteered. I have 4 games under my belt behind home plate and a couple in the field. I think I do a pretty good job: I continually read through the rulebook and am quizzing myself so that I can give the kids a well-umped game;

I look up info on the web like this site to help make me better; I hustle out to cover plays; I have a consistent strike zone (I'm pretty strict about strikes being armpits or below, but I give 2-3 inches on the outside and inside, and I'll call strikes and pitches just below the knees if I think they're hittable);

I make all calls loud so everybody can hear them; and I'm completely impartial. Up until today it's been great. People from both sides have come up after the game and said I've provided the best umping they've seen in this league.

Today, though, there were some parents just behind me while I was umping. They were making comments to each other like "Jeez, how can he make any kind of call on that? He doesn't even have a good position!" or "Look at that! I tell you, making a Little League dad an umpire is one of the worst things you can do," and on and on. Not loud, not talking to me, just among themselves but within earshot.

I never acknowledged any of it or gave any sign that I was hearing it. Between innings when I would walk around they'd say "you're doing a good job, ump." I know you have to have thick skin to do this job. But man it really irritated me. I know I shouldn't be bothered by it, but I am. I suppose I need to get used to it. Oh well...

Danny welcome to the world of volunteer umpiring. Your thread is one of the main reasons why leagues have trouble getting volunteer umpires.

Do not let it bother you. When I was umpiring LL, it wasn't uncommon to umpire 3/4 games in a day due to the shortage. On a hot summer day it was my 4th game behind the dish and I could hear a parent constantly quibbling about my strike zone, saying all kinds of things.

I know we are not supposed to address fans, but it was very hot, so between innings I went over to this individual and said:

"You know you are right, my Strike zone is awful and you could call a better game than me. I'll tell you what, it's hot and a nice tall glass of lemonade looks really fine at this point. You can either borrow my equipment or I'm certain we have equipment upstairs that can fit you and I'll go sit down and relax."

The individual just stood there dumbfounded, and I didn't hear a peep out of him the rest of the game. In fact, he said good game blue after it was all over.

You'll find not just at a baseball game, but people in general who will complain but will not do anything about it either.

Many leagues are now starting to pay for umpires or "outsourcing" the scheduling of umpires to an association. People wonder why youth sports is becoming expensive and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Whether you call a "perfect" game or have a "bad" game people will have comments. Suggesstion: Simply do your job (pay no attention to the comments unless those comments are making it difficult to continue the game), and when the game is over do not look for any acolades, simply walk off the field.

Pete Booth

[Danny R]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I really like umping. I have 3 boys (2, 4 and 8) who all love baseball, and like phillycheese said I expect to get many more years of experience enjoying my kids' games from behind home plate!

My league didn't provide any training, other than a 2 hour rules meeting. I'm going to seek out training with nearby leagues and through other means. Reflecting on last night I know that my position behind the plate wasn't "locked down." I need to learn good mechanics. I don't think that affected my calls too much though--these are eight-year- olds and it ain't too hard to call a pitch behind the batter's back a ball, no matter what your position! And I know I was consistent. I know that the coaches were a bit ticked too because they thought I was pushing them along too fast between innings (they changed pitchers between almost every inning and wanted time to warm up their pitchers between innings). I pushed them to be ready to play with 1-2 minutes. And you know what? It was the 1st game that completed the full six innings in the 2-hr time limit.

Thanks again.

[brandda]

Our pleasure Danny. There are too few of us as it is.
I would recommend a couple of resources for you:

First, Carl Childress has written a couple of good books on field and plate mechanics that discuss not just the mechanics themselves, but also the practical and situational application of them. They are short and worth a read. Second, Gerry Davis has a series of umpiring videos out that are a little redundant, but they go through the basics pretty well on plate and field mechanics that allows you to see what you would otherwise probably only read in print. You can pick up both of these at gerrydavis.com for pretty reasonable prices. You might even want to see if your league wants to buy these as they are a good general resource for everyone.

As to the changeover issue, I would ask the coaches why they were not warming up their pitchers while their team was at bat? Unless the kid was on base, there is no reason, for them to walk in to start an inning cold. Unless they change pitchers during an inning in which case the pitcher gets as many warmups as they want, I keep pitchers to 2-3 throws max (usually 2) and a throwdown and that's it. I almost never have 6 inning games at any level go more than 1:40 minutes. Had one that went 1:15 the other night.

Think of it this way, if you give the pitchers say 6 throws at each changeover, those three extra throws translate to about a minute of time assuming the catcher does not allow the ball past him. If that happens at every changeover, you have added an extra 12 minutes to the game. You can see where it goes from here, as I have noticed that many of my colleagues give 2-3 minutes at the changeover and then wonder why the game goes so long.

If you think it will be an issue, just let the coaches know before the game that you intend to hold to 60 seconds between innings and that you expect their pitchers to come to the mound warm. They will adjust.

[Danny R]

brandda, Last night when the coach complained that I wasn't letting his pitcher warm up (he said it's a safety issue) I told him the pitcher should have been warming up while they were at bat. He claimed that he couldn't do that because the catcher was due to bat and thus had his equipment off, and adults are not allowed to warm up pitchers. I wasn't really sure how to respond to that one, as our league has indeed made it very clear that adults are not allowed to warm up pitchers and catchers must be in full gear.

Rule 8.03 says that a pitcher can throw 8 preparatory pitches, but that it can't exceed one minute. Coach says that's one minute from when the pitcher starts throwing. The problem was that it was taking a couple of minutes for the pitcher and catcher to get out there in the first place. Add 1 minute to that and it's 3 minutes. Much too long.

However, thinking about it now I'm not so sure a pitcher needs someone in a squatting position to warm up. Wouldn't it be warm up enough to be playing catch with another kid?

[brandda]

I have a few responses to this:

1) You might want to get a clarification on the warm up rule. My understanding is that the coach cannot warm up the pitcher ON THE FIELD. There is nothing in the LL rules that I am aware of to prevent a coach from warming the kid up in the bullpen area.

2) Are you sure the catcher has to wear all of the equipment? LL rules specify helmet and cup which means that usually there is more than one kid who can warm the pitcher up. If your league has a ground rule that supercedes this then so be it. I would get that clarified if I were you.

3) How come some other kid did not put on the equipment for a couple of minutes?

4) Was the catcher up or stranded on base? If he was on base, many leagues (including my own at some levels) allow a courtesy runner. If he was up, how long did that take?

5) Changeover is 60 seconds. Not pitcher's warmup. If they waste it, tough.

6) Your original post said that this was going on between almost every inning. How could they not have warmed their pitcher up every inning?

It sounds to me like the coach is making excuses. There are just too many ways to avoid this problem if they want to for it to be an issue.