Yeah, I don't really disagree with that. In retrospect and with hindsight being 20/20, that is what I thought I probably shoiud have said...just say "yes"!

But in the heat of the moment and given that these two coaches had been a bit of a pain all day, right then I wanted to get a point across that I had enough of their "games" or whatever it was they thought they were trying to pull. Sometimes, every stupid question deserves a stupid answer...

My usual style is not to "one up" the coach, give a smart *** answer, get in the last word or spout some witty quip. I'm usually more of a "yes", "no", explain my ruling in five-words-or-less kind of guy.

"Yes" would work. If he asks, "Why?, something simple like, "The runner touched the bag first", should cover it.

To ask for time, walk across the field, then ask if I called the runner "safe" when he clearly saw and heard me do so is kind pointless and I hope that my answers to him made my point- I won't put up with pointless interuptions.

Yes they certainly did. You acknowledge that a few people already made unproductive comments. I'm glad you chose not to join in.

What was unprofessional about what I wrote? For all anyone knows I'm doing my job (checking the base, hustling to right field), and the coach is being the aggressor.

Well, arguing a judgment call is uncalled for in my humble opinion. Judgment calls cannot be argued. If he wants to ask about a rule, then fine, but coach don't come all the way out here to tell me I made a bad call.

You've already established that you are not doing your job and are baiting the coach. You've made your intentions clear to us, and with your comment to the hypothetical manager, you made your motivations clear to him. Even without that, it's still unprofessional. Just because you don't get caught doesn't mean that you're any less wrong.

Another incorrect statement. Baseball, like societies, has standards of acceptable conduct, and also like societies, those standards vary from group to group. Even with those verying standards, I have yet to see an area of competitive baseball in which all arguing of judgment calls is verboten, either formally or informally.

Repeating a falsehood does not make it true.

Asking him, "Did you have a nice run?" sounds like bating, which is something to be avoided.

Arguments happen, even arguments about judgement calls. Handling coaches is part of your job. By now I have had so many come out to me that I can predict when they're coming and how I am going to handle the situation. I don't even get irritated or frustrated with them very much anymore because I know this is just another part of the game I have to take care of. A difficult part, but one I have to do well because umpiring is as much about handling people as rules and mechanics.

Well put Seth. I tell people all the time, the training I have received over the years being an official, has helped me so much in real life with dealing with stress related and difficult situations on the job. Such as observing the situation completely before making rush to judgement decisions. Dealing with hot heads and numerous other situations.

In todays society it is very common for major corporations to send their managers to training on how to handle subordinates. And they pay BIG Bucks for it too. I think if they forced them to become officials in sporting events, they would get a whole lot more training, for a far cheaper cost.

I am positive that in time, and as CC6 matures, it will dawn on him one day, what we are trying to tell him. If not, he has a long difficult road ahead as an official.