When did they change the balk rule?

[UMP25]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

No.

And I also never baited a coach, so I never had that type of situation arise either.

I didn't ask that. Stick to the question at hand and stop baiting people.

Either you have never had a coach who violated a rule that specifies an ejection--something no one here would probably believe if you've been umpiring a while; or you're not being completely truthful. I give benefit of the doubt, so I don't think it's the latter.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by UMP25

I didn't ask that. Stick to the question at hand and stop baiting people.

Either you have never had a coach who violated a rule that specifies an ejection--something no one here would probably believe if you've been umpiring a while; or you're not being completely truthful. I give benefit of the doubt, so I don't think it's the latter.

Never has a coach thrown, kicked or said anything that makes an ejection mandatory. A few players have, and they were tossed without warning and without reservation.

AND, if I did have such a violation and did not eject, don't you think somebody would hear about it and some action would be taken? It always is when others overlook such things. I don't have that rep. Instead, I get high marks and better games, and even the schools with the more troublesome coaches and crowds, mostly because of my problem-solving and emergency handling skills and record. I have been sent to schools where I am told that the coach was going to eat me alive. I usually instead get thanked for working so hard and calling such a fair, consistent game. It happened again yesterday. I hear stories at meetings about certain coaches that are abominable. In my dealings with those same coaches, it seems like they are different people altogether than the ones that other umpires described in their ejection stories.

I'm fair, honest, punctual, knowledgeable, authoritative, dedicated, reliable, consistent, thick-skinned and vastly experienced at this game in several capacities, including playing, coaching and scouting. My uniform is always fresh, pressed and flawless and my equipment always shines. And I hustle at all times. My respect for the game has no bounds and most coaches notice that rather early if they don't know me already. I do everything I possibly can to be a respectable umpire and baseball man, and any respect and cooperation I get is partly or mostly a result of that. I also gain respect and future cooperation when I defuse a potentially volatile situation and resolve it without a spectacle.

I have a total baseball background and managerial background and not just an umpiring background. I know the game from every angle and I know the local game rather fully. So maybe all of that makes me less of a target.

Now after all of this, I'll probably have to run somebody for dumping a bucket of balls, or kicking dirt on my shoes. You'll all be the first to know about it.

[UMP25]

I share the same experiences to which you allude in your second paragraph. Consequently, I wouldn't doubt that if we were on the same crew our games would progress quite happily and without incident.

[Kevin Finnerty]

I would not doubt it either.

As long as you control your sarcasm.

[UMP25]

Do I detect a bit of sarcasm there???

[Kevin Finnerty]

May you be the first to know:

Before I get started, I am not making this up.

I had a league rivalry type of game today and the home team's pitcher--a gigantic kid who throws a good fastball and a telegraphed, but tight slider--is getting torched. I hear this loudmouth blathering about a couple of close pitches, and at the end of the inning, he comes on the field and I see that it's an assistant coach. So I put the guy in the dugout and order him not to say another word for the rest of the day.

The guy screams at me, and I toss him! It's like it was set up! My partner said, "Didn't you say you've never tossed a coach?" My chairman said, "You tossed a coach??!! Well, you picked the right guy for the first one."

He was the pitcher's "former professional pitcher" dad (why do they have that going on?), who's also huge, but fortunately very stupid. He had to be physically removed, and in L.A., there are a whole lot of schools who have L.A.P.D. right on the campus at all times, and this was one of those schools, so there were no leaving-in-one-piece concerns.

What an embarrassing fool that guy was. And I have to say, I didn't give him a big wave. I said, "You're an assistant coach; you are in the dugout the rest of the ballgame and not another word." Then he screamed his former pro crap, and I said, "Those are words; you're gone." Then I walked away and told the head coach that he's gone and asked him the details while the other coaches and an administrator pulled the guy off the field.

It felt good, actually. You guys were right. I didn't just toss to get it done, it was a major breach and a big, out-of-control blowhard making it. There were apologies all around for the blowhard, and my partner gave a major thumbs up report on the whole thing.

[UMP25]

The baseball gods are, indeed, on my side. I knew it all along.

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

It felt good, actually. You guys were right. I didn't just toss to get it done, it was a major breach and a big, out-of-control blowhard making it. There were apologies all around for the blowhard, and my partner gave a major thumbs up report on the whole thing.

Now Kevin, don't let us be reading this time next week about your 10th EJ!

[johnnyg08]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

May you be the first to know:

Before I get started, I am not making this up.

I had a league rivalry type of game today and the home team's pitcher--a gigantic kid who throws a good fastball and a telegraphed, but tight slider--is getting torched. I hear this loudmouth blathering about a couple of close pitches, and at the end of the inning, he comes on the field and I see that it's an assistant coach. So I put the guy in the dugout and order him not to say another word for the rest of the day.

The guy screams at me, and I toss him! It's like it was set up! My partner said, "Didn't you say you've never tossed a coach?" My chairman said, "You tossed a coach??!! Well, you picked the right guy for the first one."

He was the pitcher's "former professional pitcher" dad (why do they have that going on?), who's also huge, but fortunately very stupid. He had to be physically removed, and in L.A., there are a whole lot of schools who have L.A.P.D. right on the campus at all times, and this was one of those schools, so there were no leaving-in-one-piece concerns.

What an embarrassing fool that guy was. And I have to say, I didn't give him a big wave. I said, "You're an assistant coach; you are in the dugout the rest of the ballgame and not another word." Then he screamed his former pro crap, and I said, "Those are words; you're gone." Then I walked away and told the head coach that he's gone and asked him the details while the other coaches and an administrator pulled the guy off the field.

It felt good, actually. You guys were right. I didn't just toss to get it done, it was a major breach and a big, out-of-control blowhard making it. There were apologies all around for the blowhard, and my partner gave a major thumbs up report on the whole thing.

Way to stick by your "not another word" warning. That method can be a bit tricky at times.