Appropriate Umpire Behavior?

[ChetL]

I was attending an MLB game a few days ago and I saw some behavior by the PU (who will remain nameless) that I'm not sure was entirely appropriate. Right after the plate conference and a couple of minutes before the game starts, I'm sitting in my seat in the fourth row, right behind the plate, when a very attractive young woman (I'd guess early 20's) comes down to the front row and takes an empty seat. PU looks over at her and she puts her hand to her ear in the shape of a telephone and mouths the words "Call me." He holds up five fingers to her and mouths the words "Five o'clock." (It was a 1:20 game so I guess he figured he'd be out of there by 5:00.) At this point a couple of people nearby who have also observed this ask the woman "Do you know him?" She grins from ear to ear and just nods yes. She motions to the PU where her seat is (somewhere up in the terrace), he gives her the "OK" sign, and she goes back to her seat.

In the middle of the first inning the PU is standing on the third base line when the woman goes back down to the front row, but this time she goes over to the wall near where he is standing. He sees her coming and he walks over to meet her at the wall. She kisses him on the cheek, they exchange a few words, he reaches into his ball bag and gives her a BALL! They say goodbye and she goes running (actually bouncing) back to her seat with a huge smile on her face.

I never saw them interact again for the rest of the game, but I couldn't help but remember what I had witnessed whenever there was a close play called by the PU. Remember the old line "Got somewhere to be, Blue?" for an umpire who seems to be calling close plays consistently for the defense? Well in this case I knew for a fact (as did anyone else who witnessed the whole thing) that Blue had somewhere to be. I'm not saying it affected his umpiring, but it was enough to put that little seed of doubt into one's mind.

My question really is whether this kind of public display of affection is appropriate by an MLB umpire during a game. Any thoughts?

Chet

[insatty]

Gee, if I knew the umps were doing as well with the groupies as the players, I would have gone into umpiring as a career and not as a hobby.

[jicecone]

Your probably right, it didn't look very professional on the PU's part , but theres two things that can be said about that:

1. Some things are worth hurrying for.
2. A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do.

[Bfair]

Originally posted by ChetL


In the middle of the first inning the PU is standing on the third base line when the woman goes back down to the front row, but this time she goes over to the wall near where he is standing. He sees her coming and he walks over to meet her at the wall. She kisses him on the cheek, they exchange a few words, he reaches into his ball bag and gives her a BALL!
They say goodbye and she goes running (actually bouncing) back to her seat with a huge smile on her face.

Although most adult games I've seen are highly informal, it seems inappropriate to ball her right there in front of everyone.....................

afterall, the balls belonged to the teams...............


Just my opinion,

Freix

[insatty]

Freix is right as usual: an umpire must have balls.

[GarthB]

How do you know the young lady wasn't the umpire's daughter?

I only say this because:

One time after I had just adjudciated a DCI Drum and Bugle Corps contest in Denver (I was a percussion judge), I was sitting in the critique room and saw two gorgeous young ladies standing in the doorway. I was about 26 at the time and nudged my 40 something year old partner and said, "How'd you like to see both of them under your sheets tonight?"

My parnter got red-faced and said, "Those are my daughters."

We spent the next ten days touring the midwest and southeast together and I don't believe he said more than four more words to me. The next season,we were never partnered up. I must have apolgized twenty times, but sometimes you can never make up for saying something stupid.

[ChetL]

Well I suppose it could have been his daughter. It could even have been his girlfriend or even his wife. It could have been his mistress. It could have been his dental assistant for all I know. You'll notice that in my original post I never claimed she was a "groupie" or anything similar, just that whoever she was, she was obviously very excited to see him. In any case, I'm less interested in whether PU is gettin' some while he's on the road than I am in the bigger question of whether such an obvious public display of affection between innings is inappropriate, or if I just need to lighten up.

Chet

[PeteBooth]

Originally posted by ChetL

Well I suppose it could have been his daughter. It could even have been his girlfriend or even his wife. It could have been his mistress. It could have been his dental assistant for all I know. You'll notice that in my original post I never claimed she was a "groupie" or anything similar, just that whoever she was, she was obviously very excited to see him. In any case, I'm less interested in whether PU is gettin' some while he's on the road than I am in the bigger question of whether such an obvious public display of affection between innings is inappropriate, or if I just need to lighten up.

IMO you need to lighten up. Umpires are human beings also and I don't consider exchanging a few words and a kiss on the cheek as being some public form of affection In addition that's the last time those 2 interacted during the game.

Umpires should be judged on their ACTIONS on the field and not OFF the field. Suppose you were meeting someone at the ball park and when she arrived you gave her a hug and a kiss and then sat down to watch the game. Would you consider that some form of public affection?

If it bothers you don't watch it.

Pete Booth

[brandda]

Originally posted by ChetL
It could have been his dental assistant for all I know.

I must be going to the wrong dentist.

[Rog]

Imagine your a MLB umpire.
Now imagine that you have been on the road for many days.
Imagine that you happen to arrive in a city to call a game where your young daughter happens to be going to college.
Even imagine that you have not seen her in many months.
You can bet your butt that you would do the same things!
Could it have been that this was the case.....?

It never fails to baffle me of how quickly people are to condemn someone on speculation; but, provide them with all sorts of proof and they ignore the facts of the matter!

But then, gossip makes for the best stories -

AMAZING.....

[Edited by Rog on Aug 5th, 2002 at 10:00 AM]

[insatty]

If you want to speculate that the young lady was his daughter, go ahead. But I'd rather indulge in the groupie speculation; it's more fun that way.

[Rita C]

If you want to speculate that the young lady was his daughter, go ahead. But I'd rather indulge in the groupie speculation; it's more fun that way.

And offensive.

Rita

[Bfair]

Have you ever heard to gear your game for the level of play that you are calling? Well, I've done adult baseball for some 20+ years and I gear my game according to the level of ball and its expectations of umpires at that level.

As stated in the earlier post, adult baseball is highly informal. Many players, umpires, and fans know each other from years of association. While many leagues don't condone use of tobacco, many accept it. They'll allow a player to step behind the dugout and knock down a smoke, or accept a wad of chew on the field. While many leagues say no alcohol after the game, many players indulge after the game when the games are held in public parks and next door to a barbecue with 50 people all holding beer cans. The police seem to have no problem with that action. Still, these players should not be popping beers in the the local HS parking lot after a game. We don't call these "technical balks" on the adults. They are overlooked for the sake of enjoyment of the participants.

When Texas has many days of 90 degree temps and several days exceeding 100 degrees, our league has elected to allow our base officials to wear heather gray shorts. Does it look professional---no. Does it meet the needs of the league---yes. Certain things our league allows helps to attract umpires. Some of those may deal with personal issues. Our umpires fraternize with the players (and sometimes the fans) far more than they would in any scholastic contest. Yet, they don't alter their umpiring duties as a result of these leniencies.

What's more important to our league is to try our best to be accurate in our calls, be knowledgeable in our game rules and field coverage, be responsible with the players and league (be on-time and maintain schedules), and be patient with the players. Being patient with the players usually means providing warnings on things such as their inappropriately arguing a call or commenting (including such as drawing a line in the dirt) or perhaps not forfeiting a game when we know a player is en route and a mile away. That does not mean that we expect umpires to be abused, but rather, to be patient, know where to draw the line, and be realistic in their game management for the level of play we umpire. We realize that the not only are the players not professionals, but neither are the umpires. We don't try to emulate the pros. We are a recreational league, and we want the players and umpires to enjoy their association with the league.

When we reach playoffs, all-star games, and tournaments, we expect a little added professionalism from the officials as these league events are a little more special vs. regular league games. Our umpires are able to provide that. The higher rated events of the league are typically handled more common with calling scholoastic ball where discussions and behaviors of umpires should show greater professionalism.


Freix

[Matt S.]

So Chet, you were at the Cubs game last week, so was I. I happen to work at Wrigley-I may have even sold you a beer.

3 of the 4 umps on that crew are young guys, so you may be on to something-but who cares. These guys have proven themselves to get to where they are-plus, it was hot as hell out there, so I don't think that we can give them any flak for acting a bit more casually.

Professionalism is important, both on and off the field, but I've seen numberous umpires give spectators a ball during a game-I wouldn't consider it a big deal.

[ChetL]

Matt,

Point well taken. I never meant to make a big deal out of it; it just sort of rubbed me the wrong way and I wanted to get other folks' opinions on it. I realize that these guys have already proven themselves in order to get where they are. It was just one of those things that made me stop and say..."Hey wait a minute...that just doesn't look right."

BTW, if you sell beer at Wrigley then it's pretty much a given I have bought one from you at some point. :-)

Chet