The Biggest Irritant in your history of umpiring
 

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I am usually a patient guy on the field, though I did lose my temper once this year. But today I had a game of total irritation, like sitting on a Brillo pad for eight hours. I would like to find out what your biggest irritant is/was.

A local radio station decided to do a college game I did today, the play-by-play guy had never done a game before at the park. I had the plate. The press box for the field is close to the backstop, under the stands in this really nice park.

Well, the ying yang announcer was so loud that everyone on the field heard him, including my partner, even when he went to B and C. And every pitch he thought was a ball, or every time he thought a player or dugout did not like the call he would say it. Of course, he had no conception of a strike, even if it bit him in the nose.

One pitch was a fastball on the outer third of the plate, thigh high. The fastball broke the pocket of F2's glove, so the ball goes to the ground. "The umpire called it a strike!" He said. His partner replied, "well he dropped the ball, so it should have been a ball." Of course, it took him five minutes to figure out why F2 decided to go to the dugout and get a new glove.

We had to hear this crap for a full game. The best of them all was the time my partner had a wacker at 1B. The announcer said:

"He got him at first, and I think the umpire got that call right!!!!"

Glad to know it.

What's worse, he called me by the wrong name all day long.

I had a great game, great zone, dead on all day, and I heard all day long the baseball equivalent of an auto mechanic commenting on a human heart transplant surgeon's work.

[/rant]

Well, what is yours?

Usually, it's rants on umpire forums about situations they have no control over. Just have to grin and bear it on occasions.

That's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

I have to agree with you! :cool:

thank you
 

Please note [rant] and [/rant] keystrokes.

Just looking for a funny story or two, to sooth my irritation.

I'll try, used to call one of our 4A schools and the PA announcer would give his opinion of the calls. Kind of funny, but irritating.

Pitch would be outside and he would say "ball low". Pitch would be high and he would say "ball outside". He sat right behind the plate so he should have known better, but funny to say the least.

He would also from time to time give his opinion of the calls made by BU etc.,

Sadly, the home team was a playoff contender year after year, but would not replace the guy ...

Thanks
David

They might if he were consistently ejected and they had to scramble every game to replace him on the spot.

If I were on the game, he'd get a warning for the first comment and be gone after the second. Has he never been to a pro ballpark?

I was going to say something similar as there are really no things on the field that I deal with that I cannot handle or have to constantly deal with.

I guess I hate coaches that yell 50 feet away about silly stuff, but that is why just like here when I do not respect someone, I just ignore them (and I do not need a list to do it). ;)

Peace

Of course not, this is south MS, not the "big city". There was no need to eject him, he was absolutely doing it because he loved it and he wasn't harming a thing, just kind of humorous. (and irritating)

Of course, this was also 15 years ago. Now everyone even in little ole MS has a PA announcer, a computer operator with music before every batter, and between innings. Makes it lots of fun to go to the park and that is even with the small schools.

Of course, me being a musician, I love the music, sometimes the best part of the game. (g)

thanks
David

Local "sportscaster" and I use that term loosely...small town MS...this guy couldn't find his arse with both hands, a map, and a GPS but he thinks he knows sports - never played, but played at officiating for a while (that was quite sad, in his shorts and flip flops), but I digress...He makes comments about the calls and about the umpires..."that must have been a make up call..." "OH! I'm not sure about that call. He looked safe to me." Most of them are harmless but they sure rub me the wrong way. I know he's a bone head but he gets under my skin...I quit watching the games. Not that the telecasts were all that exciting anyway with one camera that never moved, positioned behind home plate!!

Nope can't do anything about it and it doesn't affect my game - but the OP asked about irritants and he irritates me.

I'm not arguing with you. I'm telling you what I would do. IMO, there's every need to eject a fool with a microphone, once he's been warned to limit himself to announcing the next batter.

I understand where you're coming from. I added a little sarcasm with my last two sentences. After Dennis Miller would complete his rant monologue, he would end it with, "That's just opinion. I could be wrong."

I will relate a little story that got under my skin one time. Nothing major really. I was working the last two games on the first day of a three day, 16 team tournament played at two fields. We were already about one hour behind schedule.

I had the plate for the second game. At the time, they were two of the better teams in the area, so the pitching was better than most. There was one heckler in the stands.

On just about every pitch that was called, he had to make the same comment over and over. You could tell which team he was rooting for by his actions.

For the first two innings or so, he would say in a rather loud tone of voice, "Good call, Blue" to show his displeasure. After that he switched it to, "Good Blue call." That went on for the full seven innings. I even asked the catcher for the team he was rooting for, "Is that your Dad?" He burst out laughing and said, "Hell no, but I have to hear it ever freaking game."

After he made that comment, I started thinking I hope don't have anymore games with this team if he does that all the time. At the end of the game as I was going to my vehicle, a fan came up to me and patted me on the back and said, "Good Blue game." We both burst out laughing and that was the end of that. So some good came out of it after all.:D

Play by play over the PA is annoying. I will shut it down if it gets negative.

I have no control over broadcast commentary I happen to overhear. I treat as outside the field - it gets ignored. If I hear it I don't let it get to me...the broadcaster is an entertainer grabbing anything interesting to say in order to keep his audience riveted.

Funny story though - one time (at band camp) - a catcher tried to frame a high one...I called it a ball. I heard the broadcaster say "Fitzpatrick tried to sell a high pitch for strike three but home plate umpire Chris Viverito is not buying it"

Hey - at least he called you by the wrong name - and if anyone was listening - they'll have no idea it was you!:D And you can join in all the fun conversations with "fans" and say, "I wonder who that guy was - never seen or heard of him before". Pretty Cool! :cool: :rolleyes:

Next time he announces or broadcasts a game you're working - buy him a half dozen carmel apples before the game!

How about those who cannot keep the scoreboard strikes, balls, and out's correctly?

After being ask 100 times "how many outs" or "is that the correct count blue" I tell the scorekeeper to turn the scoreboard OFF if you cannot keep the right count...

When I lived in NJ, one of the cable TV channels broadcast the (time-delayed) games of the local high school. The kid announcers were far from the plate, but they still did their play-by-play for the benefit of the enormous TV audience. (One motionless camera, somewhere in foul territory down the LF line. Not a lot of slow-mos and replays.)

Every called strike was announced as, "Right down the middle for strike [x]."

Every swinging strikeout was announced as, "Strike 3! Caught him looking!"

Texas-leaguer that fell in front of F7 announced as, "Ruled a ground rule single."

R3 out at home on a ground ball to F3, while BR safe at 1B announced as, "That will be ruled a ground rule single, but no RBI."

A couple of the local high schools used to let a student do basketball play-by-play through the PA system. Bad enough even with a good announcer, but it was intolerable with a total amateur at the mike screaming, "Dat ball got stole by Jimmy Stigetti, and he goes up fuh TWOOOO!!! Nooooo!! He missed it!!"

Now that's a great idea
 

If it happens again I will do that; that is the kind of cold-blooded thinking I like to see in my fellow umpires!

This doesn't have anything to do with MY umpiring, but I saw it the other day and it really irritated me....

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | MIL@SD: Gonzalez goes down on strikes, gets ejected - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

Is that Dick Enberg as the PBP guy? What a douche. He claims that Drake "incited" Gonzalez by putting a finger up. (Which really looked like a final warning before dumping him) I'm pretty sure Gonzalez had already incited the situation by turning around and then pointing at the plate. Then the moron color guy praises Bud Black (head rat) for "mixing it up with the home plate umpire", which really means arguing balls and strikes and getting tossed.

Idiot announcers are my biggest irritant.

Sound effects!!!
 

On every foul ball that goes out of play. There is glass breaking. Gets old quickly.

There's one guy who is really annoying in an area I used to live in (I don't know if he's there anymore). He always used to ask our names -- I'd give him the names of two of the more obscure MLB umpires. He'd always write the names down diligently, too.

A partner once had our 4-man crew announced as Bruce Froemming, Tim McClelland, Joe Brinkman, and Dale Scott.

Yes, it's Dick Enberg...OH MY!:)

Yeah, and on the radio, Ted Leitner (who is a stupid a$$ to start with) said that Drake overreacted to Gonzalez, who only said, "that's not a strike." What a crock of crap. Drake isn't my favorite umpire by a long shot, but nobody throws out a ballplayer for just saying that. Gonzalez obviously said, "YOU......" something or other to get kicked out for the first time in his career.

The moron color guy is Mark Grant, ex MLB rat (pitched for the Padres and the Giants), who is actually a pretty nice guy, and I discuss the broadcasters' lack of rule expertise with him whenever I run in to him (he hangs out at a 7-11 near my house). You can't expect rats (once a rat, always a rat) who are wannabe umpires to think like an umpire. It's their nature to think like rats.

To me, it looked like Gonzalez first said "That's two you..." I could be wrong, though.

I snipped your comment about idiot announcer, but you using Dick Enberg, douche, and idiot speaks volumes -- about you.

Drake had no business pointing at Gonzalez. Just toss him and be done with it. Umpires hate getting shown up, so why point fingers and show up the players?

Gonzalez clearly got what he deserved, but Drake just makes it worse (and makes himself look bad) by dropping down to the same level as players/managers that want to throw fits.

Drake was brutal behind the plate, and he had probably been hearing about it for the entire game.

Also, Enberg has an extensive baseball background, having played college ball as well as coaching the San Fernando Valley State baseball team from 1961 to 1965. I would say that, combined with all the major league baseball he has covered with style and flair, makes him one of the best announcers in the business. We San Diegans are very happy that he is the new lead TV play-by-play guy.

Now that's funny. I did the same thing one time and put down our assisgnor as the PU. Hilarious to hear it announced.

Thanks
DAVid

I know a lot of you guys love The Drake, 'cause he had his own website(bad idea), and answered your questions. But he gets in the middle of more @#$%storms than anyone else out there. There must be a reason for this.

Now that'll be funny to about five people at the game, including the four umpires. Now if you went with Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Jose Feliciano and David Paterson, THEN you'd get a larf or two.

Once a rat always a rat I guess. Here's another jem from old Dick: Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | SD@HOU: Mills tossed for arguing balls and strikes - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

What was Marquez pointing his finger at Mills for, and why did he first come around in front of the catcher and point his finger at him as well? Not something we amateur umpires should emulate. I would probably have gotten kicked out of my old HS association for doing something like Marquez did.

And until former umpires become play-by-play announcers themselves, I don't know how you expect the announcers to act, as they are naturally predisposed to be biased toward the team that pays them to call the games.

Exactly. As the announcer said, I say something to F2 as we're crouching down for the next pitch. At the least, I'm saying something as I brush off the plate. I'm definitely not pointing my finger at him.

We don't know what's been said between the two before this, though. It's possible Marquez had already done what I said above, and Mills didn't stop. It still doesn't look professional when he does that.

Now that's a good idea.

You can bet that Marquez had already done all that. Going face to face was the last and accepted escalation before an ejection to keep Mills in the game and Mills, true to form, decided to leave early.

He had already ejected Mills before he came out on the field. He pointed at him when he was talking to him after Mills had accused him of missing pitches. (If he's talking about the ones they showed, he didn't miss them)

He pointed at the catcher after a ball call that didn't go the Astros way.

Back to the topic at hand
 

This doesn't apply as one of my umpire irritants, but it could be worth mentioning.

I don't know if we have any Cleveland Indians fans that watch many of their home games, but that guy that sits out in the far away bleachers, and beats that bass drum all game. Also, he has been doing it years.

Must be tough sitting close to him in the stands. Oh well, what can you do?

I'm kinda irritated by the MLB's "ban" on chewing tobacco, but Marquez is arguing with a big ol dip in his mouth.

I don't think pointing fingers, chasing coaches, or dipping is something any of us should emulate.

Since when did MLB ban chewing and dipping? I know they have a ban in the minors but I never heard the majors followed suit. I still see players and umpires with a wad of chaw in their mouths when I'm watching games on TV.

FYI, to get all smokeless tobacco banned in MLB, it must be met by the approval of the player's union.

OTOH, the city of Detroit has passed some law about smoking (I don't remember what). So, Jim Leyland can't smoke in the dugout anymore.

Earl Weaver used to call Don Stanhouse, "Two PacK". The reason. Earl claimed he would go through two packs of cigarettes when Stanhouse would come in and pitch in relief.

At least one city that Leyland travels to has also banned smoking in public buildings. Hasn't stopped him.

I put "ban" in quotations because it's an unofficial ban. They don't show it on tv if they can get away with it, and players are chastized for having it so big in their cheek that it is obvious. It is not nearly as prevalent as it was in the 70's and 80's when I was a kid. They don't show them spitting and about 8 years ago, the clubhouses were told by MLB that they could purchase sunflower seeds and bubble gum, but they could no longer put free bags of chew and dip in the dugout or clubhouse. If players want to use smokeless tobacco, they must purchase it on their own.

I have a couple irritants:

Love how good umpiring where I'm at is not recognized or rewarded. Guys that look sharp, know the rules, and hustle on every play no matter the score are lucky to get games unless they know someone. A guy who wears black tennis shoes and a backwards hat behind the plate gets to chief the postseason regional. We do 2 man all year them switch to 3 for postseason. Guys who have zero frickin clue how to do three ump routinely get these games and make ZERO attempt to have a clue what they are doing. Last year in a regional final had a very round, very out of shape, very lazy ump on 3B who absolutely would not bust it into the working zone on clean base hits, no runners. We had to do the game w/ U1 in B for runners on 1B only b/c U3 would not do his job. No amount of convincing would get him off his keister. It got real awesome when w/ R1 R3 on a fly to left 1 out he actually stood right next to the runner at third and lined him up, screened out PU who had swung toward 3B dugout to line it up and when the defensive coach in 3B dugout saw the kid leave early appealed and wanted U3 to make the call. Nope. U3 says "that's the plate's call." Plate says "uhh you were standing right in my way". Coach is screaming at U3 that he was "right there". U3 says "nope, not my call". It was great. And all that is normal and acceptable here. I guess stuff like that is my biggest irritant.

This seems to be the case in a lot of places.

I worked a playoff last night with one of these guys that likely gets games because he's been doing it for 30 years. I bet he called 20 strikes before they hit the glove. With a 4 man crew, he didn't check any check swings...3 of which were obvious swings to everyone in the park. And with a good catcher and a very heavily recruited pitcher, he flinched or bailed out on about 15 curveballs...most of which were strikes.

He missed em for both teams, so it all worked out. But it was disappointing to know that there were a lot of good umpires sitting at home who could have done a much better job.