Umpire Excellence

[PeteBooth]

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by zm1283

You had 1 day of 2 umpires and 2 days where 3 man crews were used. Seems to me there was "enough to go around" yet ONLY 5 umpires selected. Also, you said some guys worked multiple days.

Was there a "discussion" amongst the other umpires in this association who were NOT assigned any tournament games?

Was it strictly based upon some sort of rating system etc?

Reason I ask:

The aforementioned is why it's difficult to get HS certified umpires. There is a tournament somewhere yet only a select few are chosen.

I would guess this type of scenario would be brought up during a meeting.

Pete Booth

[MD Longhorn]

Pete, if there were only 6 games spread over 3 days, we're obviously talking about a single field here. If there were 2 umpires on the field on day 1, and 3 on day 2-3, then only 2 umpires worked more than a single day. The MAX umpires you could have had for this, without calling people out to work 1 game of a doubleheader, is 8 (two Friday, 3 Sat, 3 Sun). Seems to me 5 is plenty, and I suspect a lot of places would have used 3 total. If I'm only getting 2 games a day, I better be working more than one day, or I'm finding a better tourney to work.

[zm1283]

[QUOTE=PeteBooth;678644]

You had 1 day of 2 umpires and 2 days where 3 man crews were used. Seems to me there was "enough to go around" yet ONLY 5 umpires selected. Also, you said some guys worked multiple days.

Was there a "discussion" amongst the other umpires in this association who were NOT assigned any tournament games?

Was it strictly based upon some sort of rating system etc?

Reason I ask:

The aforementioned is why it's difficult to get HS certified umpires. There is a tournament somewhere yet only a select few are chosen.

I would guess this type of scenario would be brought up during a meeting.

Pete Booth

The district and state playoffs in Missouri have NOTHING to do with any association. The district host selects the umpires with recommendations from each coach who has a team in the district. For the state playoffs (Round of 16 and round of 8), the host school hires two umpires and the visiting school hires one umpire if desired. For the Final Four in each class (Four classes), the state governing association picks the umpires with input from evaluators in each area. (The problem being here that ZERO evaluations are done in baseball)

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Pete, if there were only 6 games spread over 3 days, we're obviously talking about a single field here. If there were 2 umpires on the field on day 1, and 3 on day 2-3, then only 2 umpires worked more than a single day. The MAX umpires you could have had for this, without calling people out to work 1 game of a doubleheader, is 8 (two Friday, 3 Sat, 3 Sun). Seems to me 5 is plenty, and I suspect a lot of places would have used 3 total. If I'm only getting 2 games a day, I better be working more than one day, or I'm finding a better tourney to work.

Yes, most districts are single fields, but some play at multiple sites to help with travel problems and if weather comes up. There were only six games total in the tournament.

Around here, 2 games a day is very common. Sometimes in the summer we'll work 3 if need be.

[harmbu]

Seven teams in the district tournament. One first round bye.

Day 1 (First Round)
Game 1 (KD & ZnM)
Game 2 (KD & DS)
Game 3 (ZnM & DS)

Day 2 (Semi-Finals)
Game 4 (DS & JG)
Game 5 (JG & DS)

Day 3 (Championship)
Game 6 (ZaM, ZnM & JG)

The umpires were selected by recommendations by the participating coaches and then contacted by me (the district manager). We were rained out on the first scheduled day and had to do some shuffling since some were sheduled to work other places on the make-up days. My team was the #3 seed. We lost to the #2 seed in the semi-finals 14-6. The tournament went as seeded with the exception of the #5 upsetting #4 in the first round.

There was one player ejection in the championship game. The way I saw it, after being called out on strikes, he had some sort of comment. PU did not follow him to the dugout or even watch. As the player neared the dugout, he threw his bat to the ground, threw down his helmet, kicked his helmet, sat down and said in a very loud voice, "Come on guys! You have to swing even if it is a foot outside!" At that point he was ejected. Not a quick trigger by any means, but a well-deserved ejection. After the ejection, the player sat in the dugout with a smirk on his face for the remainder of the game. As justice would have it, his spot came up as the tying run in the top of the seventh and struck out.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by harmbu

Seven teams in the district tournament. One first round bye.

Day 1 (First Round)
Game 1 (KD & ZnM)
Game 2 (KD & DS)
Game 3 (ZnM & DS)

Day 2 (Semi-Finals)
Game 4 (DS & JG)
Game 5 (JG & DS)

Day 3 (Championship)
Game 6 (ZaM, ZnM & JG)

The umpires were selected by recommendations by the participating coaches and then contacted by me (the district manager). We were rained out on the first scheduled day and had to do some shuffling since some were sheduled to work other places on the make-up days. My team was the #3 seed. We lost to the #2 seed in the semi-finals 14-6. The tournament went as seeded with the exception of the #5 upsetting #4 in the first round.

There was one player ejection in the championship game. The way I saw it, after being called out on strikes, he had some sort of comment. PU did not follow him to the dugout or even watch. As the player neared the dugout, he threw his bat to the ground, threw down his helmet, kicked his helmet, sat down and said in a very loud voice, "Come on guys! You have to swing even if it is a foot outside!" At that point he was ejected. Not a quick trigger by any means, but a well-deserved ejection. After the ejection, the player sat in the dugout with a smirk on his face for the remainder of the game. As justice would have it, his spot came up as the tying run in the top of the seventh and struck out.

That PU would be me. I hadn't posted that story on here yet, but I put it on another board. That's just about how it happened though.

[GoodwillRef]

Originally Posted by zm1283

That PU would be me. I hadn't posted that story on here yet, but I put it on another board. That's just about how it happened though.

What took you so long to dump him...slammed bat, slammed helmet, kicked helmet...he would have been gone way before he sat down if I was there.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by GoodwillRef

What took you so long to dump him...slammed bat, slammed helmet, kicked helmet...he would have been gone way before he sat down if I was there.

I didn't see the helmet thrown or kicked. I turned my attention back to the field after I sent him back to the dugout after he ran his mouth. The bat throwing and subsequent comment is what got him dumped.

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by zm1283

The district and state playoffs in Missouri have NOTHING to do with any association. The district host selects the umpires with recommendations from each coach who has a team in the district.

I don't think this is true. My organization provides umpires for the District Tournaments. These umpires are chosen by the association, not by the coaches. With the weather issues surrounding the District tournaments this year, the organization was looking for ANY available umpires to help complete the games needed. Without the weather, I wouldn't have done any games this year.

Originally Posted by zm1283

(The problem being here that ZERO evaluations are done in baseball)

Again, incorrect. Coaches do evaluations online for each umpire in each Varsity-level game.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by yawetag

I don't think this is true. My organization provides umpires for the District Tournaments. These umpires are chosen by the association, not by the coaches. With the weather issues surrounding the District tournaments this year, the organization was looking for ANY available umpires to help complete the games needed. Without the weather, I wouldn't have done any games this year.

I should have been more specific. Around here, the vast majority of districts are done the way I described. I can only think of one district last year and one this year that were staffed by an association.

Again, incorrect. Coaches do evaluations online for each umpire in each Varsity-level game.

I'm talking about evaluations by supervisors, not coaches ratings. I know the coaches rate us, but in this area no evaluations are done.

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by zm1283

I'm talking about evaluations by supervisors, not coaches ratings. I know the coaches rate us, but in this area no evaluations are done.

From what I understand, umpires register to be State Playoff umpires. Your evaluation scores from the coaches are used, as well as other criteria, to determine the umpires chosen.

I could be wrong. I've never had that opportunity.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by yawetag

From what I understand, umpires register to be State Playoff umpires. Your evaluation scores from the coaches are used, as well as other criteria, to determine the umpires chosen.

I could be wrong. I've never had that opportunity.

I know we have to register in basketball, but they don't do it for baseball as far as I know. In the playoffs around here, the host school hires two of the umpires and the visiting team is allowed to choose one if they want.

For the state championships, MSHSAA does in fact choose the umpires with recommendations from assignors in different areas. Now what those recommendation are based on is anyone's guess.