Play at the Plate

[STL_UMP]

One of our "former" umpires from our association is currently working his way through the pros and has just finished his first full year in AA ball. He came back and has been doing some fallball games with us. He rotates around each night so we all get to work with him and get a little mini clinic and pick up some tips while he is here.

Last night was a classic.

Our AA umpire is the PU and there is a play at the plate. Runner slides to the left of the plate to avoid the tag but in doing so misses the plate. He's tagged out before his hand can touch the plate. PU bangs him out. From the dugout it looked like he was safe. Coach comes storming out complaining and the PU calmly explains what happened... that he missed the plate on the slide. Well the coach starts carrying on and pointing out the slide marks and going on and on. PU says " Hey.. OK... do your thing man, whatever" and just walks away. The coach looks up and says "Hey.. where are you going?" PU just ignores him. Coach just kind of sputters to a stop and goes back to the dugout not really sure what to do since he has no one to talk to.

It was pretty funny.

[kylejt]

If you have a straight out disagreement on a judgement call, you can either choose to continue the conversation, or end it. If you can end it by making the manager just look dopey, so much the better. Walking away is a classic.

"Let me know when you're finished" is a good one.

"Anything else?" sometimes works, but might bring up something in the past.

"Excuse me while I tie my shoe" worked for one of my Junior umpires this year. He tied his shoe, and just walked away.

"Well, it's a judgement call, and I'm the only judge that counts". Wise guy approach, but sometimes stops a guy from continuing.

You need to find a line that just puts an end to it.

[MikeStrybel]

Great story.

I like, "Okay, skip. I've heard what you said. Are you done?" Either way he answers, he is.

[gordon30307]

Originally Posted by kylejt

If you have a straight out disagreement on a judgement call, you can either choose to continue the conversation, or end it. If you can end it by making the manager just look dopey, so much the better. Walking away is a classic.

"Let me know when you're finished" is a good one.

"Anything else?" sometimes works, but might bring up something in the past.

"Excuse me while I tie my shoe" worked for one of my Junior umpires this year. He tied his shoe, and just walked away.

"Well, it's a judgement call, and I'm the only judge that counts". Wise guy approach, but sometimes stops a guy from continuing.

You need to find a line that just puts an end to it.

A wise man said to me "you need to know what to say and when to say it and I can't teach you that"

You have to do lots of games in been in a lot of situations to learn how to handle situations. No two are alike. Although I do have my lines.