What happened to me (Suspended)

[tankmjg24]

Alright guys, I feel the need to vent some frustrations over a situation that occurred to me during youth ball. This is rather winded to warn you. I am currently working my 9th year as an umpire however this is my first year working the particular area I am in as I recently relocated due to work.

So the area that I am in now does not have any real sanctioned youth baseball such as Little League, Cal Ripken, Dizzy Dean, etc. Instead, each youth league is ran by the park board for that particular city.

At the completion of my high school season I started to umpire more youth ball. I quickly noticed that each team had at least 5 coaches and it seemed like the dugout had volcanic lava instead of cement as every coach wanted to be outside leaning on the fence. Every game that I officiated I reminded the coaches that they were not allowed outside the dugout. Some coaches questioned me as all the other umpires allowed them to be, but after citing their own rules and the fact that this is a safety issue for the kids playing they stayed in their dugouts.

During one game I had a manager that adamantly disagreed with me to the point that I about ejected him during the plate meeting. This is when things began to get interesting. This manager returned to his dugout and informed his assistants that they were not allowed outside the dugout. One at this point left the dugout and proceeded to head away from the field.

At the time I did not know where he was going, but now I know that he was attempting to call the UIC of the league who did not answer. This coach then went and talked to the board member who was representing that particular age division (10 year olds).

Around the second inning I see the assistant coach return to the dugout and then during a visit to the mound I hear "umpire", "hey blue" coming from behind me at the fence. I turn and see the representing board member who calls me over to the fence. He tells me that he knows I am new to the league, but they usually allow the coaches outside the dugout in order to call pitches and better instruct the players. He tosses in that he contacted the UIC who said to allow it. My response, which was very polite and professional, was that I was umpiring the game and was going to enforce the coaches having to be in the dugout as this was a safety issue and we could discuss it more after the game if he wanted to. This board member becomes a bit upset and starts questioning why I am trying to take control of the game and not allow the coaches to coach. My response was that we were not going to pick and choose which rules to play by and that I was going to resume the game at this point. I leave him in giving him my name as he requests it as in his words he is going to call the UIC and get things straightened out.

Around the 4th inning, the catcher for the team that has given me trouble goes in to pitch and a new catcher comes out. I notice that he has a regular fielders glove so I instruct him that he has to have a mitt. The kid goes back to the dugout and then I have the manager and his assistant coach come out all upset. I will save the words exchanged, but I ended up ejecting both for their behavior. The game continues after they leave.

The new pitcher is struggling and about 5 minutes later there are no outs and runs have scored so the new coach (who was pleasant if it matters) calls timeout to speak with his pitcher. It is at this point that the board member walks out onto the field and I notice that both the manager and assistant are leaning on the fence. The board member notifies me that I am over officiating and that the manager and coach did not deserve to be ejected and that they were returning to the game. He also tells me that the coaches are going to sit where they please and that I am going to allow the catcher to use whatever glove he wishes to. He was being rather disrespectful so I asked him to please respect me and allow me to umpire the game. His response was that I did not deserve respect and that he ran the place and I was going to do things his way. I respectfully asked him to leave the field so the game would continue and his response was that he wouldn't until I did as he said. He tells me that he was the power to make sure I never umpired again and that he was in charge not me. At this point I put both teams in the dugout as we are getting no where. I also ejected the board member to try and get him to leave. After a period of time the board member leaves, the manager and coach that were ejected leaves, and the game continues.

At the conclusion of the game I see the manager and the coach walk back onto the field to shake hands. I later found out that they went into the press box with the board member and watched the remainder of the game from there. As I was walking out the manager walks towards me with his hand extended. Trying to not look like a jerk I shook his hand. At this point he pulls me in towards him and proceeds to tell me how long he has been coaching and how much he knows and that I know nothing. I, not wanting to cause a scene, pull away and walk off the field towards the umpire dressing rooms.

Upon entering the dressing rooms the president of the league (who I have never met) walks in and informs me that I have been removed from the league and that I was not welcome back. He throws in that he has the power to make sure I never umpire in town again and that I was going to listen to what he had to say. He told me I had 5 minutes to pack my stuff and leave of he would contact the police to remove me. I tried to talk to him in a civil manner yet he would not listen.

That evening I receive an email from the UIC that I have been suspended indefinitely pending a board meeting and that he would try to get me back but the chances seemed slim. I asked to be present for this meeting, to which he replied the board would not allow me to be as it is a closed meeting. I proceeded to write up a statement that was rather detailed that I sent the UIC.

A few days later I receive an email from the UIC that I have been suspended for the remainder of the year. I proceed to call him to get the details. He tells me that the board voted unanimously to have me removed. They said that I acted unprofessional, was over officiating, and then ignored the board representative. My UIC, while being polite, proceeded to tell me how I got myself into this situation by enforcing rules that were never enforced and by ignoring the board representative. I will save how the remaining conversation went.

I feel as if I was royally screwed over in the situation and that my UIC allowed the board to walk all over me (and all the other umpires in the league) in fear that he would lose the league and lose his money train. To me I remained professional and did nothing wrong while the coaches and board members caused all the trouble.

What does everyone think of this?

[thumpferee]

I only got 5 1/2 paragraphs read and I already left the game. I'm gonna keep reading.

[Rita C]

Why is anyone umpiring there?

[asdf]

Your UIC is a chickenshirt (minus the "r")

You are better off without these morons.

[Altor]

If they don't want somebody to enforce the rules that they agreed to play by, why hire an umpire at all?

Count your blessings. Find another league and UIC.

[jTheUmp]

Originally Posted by tankmjg24

Around the 4th inning, the catcher for the team that has given me trouble goes in to pitch and a new catcher comes out. I notice that he has a regular fielders glove so I instruct him that he has to have a mitt. The kid goes back to the dugout and then I have the manager and his assistant coach come out all upset. I will save the words exchanged, but I ended up ejecting both for their behavior. The game continues after they leave.

What ruleset is this based on? There's nothing in FED (the only ruleset that I'm really familiar with) that requires the catcher to use a mitt. (1-3-6)

If you're using FED based rules, you ejected two coaches because you enforced a non-existent rule.

[mbyron]

1. Before betting the farm, I might have consulted my partner about whether umpires in that league enforce the rule requiring coaches to remain in the dugout. If not, I might have contacted the UIC to find out why nobody enforces a league rule. Sure, it's a safety rule, but I'm far more vigilant about player safety than coach safety.

2. When the board member came on the field and took over, I would have left. Umpires are not answerable to them on the field.

3. No rule requires catchers to use a mitt. OOO on that one.

Sounds as if there's plenty of blame to go around, but it doesn't sound like an attractive gig to me.

[jicecone]

You were hosed no matter how you look at it. But, I have to ask, what the heck are you doing with a 10yr old league, after 9 years experience.

You may have been a little too serious in your officiating for the level of ball you were doing. Yes safety is always important but, if you have enforcement problems, you should have discussed them with the league right from the outset. What is your rules and how tight do you want them enforced? If there answer was not to your liking, then you had the opportunity not to do their League.

Learning the rules at ten is important but, I guarantee you stopping for an ice cream after the game is just as important if not more important to a lot of those same kids.

I am not encouraging you not to worry about the safety of the coaches, players and yourself, but I think you just had a lesson in being over-officious.

Again, you were hosed but, I hope you gained insight in how to approach your next assignment.

[Rich]

When I moved to my current location, I decided to work some youth football on Saturdays to make some money as I did everywhere else I lived.

The teams put coaches on the field and the coaches liked to openly argue calls -- I told them that I wasn't going to let them on the field to do anything other than coach their kids. They kept arguing. So I flagged them.

During the week, I got a call from the person who ran the league. I told them what happened and they said, "well, the coaches like to argue calls and I'm not really interested in fighting with them about it." I told them there was no way I'll work and take crap from coaches ON THE FIELD. So I suggested that perhaps they should find someone else.

That was 8 years ago and I haven't been back, for various reasons.

Move on and don't look back. There's no reason to work 10U unless you're giving back by working Little League. Otherwise let the teenagers and newbies work those games.

[Rich Ives]

How many coaches and if they can go on the field is not a univerasal rule so you have to go with the flow on those.

The only rules I know of that limit the number of coaches is LL (3). OTOH, LL allows coaches onto the field in minors.

So for that aspect you really need to understand what the local league rules are.

If the local rules allow them being out of the dugout then you shouldn't eject them for being out of the dugout.

As for their handling of the situation during the game - give them an "F". Totally unprofessional approach. But so was yours when you refused to listen to them describing their rules and refused to follow them.

It was a big cluster (*&^&^% because they didn't take the time pre-game to inform you of their rules and you apparently made no attempt to find out what any local rules were - after noting that you knew each league had their own.

There ar no clean hands in this mess.

[DG]

Why anyone would want to umpire in this league is beyond me.

Toss the board member when he enters the field to interject, and if he don't leave then you do. If they still kick you out at least you have the satisfaction of tossing a league jerk. Any others in the league have any b*lls and they will be short of umpires.

I certainly have better things to do, like working on my tan.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

So for that aspect you really need to understand what the local league rules are.

If the local rules allow them being out of the dugout then you shouldn't eject them for being out of the dugout.

As for their handling of the situation during the game - give them an "F". Totally unprofessional approach. But so was yours when you refused to listen to them describing their rules and refused to follow them.

If you read it correctly, he was quoting their own league rules, that coaches have to remain in the dugout. He wasn't going against ANY of their local rules, he was enforcing them.

These people acted like perfect douches and should not have any real umpires at their games. Give them some teenagers and that's what they deserve.

[RPatrino]

So, this 'board representative' ran the field, called the shots, was the grand poobah of his little kingdom? I say let him umpire too. Let them suffer in their own little world. These people deserve each other and I would put the word out to any officials you work with to boycott this league. Perhaps the 'ball less' UIC can work the games by himself.

[tankmjg24]

Here are a few excerpts from their rule book that are of interest:

K. No one except the first base and the third base coaches, and the batter and the player "on deck", are allowed outside of the dugout. All other coaches are required to remain in their dugouts.

We encourage and expect our umpires, coaches and league directors to be professional at all times and be willing to discuss game situations in a civil exchange. However, once a game has started, the Umpire-in-chief for that game has the final determination on all calls and rule interpretations. After a final determination is made, appeals or further discussions of rule interpretations should be conducted after the game with the appropriate board member and should not occur in front of the players and parents.

For rules that are not covered within their rule book, OBR rules apply. My interpretation and the one that has always been given to me in regards to a catcher is that either a mitt or nothing at all shall be used. The mitt can either be a first baseman's mitt or a catcher's mitt but has to be a mitt.

There is no maximum or minimum rule on how many coaches are allowed. The way it is written is that each coach present must be listed on the lineup card in the press box (the only reason this is done is for pitching reasons as all the coaches are penalized if a pitching rule is violated).

I brought up the situation of the coaches wanting to be outside the dugout after I saw the trend develop. The response I received was that we as umpires are not there to play baby sitter to the coaches. I asked about what the rule states, and the response I received was that the coach goes out of the dugout at their own risk and that there are more important things for us to worry about but if that is a rule I wanted to enforce so be it.

To me, no one rule is more important than another. If I as the umpire let this rule slide, why should I enforce other rules? The main concern for me though, is that there is not a lot of foul territory and there are 5 buckets sitting in the filed of play that poses a safety concern to the players. I do not know about you all, but I do not feel like seeing a kid crash into one and hurt themselves.

As mentioned earlier, this is my first year in this area. In my previous location, I officiated youth ball (which was Little League) in order to help my local league out. Little League is also where I first began umpiring and I enjoyed training and helping new umpires develop. Over the years I enjoyed doing these younger levels so upon moving I thought a game here and there would be fun. In the area I am in now it seems as if the umpires are there for their $40 a game cash and that is what matters most to them. It seems as if the game is more about the coaches than about letting the kids play and it is sad to watch at times. I started off umpiring in this location as it was the closest to my house. I have since started doing games at a location ~20 minutes away, however the UIC supports the umpires and the coaches are a bit more tame.

For the life of me, I can not figure out why these coaches feel as if they have to be sitting right beside their catcher to signal pitches or why they have to be standing on the foul line to talk to their infield and outfield. I lay blame squarely on the umpires. If all umpires enforced the coaches being in the dugout they would not even attempt to sit on their buckets 15ft outside. However when a leash is given, these coaches try and see how far it will go. Youth baseball is for the kids, not the coaches.

[RPatrino]

Originally Posted by SAump

Can the league president call the cops and have you removed from the premises on a whim like he threatened?

I suspect not, unless he owns the ball field.