What happened to me (Suspended)

[tankmjg24]

I never once stated that 10 year old baseball is serious stuff. To the majority of the coaches and parents you would think it is, but to me it is a bunch of youth playing a sport they enjoy. I know from personal experience that I cannot tell you what my team's win loss record was or what my batting average was when I played 10 year old ball. What I do know is I loved the sport of baseball and looked forward to spring and summertime in order to play it.

Jicecone you still did not answer the question on what your response to the attorneys will be when you are named on the lawsuit for not enforcing the rules of the league and as a result a player became injured. You can say that it will not happen but what if it does? The answer of the coaches wanted to be outside and everyone allows it is not going to fly.

MrUmpire, I would not necessarily say I am whining, just pointing out the fact that I was royally screwed over and it can happen to any future umpire that officiates here. I spent most of my time on the 12U or 11U field and never once had a problem like this. This was my second game doing 10U and I ran into a coach that did not feel like playing by the rules and had an issue with it. He just so happened to be friends with an equal of a jerk who was on the board. In regards to deciding if a child is mature enough or not, not to get all academia on here, but the psychology degree with an emphasis in child development on my wall gives me the ability to do so. You would be surprised what children are capable of, even at the age of 10.

Rita, I think I might know why there is confusion on Little League allowing Minor coaches on the field of play and rather an All Star division exists at this level. I am unsure what area you are from or how your system is set up. I know that some larger leagues play Major ball with just 12, AAA with just 11, AA with just 10, and A with just 9. The AAA, AA, and A while being competitive is considered minor league even though it is technically not. I know in my old area Major ball was 11-12, Minor league 9-10, Coach pitch 7-8, and T-ball 6U. When the normal person thinks of Minor League they think of those age divisions. When Little League thinks of Minor League they think of the non competitive younger divisions where instruction is emphasized.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by tankmjg24

MrUmpire, I would not necessarily say I am whining, just pointing out the fact that I was royally screwed over and it can happen to any future umpire that officiates here. I spent most of my time on the 12U or 11U field and never once had a problem like this. This was my second game doing 10U and I ran into a coach that did not feel like playing by the rules and had an issue with it. He just so happened to be friends with an equal of a jerk who was on the board. In regards to deciding if a child is mature enough or not, not to get all academia on here, but the psychology degree with an emphasis in child development on my wall gives me the ability to do so. You would be surprised what children are capable of, even at the age of 10.

We can compare our education, degrees and practices in psychology at
a later date. My comment was that this is not the responsibility of the umpire. And it is not, regardless of how you feel about your personal abilities. Read a rule book. Umpire responsibilities are contained therein.

Yes, you are whining. You continue to refuse to accept reality, which is they have given themselves the right to do what they do. You have no authority in that league to deny them that. If you cannot accept how they run their league, don't work it.

If you truly have a background in psychology you must know it is time to let go and get on with your life. Hanging on is not positive and will contribute nothing to your success as an umpire or well being as a human being.

[tankmjg24]

One of our duties as an umpire is to enforce the rules. These rules in my situation contain the fact that the coaches are supposed to remain within their dugout unless they are base coaches. So by not enforcing this rule are we not doing our job? Sure the coaches may disagree with it, however it is still a rule. Coaches are not going to agree with every rule and the solution to this is not to just allow the coaches to do as they please. I believe that we cannot choose which rules to enforce and which rules to not. There are plenty of rules that I disagree with, however they are rules so I am going to enforce them.

[asdf]

Originally Posted by tankmjg24

One of our duties as an umpire is to enforce the rules. These rules in my situation contain the fact that the coaches are supposed to remain within their dugout unless they are base coaches. So by not enforcing this rule are we not doing our job? Sure the coaches may disagree with it, however it is still a rule. Coaches are not going to agree with every rule and the solution to this is not to just allow the coaches to do as they please. I believe that we cannot choose which rules to enforce and which rules to not. There are plenty of rules that I disagree with, however they are rules so I am going to enforce them.

Have you ever exceeded the speed limit ? (a rule is a rule )

Our degrees on the wall and our complete and total knowledge of the league rules mean nothing when you don't have the ability to assess and manage situations that aren't listed in black and white.

They screwed up on the black and white areas.

You screwed up on the grey area.

Put your degree to use and quit rationalizing your actions.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by tankmjg24

One of our duties as an umpire is to enforce the rules. These rules in my situation contain the fact that the coaches are supposed to remain within their dugout unless they are base coaches. So by not enforcing this rule are we not doing our job? Sure the coaches may disagree with it, however it is still a rule. Coaches are not going to agree with every rule and the solution to this is not to just allow the coaches to do as they please. I believe that we cannot choose which rules to enforce and which rules to not. There are plenty of rules that I disagree with, however they are rules so I am going to enforce them.

Wow...

This is not Major League ball. This is a small time local youth league who has indicated how they want the rules enforced. Either do it their way or don't work their games. It's really that simple.

You remind me of the young ROTC cadet (Kevin Bacon, IRC) in "Animal House" ridiculously standing his ground at the parade and being run over by hundreds of participants.

BTW, how often do you measure the height of the mound to make sure it meets he rule?

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

Wow...

This is not Major League ball. This is a small time local youth league who has indicated how they want the rules enforced. Either do it their way or don't work their games. It's really that simple.

You remind me of the young ROTC cadet (Kevin Bacon, IRC) in "Animal House" ridiculously standing his ground at the parade and being run over by hundreds of participants.

BTW, how often do you measure the height of the mound to make sure it meets he rule?

Wow.....you remind me of John Belushi who spit his mashed potatoes at everyone (while extremely funny) thought it acceptable.

You are the problem.......(and everyone who agrees with your opinion)........not the OP.

When me and my ex made sure our daughters said "Yes Sir/No Sir" and "Yes Maam/No Maam".........some thought us old fashioned.
We now have an Engineer.....a graphic desighner (damn near an architect) and a 2nd year nursing student........

Joel

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

Wow...

This is not Major League ball. This is a small time local youth league who has indicated how they want the rules enforced. Either do it their way or don't work their games. It's really that simple.

You remind me of the young ROTC cadet (Kevin Bacon, IRC) in "Animal House" ridiculously standing his ground at the parade and being run over by hundreds of participants.

BTW, how often do you measure the height of the mound to make sure it meets he rule?

And BTW......I was a Park Superintendent for 8 years.....and it was my job to make sure the BB mounds were the correct height. I guess that was not important either.

People with your ideas are what is wrong with society today. Go along......do what is expected......don't rock the boat.......

Joel

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by Gulf Coast Blue

And BTW......I was a Park Superintendent for 8 years.....and it was my job to make sure the BB mounds were the correct height. I guess that was not important either.

Did anyone suggest it was wasn't? My point was the OP said he could not pick and choose rules to enforce. I'll be he doesn't enforce that one.

People with your ideas are what is wrong with society today. Go along......do what is expected......don't rock the boat.......

Joel

What the heck are you talking about? I have, repeatedly, agreed with the OP's first post.

Why I have not, and will not agree with, is the constant, after the fact whining. This is no different than a coach being the victim of a bad call in the second inning, and then wanting to re-argue the case in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh inning.

For God's sake, let it go.

[tankmjg24]

There is a big difference between the height of the mound and coaches on the playing field. One I cannot control as I am not the groundskeeper, the other I can. From watching games that I did not officiate, half of the confrontations could have been avoided had the coaches remained in the dugout. I know of one other umpire in the league who enforces the rule that the coaches must remain in the dugout. The majority of the new guys are too intimidated to confront a coach and the majority of the veterans are waiting on the time limit to hit in order to receive their cash.

One issue that I think exists is that while each age group is within the same league, they almost operate independently. For example, 12U has their own league director and assistant league directors that are different than the 10U league director and assistant league directors. The president and vice president are the only board members that are consistent. I have spoken with the 12U league director a few times and he was a very approachable nice guy with rationale. The 10U league director was a different story.

If I had to do it all over again, I would still have enforced the fact the coaches should be in the dugout. What I think I would have done differently is when the board member came out onto the field and tried to push his weight around, I would have handed him the baseballs and walked to the dressing room. The one reason I did not do this initially was that by me doing so it almost guaranteed that a bunch of 10 year olds would not get to finish their baseball game. I think that I was in a no win situation though.

To protect the innocent, I am no longer located in West Virginia and the incident did not occur there. I am now located in Alabama where the situation occurred. I guess I need to update my demographics haha.

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Originally Posted by tankmjg24

There is a big difference between the height of the mound and coaches on the playing field. One I cannot control as I am not the groundskeeper, the other I can. From watching games that I did not officiate, half of the confrontations could have been avoided had the coaches remained in the dugout. I know of one other umpire in the league who enforces the rule that the coaches must remain in the dugout. The majority of the new guys are too intimidated to confront a coach and the majority of the veterans are waiting on the time limit to hit in order to receive their cash.

One issue that I think exists is that while each age group is within the same league, they almost operate independently. For example, 12U has their own league director and assistant league directors that are different than the 10U league director and assistant league directors. The president and vice president are the only board members that are consistent. I have spoken with the 12U league director a few times and he was a very approachable nice guy with rationale. The 10U league director was a different story.

If I had to do it all over again, I would still have enforced the fact the coaches should be in the dugout. What I think I would have done differently is when the board member came out onto the field and tried to push his weight around, I would have handed him the baseballs and walked to the dressing room. The one reason I did not do this initially was that by me doing so it almost guaranteed that a bunch of 10 year olds would not get to finish their baseball game. I think that I was in a no win situation though.

To protect the innocent, I am no longer located in West Virginia and the incident did not occur there. I am now located in Alabama where the situation occurred. I guess I need to update my demographics haha.

It really does not matter what your demographics are........"stupid is as stupid does"..........

While I may not agree with 100% of the way you handled things........you were 100% correct in principle.

Joel

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

We can compare our education, degrees and practices in psychology at
a later date......

Fabulous. And, it's just a matter of time..............

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Fabulous. And, it's just a matter of time..............

Hah.....exactly........thank you Kyle....

Joel

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Fabulous. And, it's just a matter of time..............

That's the biggest you have?

[gpdeppert]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Fabulous. And, it's just a matter of time..............

Is that metric?

[LMan]

The OP was answered in post #4....the rest... well.....