40-0!

voiceoflg

While drying out after a one inning rainout I check my e-mail. I can't find a link, but a fellow broadcaster tells me Pierce County (Ga.) defeated Savannah 40-0 in three innings. He said Pierce had batters go one base at a time, even had right handed batters bat left handed. There were so many walks and errors, everyone played. Some runners obviously got into a rundown to get an out.

What is your worst game?

jTheUmp

37-0, 9th grade girls softball. 3 innings, almost 2 hours.

I distinctly remember two things from the game:
1) a pop fly to F9. She didn't even have to take a step. All she had to do was reach her glove out and catch the ball. She did, the ball bounced out of her glove and onto the ground.

2) the team that got beat actually turned a triple play in the 2nd inning: First batter was HBP, 2nd batter reached on and F6, and 3rd batter hit into a triple play on the first pitch.

Justme561

Two seasons ago.... D-3 game, game 2 of a DH.... 21-17 in 3:47..... Lots of action on the bases (no defense)!

Manny A

I honestly cannot remember the worst game I've ever umpired. There have been plenty of them, and I try to forget them as soon as I walk off the field.

That said, if I had to pick a level of play where I've seen the biggest gap in talent between teams (leading to these kinds of blowouts), it's JV Girls Softball. Around here, the better schools have a JV team that would give some schools' varsity teams a run for their money. So when they play those schools' JV squads, the games get ugly quick.

I recall some JV games when I started umpiring softball that never got past the second inning before we reached the time limit (yes, our JV softball games are time limited for this very reason).

dash_riprock

I had one of those blowouts once. The winning coach asked me (privately) what he could do to put an end to the madness without insulting the other team by striking out on purpose or other similar stuff. I told him to have every batter try and hit a one-hopper to the second baseman (and not try and beat it out). It didn't always work - like when F4 tried to get the lead runner at 3rd - but eventually they got the outs.

Steven Tyler

Have a strike zone from hell for the winning team.

Nigel Tufnel

I had to watch my son's JV game...30-0
Killed me that the senior umpire on the bases did nothing for the first year behind the dish....this guy was calling major league zone....eeeesh...plus it was typical Seattle weather- 40 degrees and windy...
Bit my tounge....

davelock11

About 15 years ago as a 1st year teacher, I was given the assignment of coaching the girls slow-pitch softball team. The school hadn't had a team in 4 or 5 years. I had 16 girls show up for try-outs the 1st day; one took a fly ball off the nose and another took a ground ball off the eye...I only had 14 show up on day 2 of try-outs.

Long story short, I ended up with no juniors or seniors on the team. I started 4 7th graders and 3 8th graders. We opened the season against a team that had won 2 of the last 3 state championships. We lost game 1 45-0...and it was the first of a double-header lol. We actually played much better after the nervousness of the 1st game and tied them 5-5 in game 2, but I'll never forget the epic beating of that day!

Manny A

davelock11 wrote
I had 16 girls show up for try-outs the 1st day; one took a fly ball off the nose and another took a ground ball off the eye...I only had 14 show up on day 2 of try-outs.

Heck, that's good. I would've expected only 4 or 5 of them showing up after those two injuries! 😛

voiceoflg

Great stories!

The rainout had all the ingredients for such a blowout. The home team had beaten a weaker team 18-0 Friday, and the visiting team lost Friday 21-0.

Top of the first saw a strikeout and a single. Then the third batter struck out with the ball hitting the dirt. First base was occupied, sort of. The batter-runner decided to run to first anyway and the catcher threw to first, catching R1 spectating a few feet from the bag! After tagging him out, F3 stepped on the bag before BR touched first, but I don't think it mattered. After the first run scored in the bottom of the first, the rain and lightning came. I'm not sure I should have been disappointed in a rainout or relieved to not broadcast a lopsided game.

JeffM

dash_riprock wrote
I had one of those blowouts once. The winning coach asked me (privately) what he could do to put an end to the madness without insulting the other team by striking out on purpose or other similar stuff. I told him to have every batter try and hit a one-hopper to the second baseman (and not try and beat it out). It didn't always work - like when F4 tried to get the lead runner at 3rd - but eventually they got the outs.

I like it when the coach of the team that is winning has the girls leave the base early so they are called out. It is quick, doesn't ruin anybody's stats, and doesn't appear to make a mockery of the game.

jicecone

Just had a 19-0 mercy game on Sat. Hm team up to bat with one out remaining and then the Vis. got their last chance. Pitch comes in on the ground 2ft outside zone. I call strike and batter say's "that was kind of wide blue", I say, "then your probably not going to like the next strike either, swing the bat please". He does and strikes out.

I tell him at the end of the inning that I knew that was his third trip to the plate that inning and we needed to move the game along. He turns around, looks at me and says " Im cool with that Blue".

Sometimes you just have to umpire!

radwaste50

voiceoflg wrote
What is your worst game?

JUCO game home team is up 14-2 in a scheduled nine inning. When we finish top of seven we are done. VT puts up a 14 spot in the top of the seventh.

Welpe

radwaste50 wrote
JUCO game home team is up 14-2 in a scheduled nine inning. When we finish top of seven we are done. VT puts up a 14 spot in the top of the seventh.

Let me guess, the 7th inning went over an hour?

bob jenkins

jicecone wrote
Sometimes you just have to umpire!

While I agree with your statement, I don't think that what you did (if accurately described) should be called "umpiring."

bluehair

bob jenkins wrote
While I agree with your statement, I don't think that what you did (if accurately described) should be called "umpiring."

Yeah, maybe he should have said, Sometimes you need to stop umpiring. I have stopped umpiring long enough to tell ***-kickers, that "big lead means BIG KZ". I even called a strike like the one JC described when ***-kickers kept stealing 2B. I ain't proud of it, but sometimes you've got to stop umpiring if you wanna get home before the rooster crows.

Manny A

bluehair wrote
Yeah, maybe he should have said, Sometimes you need to stop umpiring. I have stopped umpiring long enough to tell ***-kickers, that "big lead means BIG KZ". I even called a strike like the one JC described when ***-kickers kept stealing 2B. I ain't proud of it, but sometimes you've got to stop umpiring if you wanna get home before the rooster crows.

Not me. These kinds of games are going to happen to all of us; it's just the nature of the beast. And I think it's wrong for us to take things into our own hands and purposely make outrageous calls to "get home".

Border pitches and bangers going in favor of the team getting pummelled is one thing. But calling strikes and outs that are blatantly and obviously wrong? Not a good practice. But that's just me.

bluehair

Manny A wrote
Border pitches and bangers going in favor of the team getting pummelled is one thing. But calling strikes and outs that are blatantly and obviously wrong? Not a good practice. But that's just me.

So your border line/banger calls are going for the team that is getting pummelled, not called by whether the play was a true safe/out. So you're disregarding the true rules also, your just nit-picking on the degree of it.

As I said, I ain't proud of it. Whenever I've had to resort to such tactics, I've never got any complaints...quite the contrary.

jicecone

bob jenkins wrote
While I agree with your statement, I don't think that what you did (if accurately described) should be called "umpiring."

Thats fine Bob, were all entitled to our opinion and I kind of expected someone would comment about it. However, I am well respected within my community for my officiating and although it may not fit into everyone's standard on this forum, life will go on.

Thank you for your comments.

bob jenkins

I have come full circle on this. I am back to calling the game and letting the teams decide how and when to "shorten" the game when it gets out of hand.