Final play of game. 1 out, runner on first. Hit and run is on. Soft liner to second base"person", fielder catches ball. Throw goes to first. Runner is diving back in. Ball hits fielders glove, lands on runners back (who by now is on the base) where F3 grabs it and holds it against fielder.

BU is at second base (literally, at second base), points at first base, holds up a weak looking ROUTINE out call, says in a voice I can't hear "out." Then he proceeds to walk towards coach (who should be kicking and screaming by now) and tries to give an explanation. Then coach asks for an appeal, he says no. Coach asks me if she can appeal, and I say he has to ask me for help. So the game is over, and after the game, while he is grabbing his bag and looking for the nearest bus stop (that's right, he rides public transportation to games...or hitch-hikes) he asks me what I saw. I told him what I saw, and he tries to argue with me!

So, I have several things here:

1. Partner was out of position for call.
2. His mechanics on outs/safes are horrible.
3. He's trying to give a rules clinic without knowing what he's talking about.
4. He won't appeal the fielder having control of the ball.
5. He asks me what I saw after the game, then told me I was wrong.


SO my question is:

If you know your partner missed one, something that CAN be corrected, but he won't appeal to you for help, what do YOU do? I'm interested to see your thoughts!

(Texblue---no UIC to OVERTURN the CALL!)

I would guess you have to live with it, If he won' ask for help, or change his call, what else can you do?

I would report incident to scheduler and ask I not be assigned to worked with this guy again.

By the book - you have to live with it.

BTW, nothing wrong with public transport, etc., so long as he can get to the games on time.

Is he new? If yes, then he may be teachable.

Do you know on what grounds the coach wanted an appeal? Did she see something specific (i.e. bobbled ball) or did she just disagree with the call? Part of the process here is for the coach to do her job properly, too. She needs to state grounds for asking the BU to go for help, not just disagree with the call.

As for public transport, I'm all for it...but assigner has stated we need to be to game 30 minutes before scheduled game time. Last year he showed up for a game in the fourth inning...I gave him his check and sent him home.

Coached wanted to appeal control of ball...but didn't ask for this until after game was done and she was talking to me while team was loading up bus. She wasn't sure how to do it...team also has a reputation of complaining a lot, and asking for appeals constantly, so that may be why she didn't push the issue further.

In this case, I think you are stuck.

It's his call, it's a judgement call and if he does want to ask for help on the field, he is within his rights to do so. You said it was the final play of the game - maybe he just wanted to be done.

You were really only talking about this one play in the game. Was he consistently out of position the entire game? Did you have trouble with his mechanics the whole time?

Sounds like you handled the coach well by referring her back to your partner. That's about all you can do. You could call time and talk to your partner privately about the call and tell him that you have more information. I would not reccommend this, however, because it may appear that you are trying to show up your partner.

Unfortunately, we all have to work with less than adequate partners from time to time. All you can do is your job to the best of your ability and hope like he** that nothing screwy happens.

This play was the only one that I think he missed big-time. He had a couple iffer, but they were really close.

He wasn't completely out of position all the time, but he took angles I wouldn't recommend:

1. Not getting inside diamond on fly balls (any fly balls).
2. Not getting 90 degree on first base calls.
3. Not following runners into bases...stood near circle and called it from there.
4. Etc. Bunch of little things.

Sounds like lazy umpiring!

Switch
 

Maybe you should consider letting him do the plate next time ????

Hey FU........

Eat the call. Nothing you can do or say.

I would have sent him home alright but without the check.

Exactly what I was thinking. If he accepts the assignment, he must get there on time.

Did I forget to mention that he had to give me half the fee in cash before he got his check?

I am in the Mafia, I would have had him pay triple the fee in cash.

How did the argument afterward go? If he asked for your opinion, he must have been at least a little unsure of himself. What was his justification during the argument?

An unofficial transcript follows:

partner: what did you see?
FU: You really want to know?
partner: yeah, did you see out?
FU: NO, she didn't have control of the ball until after runner was back on base.
partner: you sure?
FU: Saw the ball right there on runners back when F3 grabbed the ball.
partner: were you close enough?
FU: I was 25 feet away, which was about 30 feet closer than you!
partner: I'm not sure about what you saw. You sure?
FU: absolutely sure.
partner: What did coach ask you?
FU: asked me what I saw. I said it really didn't matter unless they asked you to appeal control of ball. And they didn't.
partner: Why didn't they do that?
FU: in the words of the coaches...that ONE CALL wouldn't make a difference in the game...the 6 errors they committed in the fifth inning that COST THEM 5 runs cost them the game.

(at this point, he begins to walk to the bus stop)

As you see, no justification, just that he saw something different. Now that I think about it, if that is what he saw, then I can accept that. It is what he saw, not what anyone else saw, that counts. If he really saw the runner out, then we'd go with it. But I'm pretty sure he couldn't see the ball pop lose (and if you can't see it you can't call it).