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).

Long time ago when I first started that would have been the PU's call...better angle. Nevertheless, if he were my partner at some point in the future I would want to stress the fact that I might call on him for help just because he might have a better view of the play. Allowing a coach to ask me to appeal to my partner is really OK so long as it is done properly and does not become excessive. It's still my call but if I have any thought at all that something might have happened that I didn't see, then I hope my partner is watching also. Always happy to get the call right even if I have to change it to do so.

Didn't sound too much like an argument. It did sound like he was really unsure of the call. You handled it correctly. Even if he asked for help, the final decision on the call is his. Your response to the coach was good. I never tell the coach what I saw especially when it is in reference to my partner's call. I will discuss it with my partner and leave it up to him/her as to what they want to do with the call. I know that I have made a call and have asked for help from my partner. If he/she saw something different than what I did and I am sure that they are positive about it, then I will change the call. Pride goes before the fall so I will swallow every last ounce of it to ensure the players get a fair and accurate game.

So now, instead of players yelling "Do you have a date?", they can yell "Do you have a bus to catch?" or "What time is the bus?".

BTW, if you redline every partner who screws up, you will work a lot of games alone.

Not trying to "redline" every partner who screws up, just the ones who have a habit of screwing up on last outs (after talking to an assignor, this guy does), being late to games, and not being willing to learn a better way of doing things.

For crying out loud, we had to hold our pregame meeting (umpires, of course) between innings! Fortunately, he didn't have anything too major come up (save last play). Nothing that coaches would go ballistic about.

But what really gets me, and this is my soapbox, is in this state coaches vote for umpires who do the state championship tournament (NFHS). So, if I have partners that screw up all the time, it will eventually trickle down to making me look bad (i.e. coach loses game on a call like this one, but thinks that call cost them the game, so he votes me and partner as bad umpires). I'll stick by him through thick and thin on the diamond, then kick him in the stomach (figuratively) after the game, in private. Then I call assignor and have him not schedule me with partner again (BTW, assignor told me before game that he needed "one good umpire on the game, and that was me."

I join in your hatred for that approach.

Amen to that! Coaches who lose a game you called because they were out gunned, out coached or whatever and want to blame the loss on you will remember not to vote for you at tourney time. However, the winning coach may forget you as quick as they forget their anniversary and might not vote for you either!

I don't know if I necessarily agree with this statement. I think that most coaches at the HS level are capable of judging each umpire on his own merit. I have spent this season working with many umpires who are not quite up to snuff. I have spent a lot of time on the field trying to help them kick their game up to that next level. Sometimes I have succeeded, and sometimes I haven't. However, I have still been requested by several teams to work their playoff games. That's because an umpire who hustles, has good mechanics, is professional, and displays rules knowledge on the field is always appreciated, even when working with the worst slug. Heck, maybe more so then.

I am not a fan of the coaches voting for umpires for playoffs, either. However, I still think that just because you work with someone who is a poor official, as long as you do what you know you are supposed to, the coaches who do the voting will notice.

I think GOOD coaches will look at umpires individually...but bad coaches only care about "gettin' even" with someone for "costing them the game."

I can buy that!

Here's an interesting one:

A few years ago, I called my sister, a high school coach at the time, to see if she had turned in her votes yet...and to beg for a vote. She said, "what vote?" I explained that coaches vote for tournament officials and her vote is important. Two days later she calls me and says, "oh, I checked on the vote...AD takes care of it." So I ask how that was so. And she said, "he said he votes for umpires who either work their games or umpires who work other sports for him." I then ask if she recognized the names of the umpires. She said, "I think three or four of them work our games...the rest do basketball for the school."

I then start naming names of umpires, good quality umpires, we both know. She kept saying no, even though these umpires work about 1/2 of her summer ball games. (And technically that counts).

So, the coaches don't get to vote, and worse, the AD votes for guys who work other sports for him. Sounds like a fair system, right?

But then again, GOOD coaches will vote for GOOD umpires. (Note: This was my sisters first year as a head coach...needless to say it was the last year AD did the voting).