Umpiring

[oppool]

Ok here is a story for the vets to laugh at and the young maybe to learn something happen to me last year early in the season.

SIT: Runners on 1st and 2nd I am the BU in this game 1 out B4 hits fly ball to center I move to the inside as F8 moves under the ball I watch for the touch and turn my eyes to the runners for proper tag ups look back to F8 to see F8 picking the ball up from the ground runners move up and B4 standing at 1st time is called and PU is calling B4 out saying he had a catch and drop on transition B4 and coach start yelling at PU so he does the dreaded appeal call down to me I go to PU knowing he is a rookie and move away from the players and ask him what he saw he tells me catch and drop on transition I say then we got a out B4 make the call. In going back to my position the coach comes after me with several players around him I try to explain the call to the coach he gets madder and starts yelling at me this was my call not the
PU's I'm thinking I'll explain the call but not going to discuss with a coach the umpires responibilities walk away and go back to my position. Couple of batters later B6 hits a grounder out to left and when coming around the bases starts trash talking to me about the earlier call (no excuse but this is my 4th game of the night it is 30% with a stiff breeze) I lose my cool and get into the runners face after time has been called and ask him WHAT YOUR PROBLEM which he replies GET OUT OF MY FACE luckily the pitcher standing by us says cant we just play ball come on guys which bring be back to my senses and I back off and say Play Ball I understand now I should have just kept by position and ejected B6 but once I went in his face it was only going to make matters worse of I would had ejected him at that time.
We made it through the rest of the night with no problems just a few nasty stares.

Here's the kickers to the story PU last about 2 more weeks and decide umpiring wasnt for him and I get a call from the UIC next week he is needing a umpire to fill in for that same field the next week I accept no problems just a few more nasty stares early but everything went smooth.

LESSON 1-10 on this always keep your composer no matter what.

LESSON 11 dont put your partner on the spot for your call unless it is absolutly needed dont just appeal to get a coach or player off your butt!!

[Steve M]

Don,
Excellent lessons to have learned. Don't react - no matter what the provocation - and sometimes you just live with a call rather than screw your partner. I strongly suspect that every experienced and quality umpire could relate something very similar when we were near the stage you're at - first 5 yrs of umpiring. Remember those lessons. Here's a suggestion that I've made before and will keep on making. Start an umpiring diary/journal. List in this any call you've screwed the pooch on and what the ruling should have been. Include any rule interp that you found you were unsure of - and what the ruling should have been. As time goes by, you might well want to include those umps that you can count on to be very sound and those where you'd be better off working alone. As I look back at mine, I'm amazed at where I was and how I ever lasted. Like everyone else, I still get caught every now & then with a bad game - think I had 1, maybe 2 last year out of over 270 fastpitch games, but my knowledge is such that I don't make the same mistake twice and it's very seldom that I lose a rule discussion - wither on the field or as a uic. By the way, those first 5 years are the hardest, that's where you start to build the foundation that the rest of your umpiring will site & grow on.

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Don.......

Steve gave you some fantastic advice on journaling....

I started a journal late in my 2nd year of umpiring in FP.......I now have 3 full years plus a little of my 2nd written down.

I wish I had started from the beginning.......thats when all the STUPID stuff I did was really obvious.

I do know that in my first year......I called a no catch on a dropped ball on a voluntary release by the fielder (dropped when preparing to throw...no one complained).........I blew a few base awards......and called out a BR for interference BEFORE she reached the 45' running lane......and those are just the ones I can remember.

I started umpiring because I wanted to put my money where my mouth was.......I thought that if I wanted a good supply of officials in our area.......I should be willing to put my neck on the line.

I know how hard it is to really be a good umpire NOW........I have really studied hard these last few years and after calling hundreds of games (it will be awhile before I reach the magical 1000 mark)........I think I have finally gotten the hang of it.

Guys like Steve, Mike and Roger (who have many more years of experience than us) did not have the luxury of the internet to bone up on their skills and rules knowledge.....

They got it in what my Dad used to call the "School of Hard Knocks".......they studied what was available and absorbed things by years of experience........

I hope that I have the longevity that they have shown (I plan to, because I really enjoy it).


Joel

[IRISHMAFIA]

Don,

You missed an opportunity to get an extra out! When the guy started talking trash, you should have said, just loud enough for him to hear, "you're done when the play is over."

There is a good possibility he would have stopped in his tracks to debate the issue and allow the defense to get the out.

Sneaky? Yup, but you didn't tell him to stop running d:-)