Umpiring control

[Steve M]

I don't use any secret signals to call my partner over. When I need to include my partner in a discussion, I call him/her over.

In discussions, I'll almost always only deal with 1 person at a time. If several players come over, I'll stop things before they get started by stating "Captain or coach only please. I can only handle dealing with one person at a time." If I'm in a discussion with a captain or coach and it looks like it's getting heated, I expect my partner to be within hearing distance of my voice. I do not raise my voice when I'm speaking with a team rep about a call or rule, so my partner should be no more than 10 feet away. This will give me someone I can trust to verify what was said, it gives me someone to shield me from others who might want to join in, AND if it comes to an ejection, my partner will ensure that the ejected person leaves quickly - I eject turn my back and walk away. I do the same things for my partners. With a rookie or near rookie, I make sure that I'm close but do not join in unless I'm asked OR if I hear a rule mis-interpreted or mis-applied.

With my "regular partners", our pre-game consists of "nothing new? ok, same as always." or "I'd like to try this tonight, so...." With a new ump or someone that I do not often work with, we'll need 15 minutes or so to go over things - and "help" in discussion & confrontations is something we talk about.