Saw this on the baseball board, where mcrowder has been given the title of the best, er, worst scenario. Thought we might throw it up against the wall and see what sticks...

Worked with an *umpire* last year, that every time he was required to
remove his mask to make a call or whatever, he would thrown it like
the catcher's do. He would also point upward on every fly ball, as though
it was an infield fly. His mask throwing got him in trouble in one
situation. He tripped over it while going back to cover a foul ball to see
if it was a catch or trap on the screen. He had to get help from his
partner. Me.

Pitch was hit about a foot in front of home plate. Umpire called foul ball. Catcher didn't hear him and jumping out making the throw to first (over throwing first base) Ump then said "never mind". Thank goodness I was not on the field with him.

I was watching a game, where my 12 yr old daughter was playing, and the PU was 'selling' the stike-outs soo hard the kids were crying as they were leaving the box. Some of his buddies were egging it on until one of the moms sqirted him with a squeeze bottle of power-aide. I was rollin' along with half the other parents. I never saw him again, but I was lookin for him.

I was in "C" with R1 on 3B. Ground ball to F6, I start moving inside watching her; when she lets R1 go and turns to first I start to sprint and I was in pretty good position inside for a close play at 1B. Saw it, thought about it, and sold a big out call. As I was heading towards "A", the 1B coach came unglued and went running to home, yelling "Blue, we gotta have help here!"

I turned just in time to see my partner spread his arms and yell "SAFE - she pulled her foot!"


WMB

Betchya asked him/her to have a beer afterwards.
http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/_950/drunkard.gif

One of the blues at my daughter's games (I have worked with him also many times)lost the count and one of the parents behind the fence told him to "keep your head in the game" and I guess he was embarrased or something and that got under his skin more than it should of. He took off his mask and came to the fence and told the dad to "Kiss my a$$"

I'm doing a rec level tourney game. I'm in the field. Partner has plate. He apparently has had a pay problem with tourney director in the past and during the game he keeps asking one of the coaches if he's seen the director because he needs to speak to him. This is annoying enough but during one inning he holds up play, tells the batter to step out of the box, and pulls out his cell phone. He then proceeds to call the director and quite loudly tells him that he'd better get his pay this time. This goes on for a good 2-3 minutes while the girls are sitting down on the field. Finally he finishes and continues the game. In between innings he tells me how he was looking out for both of us. Embarrasing to say the least.

My very good friend and mentor was behind the plate. With a runner on third base I was out in the "C" position. Right handed batter up, catcher asks for the appeal on a check swing. PU points to the first base coach and asks , "Did she go!" First base coach points to me, I point back to the PU, who now walks half way to first and shouts at the first base coach, " Did she GO!" First base coach very weakly makes a safe sign. Happy my friend tell the catcher, "Ball." Defensive coach goes nuts starts on to the field yelling at me, the first base coach, and finally at the PU. After the game we disused what when on. He told me that in my position I could not make a call on a check swing. He also told me the HE had a strike but wanted to make the point about there should be three umpires for games. My friend was a very good umpire and his mentoring was the main reason I made it though my first season so many years ago, sadly that was his last game as he passed two days latter from a stroke.

During was my second year doing Adult SP. I did a slow pitch rec tourney with a UIC who should have never been assigned a UIC position.

I had a player on the loosing team that started taunting the opposite team. I warned the coach that this needed to stop as the conduct was USC.

The offending player came up to bat in the 4th after the warning and hit a triple, but upon coming into three with no play (F6 was 2 steps off the base line) he threw an elbow and nailed the fielder across the upper torso with clothes line move.

I killed the play and ejected the player, at that time the coach started to argue with me that the fielder was in the way of the runner and the contact was not intentional.

At this time the coach called the UIC over, who knew this team from league games, and said that this in no way could have happened. After a few minutes delay and a short discussion with the UIC he reversed the ejection ruling. I told the UIC him that he could complete the game as I was not going to be held liable for any other conduct on the field and in my opinion the game ended right there with a forfeit.

Not 2 outs later with me out by my car I witnessed a bench clearing brawl between both teams, started by the same player I had ejected.

From what I hear that was the one of the last games this umpire ever did.

NCAA D-II Lead Off Classic in Dallas, 2002. $20 each for a tournament pass.

Fan from Louisiana (where they can be rather loud and boisterous) gets "warned" by the PU between innings to keep it down. Next inning the Cajun yells, <B><I>"Move aroun' Blue. You killin' de grass!"</B></I> PU tells him to leave the park.

argo - this is the worst thing you saw an UMPIRE do? What did UMPIRE do wrong here?

Or are you just relating the story for the humor?

After reading these, I still think I have you all beat, but I'll wait another page before posting it.

Maybe the Cajun was ejected for apparent use of a controlled substance if he was seeing grass on a skinned infield.

OK, lets have it.

Havent seen much terrible stuff but 1 or 2 varsity games ago I had the plate in FED. I am so accustomed to working ASA alone.. that I forgot my partner in 3 existed and called a BR opposite of his call at 1b.

Of course a few smart guys in the stands and bench start talking - I immediately said its his call and it stood and didnt discuss it anymore. It was a brain fart, not intentional and I apologized to the BU between innings. I thought about all the times I've seen this mentioned as one of the worst things that can happen and wondered how many times it is because you just mess up from being so used to working alone - not intentionally stomping on your partner.

Happened to the Mrs. the other in a JV game(She was filling in.....). I guess her partner who was working the bases called "Time" very loudly and then proceeded to pull a hankey from his pocket to blow his nose very loudly. I wish I could have seen her face. According to our daughter and her boyfriend it was priceless.... :)

U12 Umpire calls time in the middle of the count and yells at the on deck batter to tuck in her shirt. Calls time in the middle of an at bat.to draw in the batters box with a bat. Then ends the game with a called third strike that the catcher had to dive for.

Next weekend, Comes to my field (not his game) and tells the players in the dugout that they have to sit on the benches in the dugout and not on the backrests of the benches.

Haven't seen him work a tournament since.

Rachel,

You told me you would not tell that story. :D

Just kidding guys/gals it was not I. I don't draw
batter boxes.

I remember this happened last fall during that time when many of our umps are working volleyball. One team gets a player on base with some speed and after the pitcher releases the ball she takes off for second. The pitch hits the ground and my partner calls "time! dead ball, runner goes back to first." I didn't even know what to think when a hear the coach grumble "I don't even read the rulebook and I know that's not right." At the half inning I tried to explain that if a pitch hits the ground it is not a dead ball, but he told me I was wrong and that in baseball if it hits the ground it's dead. I just remember that being a game I wanted to end.

Should have thanked him for his help, but he had to go because it's obvious there was a baseball game somewhere out there without an umpire.

Back the first year I started calling, I had my first plate. It was a middle school game and in about the second inning, the pitcher threw a hard high pitch that my eyes followed all the way into the catchers glove. I gave a good, loud call of "Ball."

Catcher and batter both look at me in astonishment. I look out at my BU in B position and he is slowly shaking his head in wonder and trying to keep from laughing out loud. (I think the coaches of both teams were also laughing, but I sure wasn't going to look!!) :D

I asked the batter, "You swung at that, didn't you?" She nods her head yes. I laugh, change the ball to a strike and go on with the game. I also vowed never to do that again, and as best I know, I haven't yet! It also tought me never to be so proud of a call that I can't change it when I'm obviously wrong!

hey, thats a good one.. I had a DOH moment similar to that in a Var double header two days ago.. 2nd game Im BU, play at 3B, runner is out, I yell out and signal safe.

Blah!!! I hate when I do dumb crap..

Joker in the crowd stands up and says "Blue means way out" and does a out call incorporated with a safe call "Waaaaaaaaayyy out".

Ah well, i'm not ump of the year like yall.

I did that once in a varsity game about 5 years ago. The first base coach said "hey blue, should we go with what you did or what you said?" Went with safe. I think that is when I really started to learn to take the picture and wait to make the call.

Did not witness this, but two of my fellow umpires whom I sent to the Men's A East in Dothan a few years ago couldn't wait to tell me about it. This gentleman is out of the FL panhandle and I have since met and worked games with him which can be a trip in itself. He's a very nice guy and some of you on here may know him.

The story I got was:

This gentleman was working 1B in a 3-ump system. Apparently, on a ground ball, F3 took exception to how close the runner came to colliding with him as he crossed the base and got in his face.

Well, this guy pulls out a yellow penalty flag, throws it in the air and announces "unsportsmanlike conduct, 15 yards". The players apparently just stared at him and then broke up and went back to their respective position/dugout.

Great job breaking up a situation that probably wasn't going to get better by itself. I'm all for a bit of levity on the field, but a penalty flag at a National? I don't think I'm ready for that.

That had to be Mr H. I have worked with him many times and in many places. I have seen the yellow flag a time or two also.
Best of all, have you ever seem his "teeth and glasses?"
Even the "Whip" from down here gives way on that one.

hmm where did i put that yellow flag....

Our JV team had an away game about 3 years ago and when we got there, the field wasn't ready yet. As the home team is trying to find the holes for mounting the bases, one of the umpires comes up to our coach and tells her if the field isn't ready at 4:30 (game time), she will have to forfeit. Needless to say, she was a bit shocked.

Fortunately, one of our parents is involved with the city's youth leagues and had temporary bases available. Probably the first and only HS game I'll ever see firsthand with a pillow-style base mounted down in all for corners.

And near the end of the second game of the doubleheader, the umpire apologized to our coach for the earlier comment. :)

OK, lets have it. [/B][/QUOTE]

Still waiting for the worst sitch Mc.

OK. I also waited for mcrowder. But here's my input.

D1 college game. Bang bang play at home. PU goes into ready position (like they're about to make a great "sell" call), then immediately calls TIME and goes to BU (in B slot) to ask what they saw. After PU-BU conference, PU then makes a call. Needless to say, this umpire never worked another college game again.

Serg

Worst I've seen - supposed 20-year umpire. He's BU, I'm at the plate. Pop up to 2nd base with no one on. Fans all scream as F4 is trying to catch it, and he drops it. I hear "Interference! Batter's out!" I didn't see interference, but was not going to contradict him on the field. Between innings (this old boy had to visit with me between every half-inning) I ask him what happened. "Verbal Fan Interference."

OK, fine - new one on me, too late to fix.

2nd game, he's behind the plate. One out, R2. Catcher catches a 1-hopper for swinging strike 3 and fires to third to catch R2 stealing, I call him out. PU is yelling, "Batter's out! Batter's Out!" as batter makes it to 1st without a throw. Coach goes nuts, gets ejected. Assistant (a wiser man) approaches PU calmly and asks him to discuss the call with me. Much to my shock he does. Turns out he knows the ball bounced - but ruled batter out because catcher fielded the ball cleanly. I tell him he's wrong (no one else can hear us), and he yells at me, for all to hear, "You're a F$^#&ing idiot!" and returns to the plate. Poor assistant coach doesn't know to protest.

He never worked for us again either.

Youve posted that before, strike two. (the first post was strike one)

Fly ball to LF down the 3rd base line.

PU jumps out from the plate and gets a great position to make a call. A catch is made in foul territory. PU put's his arms up and yells "Foul Ball!".

After a second or two, he looks at the 3rd baseman and says with a grin, "Did I just say foul? I meant Out!" and accordingly changes the call.
-------------------------------------------


I promise I won't do that again!!! *blush*

Gotta love rookies, hehe. Fortunately the NCUA is wise enough to put us Rooks in the lowest of the low city league CO-ED divisions to get these gafs out of the way! ;)

Alameda,

We all have those moments. 1 Man crew (I've never done anything else). Ball hit down the third base line, close to bag, runner stealing from second - I see runner and ball, ball goes just foul, I don't get my hands up high when giving 'Dead Ball' signal and suddenly can't say 'Foul Ball' - Everyone thinks I'm calling runner safe. - Finally get hands up and 'Foul Ball' out after about 15 seconds. That was bad.

Almost every umpire has had that moment when they went to call one thing and said or signalled something else.

USSSA nationals, runner slides into 2nd pops up safe and I call him out, and I really sell the call. He goes crazy,I call time turn to my PU and tell him that I would like to apeal the call to myself and changed it. It was so bad that the coach from the other team did not even say a word

Ok, I'm starting to feel better now... hehe.

I was telling a friend of mine about this thread when he reminded me of the worst thing we ever saw an umpire do. An event so terrible we all wanted to block it from our memory for ever.

We had this spoiled rich kid who would work some youth fast pitch games with us from time to time. He was a pain to deal with in every way imaginable. His attitude was so bad that many of our umpires refused to work with him. I am very fair and even tempered so I ended up with this kid on my field for this evenings games. He had no plate gear so I knew I would work the plate for both games (no heat problems here in the Pacific Northwest).

Our first game was miserable, a walk/stealing feast You know the type where ball four the batter walks and by ball three the runner scores. As the game went on his attention seamed to drift until he all but stopped paying any attention to the game at all. In fact he would make dirt volcanoes in the infield between plays. I tried to get him back on track by offering some advice on positioning and professionalism. But things only got worst.

Towards the end of the game he stopped making any calls on the field and is just playing with his volcanoes. He was missing so many call (simply not making any call) that I had to start making the calls. After a play I would look at him, get no response, and make the call. On one play after he made another no call, I ruled the girl safe. As I was turning around to return behind the plate I here this enrage "WHAT?" from the offensive coach. Wondering how a coach could be mad at a safe call I turned to see this kid nose to nose with the coach telling him the runner was out because of obstruction. Before I could get to the argument the kid tosses the coach for arguing his call. Since there was no obstruction (or interference) I talked to the kid and asked him what he saw and why he didn't make the call during the play. He offered a half hearted attempt to explain the rule to me, but I can see no reason for the runner to be out. We decided that my call was right and returned the runner to base. But he had ejected the coach, I offered that since there was no call there could be no arguing of the call, and that the coach should not be ejected, and again we went with my call. When the game ends we usually return to the umpire area to change, get a drink and talk about the last game. Instead this kid starts arguing with the coach and fans. I take him aside and tell him that I need him to calm down and start to pay attention to the game on the field. We go over our pre-game and he assures me he will be better for the second game.

Well our second game was special, the number one and two teams. I expected better pitching, fielding and hitting. I also expected my partner to act more professionally. I got all my expectations from the players and none from my partner. After a very badly blown call and argument (with cussing) I had to eject ... my partner from the game. Yes that is right I actually ejected my base umpire from the game. I had him escorted from the field by our UIC. Goodbye never ever come back here again. After the kid was gone both teams played one of the best games I ever had the privilege to umpire.

And that is the worst thing I have ever seen an umpire do.

This one made me shiver.....
 

Was working a set of games last night with someone I hadn't worked with yet, and well, he was freakin me out. :/

One of the games we worked was a complete blow out. We've all seen them, no biggy. But this other umpire would constantly make remarks about the score and the performance of the team getting spanked. I have a problem with him saying these things to me alone, but to make it worse he was saying it loud enough for everyone around to hear, players, coaches, the 2 drunk homeless guys in the stands, etc (sorry that wasn't very PC lol).


Things like:
"What a blow out, they're killing 'em"
"Wow, what a boring game, this is pathetic"

I was shocked and it gave me shivers down my spine.

:/

[Edited by Alameda on Apr 15th, 2005 at 05:41 PM]

Reminds me of a state tournament I did a few years ago.

In MN, there are state JO fastpitch tournaments for "A" level, "B" level, "C" level, "D" level, and rec. You can imagine.

Anyway, I agreed to call some games in the state 12U (or maybe it was 14U, I don't remember now) "D" tournament. Now I knew going in what this was: relatively unskilled players whose team had "made state." ;)

The UIC was a young hot shot who thought the entire tournament was beneath him. (Doh! Why are you UICing this tournament, then?)

He griped about the pathetic play the entire 2 days of the tournament. He ridiculed the very notion that it could even be called a "state" tournament. He grumbled around the umpire tent. He grumbled at the consession stand. He assigned himself games, and grumbled on the way to his games, while on the field, and on the way back (I had the misfortune of being partnered with him for one game. Somehow I had absolutely nothing I needed to discuss with my partner that entire game. I don't know why! ;))

Awful. Dreadful. Sucked much of the joy out of watching all these kids just having fun.

Please tell me he's not UIC anymore?!

He should be forced to stand up against the wall and let all those kids beam SBs at him. :D

Alameda - I would have done everything in my power to prevent having conversations with this guy between innings. It's bad mechanics to do it anyway, but if this guy didn't know that, I'd find someplace to be between innings, or make the point that he doesn't need to come in from RF after every half inning. No conversation = no inappropriate comments.

Well, as a rook, the vets have been coming over and letting me ask Qs, etc between innings. But yea, I was calling "Game Balls In" in the middle of his sentences. I think he started figuring out that I was squirming to get away from him lol.

[Edited by Alameda on Apr 18th, 2005 at 01:47 PM]

Gotcha.

Then after the very first time he did this, I'd stop coming in entirely. This is one vet you don't want to learn much from.