Confidence

[dweezil24]

Hi guys,

This is my first season umping in a SP league that follows ASA rules. A few problems over the weekend in a game, and I think they could have all been avoided if I had called the plays with more confidence and authority. But I wanted to get your opinions.

Scenario #1:
As the PU, a borderline 3-1 pitch at the knees. I twitched my arm about to call it a strike. The batter moved towards 1st. I dropped my arm and called it ball 4. The pitcher got mad.

Thinking back, I ought to have stuck with my initial instinct and called the batter back to the box. I also should probably wait a little longer before I call the pitch, was I reacting too quickly?


Scenario #2:
As the PU, there is a tag play at 3rd which is my call. I have a clear view of the play from about 1/3 of the way between the plate and the pitcher's rubber. I saw the tag up on the shoulder of the runner just after he sneaked a foot in to the bag and called the runner safe. The other team's manager (who happened to be the pitcher from the 1st scenario) went to my partner, not to me, and asked for a second opinion. My partner came to me a said that he saw the runner as out (from the edge of the rightfield grass). Rather than stick with my initial call, I caved and called the runner out. Dumb dumb dumb. I should have had confidence in my angle on the play and stuck with the safe call. I also should have pulled the manager aside and reminded him to come to me first if he questions one of my calls.


In my defense, it was my 3rd game of the day and I had been sick the whole day before. No excuse, I know! Just wanted to confess my sins and get your guys' opinions on the situations. Any suggestions on how I can improve?

[Skahtboi]

Scenario #1: If you felt like you called the pitch too quickly, then in all likelihood you probably called it way too quickly. One of the things that is really hard to do as a rookie is to slow your timing down on any call. But, the good thing is you already recognize this. Call the game at the pace you feel most comfortable with, letting all action cease completely before you make your call. For example, watch the pitch all the way into the catcher's glove, the pause, and make your call.

Scenario #2: Again, your instincts are correct as far as your confidence goes. You should have followed your gut instinct on this call. If the call is yours, then it is yours and yours alone to make. If you ask your partner for help, then listen to what they say. However, your partner should never offer unsolicited advice, which it seems that this one did. (A coach requesting him to come to you is wrong, and your partner should have simply answered with something along the lines of "not my call coach.") It sounds to me like you really feel that you had nailed the call with your initial safe call. So why change it?

The longer you stick with this, the more you will develop your confindence. Just remember all of this ten years down the road when you are working with some rookie who is rushing his calls and lacking confidence!

[AtlUmpSteve]

Scenario #1; repitition, repetition, repetition. Double calls, or the appearance of same, will always get that kind or reaction. With experience, you will slow down, and make just one call.

Scenario #2; your bigger problem was your partner even speaking with the coach on that play. Bigger yet is that he chose to give you his unsolicited opinion on a play he had no good angle to see. If he thought he was helping, he was wrong; he allowed the chain of events.

As a newbie, you can't eb the one to counsel him, but you need to talk to your UIC, association training officer, scheduler, someone. Your partner should have told that coach that he couldn't and wouldn't discuss that play with him, nor with you. Rules 10.1-G and 10.1-H were breached!!

G. No umpire has the authority to set aside or question decisionsmade by another umpire.

H. An umpire may consult the other umpire ...... and who requeststhe opinion of the other umpire.

You caved. Okay, you need to have the confidence in your call. With experience, you might even advise a partner who does what this one does that 1) you didn't ask his opinion, 2) it is unprofessional and totally inappropriate for him to come over and give it without you asking, 3) there is no rules basis for you to overturn your call based on his opinion, unless he can offer some part of the play you didn't see at all.

If I was the other team's coach, I would try to protest the game, since the rules were breached when you didn't request his help. (Yeah, I know, failure to adhere to Rule 10 isn't grounds for appeal; but I would make more noise than that team manager did.)

[rharrell]

I'm only going into my second year, but don't confuse asking a partner for help with lacking confidence.

If you believe he had a better angle, do not hesitate to ask for help. I try to do it quickly and decisively. If I'm asked for help, I try to respond immediately and not allow time for players/coaches to begin to plead their case.

Teams appreciate that you are making a sincere effort to get the call right (at least until the next one goes against them).

I agree, never intervene on a judgement call unless asked, but what if your partner misinterprets a rule? I see no problem with calling a conference with my partner.

[mcrowder]

If YOU believe he had a better angle, fine.

This one was not that way. BU interjected himself where he should not have, and replied to the manager in an unsatisfactory manner. That was the root of the problem here. If HE believes he had a better angle, and you don't say anything to him about asking him for help, he should not say a word.

PS - he DIDN'T have the better angle on this play.

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally posted by rharrell
I agree, never intervene on a judgement call unless asked, but what if your partner misinterprets a rule? I see no problem with calling a conference with my partner.

IMO, that's a tougher situation. As a trainer, I am intentionally with newer and less experienced or lower rated umpires, for the purpose of helping them improve. This one really depends on the situation.

If it is "just league", I may sit back and see what happens. If there is no complaint, and it isn't a game-breaker, I would wait until the half inning, and address it then. I might even talk to the coaches later, so they learn the right application.

If this is the first time my partner was challenged, and depending on how hot the conversation is getting, I might, again, stay back and watch how he handles it. I will absolutely interject myself if it is getting close to ejection-quality hot; I never want a coach ejected because we missed a rule. If it sounds like "protest" is a word that is about to be used, I will approach my partner before that point.

With a more experienced partner or major game (qualifying tournament, college ball), my job is to make sure his conversation is one-on-one; only. His call, his rule interpretation or application; unless I'm asked by my partner, I have no part of the conversation. In that case, it is the coaches' jobs to know the rules, how to approach the umpire who erred, and to protest if necessary. I know I can get it fixed if it reaches that point, without needing a UIC to address a protest.

[Mike Walsh]

As everyone said, your partner erred. It would be interesting to see what he would have done if you told him you had the call, and didn't need his help. Would he have gone back to the manager to let him know your call stood?

One thing you should not do is to tell the manager to come to you if he has a question about one of your calls. At that point, it would be just dressing him down. It is better to tell your partner, hey, don't discuss my calls with him, just send him to me if he goes to you.

Mike

[IRISHMAFIA]

I'm with Steve on this one.

With a new or weaker umpire (not necessarily one in the same), I will not interject my opinion, but when I approach the conversation, I will make it quite clear that my partner needs to talk to me before making a decision.

I do this to help with the umpire's confidence AND so there is some appearance that s/he is the one making the call, not me interfering with his/her call. This umpire doesn't need to hear about coming to me on every play the rest of the game just because one team or the other didn't care for the call.

[Justme]

Originally posted by dweezil24
Hi guys,

This is my first season umping in a SP league that follows ASA rules. A few problems over the weekend in a game, and I think they could have all been avoided if I had called the plays with more confidence and authority. But I wanted to get your opinions.

Scenario #1:
As the PU, a borderline 3-1 pitch at the knees. I twitched my arm about to call it a strike. The batter moved towards 1st. I dropped my arm and called it ball 4. The pitcher got mad.

Thinking back, I ought to have stuck with my initial instinct and called the batter back to the box. I also should probably wait a little longer before I call the pitch, was I reacting too quickly?


Scenario #2:
As the PU, there is a tag play at 3rd which is my call. I have a clear view of the play from about 1/3 of the way between the plate and the pitcher's rubber. I saw the tag up on the shoulder of the runner just after he sneaked a foot in to the bag and called the runner safe. The other team's manager (who happened to be the pitcher from the 1st scenario) went to my partner, not to me, and asked for a second opinion. My partner came to me a said that he saw the runner as out (from the edge of the rightfield grass). Rather than stick with my initial call, I caved and called the runner out. Dumb dumb dumb. I should have had confidence in my angle on the play and stuck with the safe call. I also should have pulled the manager aside and reminded him to come to me first if he questions one of my calls.


In my defense, it was my 3rd game of the day and I had been sick the whole day before. No excuse, I know! Just wanted to confess my sins and get your guys' opinions on the situations. Any suggestions on how I can improve?

dweezil24:

Scenario #1 - You might have pulled the trigger too qucikly but it happens when you are new, don't beat yourself up over it. There's not an umpire on this board who hasn't done the same thing. Work on your timing. Timing is very important. Try waiting a couple of seconds before you call the pitch. Count one thousand one, one thousand two, STRIKE (or ball).

Scenario #2 - Remember your partner's name and NEVER work another game with him.

I'm new to softball but have many years of baseball umpiring behind me. This is guidance provided for baseball umpires:

In the situations listed below, a partner who is 100% certain he has additional information unknown to the umpire making the call should approach unsolicited and alert the other umpire to such information. However, the ultimate decision to change a call rests with the calling umpire.

1) Deciding if a home run is fair or foul.
2) Deciding whether a batted ball left the playing field for a home run or ground rule double.
3) Cases where a foul tip is dropped or trapped by the catcher.
4) Cases where a foul fly ball is caught or not caught.
5) Cases when an umpire clearly errs in judgment because they did not see the ball dropped or juggled after making a tag or force.
6) Spectator interference plays.
7) Balks called by an umpire who clearly did not realize the pitcher�s foot was off the rubber.

Umpires should not seek help on plays which they are 100% confident in their judgment and view of the play.

Judgment calls, which have traditionally not been subject to reversal include:
1) steal and other tag plays (except if the ball is dropped without the umpire�s knowledge as discussed above);
2) force plays (when the ball is not dropped and foot is not pulled); 3) balls and strikes (other than check swings).

This practice shall continue. Also, some calls cannot be reversed without creating larger problems. An example is a 'catch/no catch' with multiple runners.

[dweezil24]

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Scenario #2 - Remember your partner's name and NEVER work another game with him.
________________________________________

This is probably good advice, but we're the only umps for this league (volunteer), so we work together every week for three games. I'm doing my best to improve and do it with excellence, but sometimes it seems like he's just going through the motions. Frustrating sometimes, but I try and bring him up to speed on the things I learn through my studying, so we're at least on the same page.

It's possible that he may not be back next season, one way or another, so the next partner I have might take it more seriously. I'll make sure and stress that when the time comes. The league wants to be ASA eventually, but I'd like to live up to those standards beforehand and provide ASA-quality game-calling.

[Edited by dweezil24 on Jan 24th, 2006 at 04:49 PM]

[mcrowder]

Never working with this umpire is not the solution. The umpire may not even know what he has done is wrong (he may be new as well, or he may have been trained poorly in this manner - perhaps by an OOO when HE was new...)

Address it with him - make sure the two of you are clear on what kind of communication is appropriate. If you feel you cannot have this conversation without rubbing him the wrong way, have the conversation with your (and his, I hope) supervisor or scheduler.

Now, if upon having this conversation it turns ugly, THEN feel free to never work with him again.