What next?
 

I umpired a couple of T-ball games tonight. One with a partner. The one without a partner went very well. Great game...lot of fun and kids had a good time. The game with a partner started out pretty well, but soon turned into another series of garbage from the same two coaches that I almost tossed a few days ago. (the two from the pit) In the pregame I went over a couple of rules and told all the coaches and assistants that I realize emotions get high in these games, but I expect all coaches to set a good example of sportmanship to the players. They all agreed, even the two from the pit, who gave somewhat of an apology, for the way they acted in the last game. But it didn't take long before they had my partner, who is a teen girl with a couple years of umpiring experience. She is an excellent player and has a good understanding of the rules. I saw her crying after one inning. Here's why.. With a runner on 1st a batter hits a ball between 1st and 2nd that is being fielded by 2 kids at the same time. The runner from 1st had to go around them. One of the fielders came up with the ball and made a nice throw to 2nd and the girl caught it a couple steps ahead of the runner. My partner called her out. I was not able to watch the entire play as a kid was coming home and I needed to see if she touched home plate. This was one of those times when two things at once required attention. Anyway the head coach comes over to me and TELLS me to call her player safe cause she was blocked. Like I said, I didn't see the entire play, but my partner did and determined the fielders had the right to field the ball so there was no infraction. So now the coach is mad at me as well as my partner, but I say let's play ball. At this time if she didn't start to pitch to her next batter I was going to make my first toss and tell her not to come back for her next game. But she got back to the game. About a batter or two later one of her batters throws the bat and almost hit the hind catcher. (we have a local rule that a team warning is given when the first bat is thrown, and the next batter that throws a bat on that team is out) So I yell out to her dugout "that's a team warning the next batter doing that will be called out"). I repeat the warning. Several in the dugout said okay. We have another local rule that allows the kid to take 3 pitches before going to the Tee. She was pitching to the girl that threw the bat and was only about 25 feet from me when I gave the loud warning, not once, but twice.

I bet you already know what happens next... In the last inning one of her players throws the bat. I call her out and here she comes..."Why is my batter out"?...so I told her "I called her out because she threw the bat and you already had a team warning. She goes on to say "what warning" I point to the dugout and say "did I not give a loud and repeated team warning for bat throwing a couple of innings ago? They all said yes you did Ump. She goes on to say "I remember seeing the bat being thrown, but I didn't hear the warning given and you should have told me because I am the head coach"... At this point I said "everyone in the park heard me but you, maybe you need to learn to listen to the umpire more carefully. I have never had any other coach not hear my warnings when a bat was thrown. I am not going to deliever the warning in writing just for you. It's time to play ball the out stands. When the game was over this coach from the pit comes over to me and starts with me again. At that time an elderly man, who helps with her team, comes over to tell her to get into the dugout the game is over the way you are acting is wrong. Before she left she said I know what the problem is... "I am not a man. I should quit and let a man coach the team. I am going to talk to the administrator about this". So now I am at the point of losing my temper and say "So now you think I am a sexist and we have an harassment case here???!!! It's the other way around and they don't pay me enough money to put up with you! Then the elderly man really got mad at her and told her again to get back to the dugout, and she did. I think that man must be the coach from the pits father. But anyway me and him had a good chat and he told me he was an umpire from many years and knows how difficult some coaches can be.

Every now and then a fan would tell me through the backstop fense that she is awful. They can't understand why she yells at her players so much either. This is T-ball, not the world series between the Red Socks and the Yankees.


Nothin' like fun at the ole' ball park. ..Al

I think you need to do two things.

First, there needs to be a meeting between whoever is responsible for the coaches and the coaches themselves, reminding them that their behavior toward umpires should be an example to their children (6-year olds are just learning this sort of thing) of how to respect authority, and also telling them that they should always be in the frame of mind of teaching these children - not just how to play physically, but how to play mentally, and that even if the umpires are dead wrong on something, their tirades are more detrimental to their kids than the poor call was in the first place.

Second, someone from your board needs to watch some of this lady's games and perhaps her practices. Her behavior in front of these kids is reprehensible.

As an aside - I think you took too much crap from her. If she managed to stay in the game somehow, you should have tossed her when she made the sexist comment, even if the game was over. Intimating that an umpire is intentionally throwing calls for ANY reason should be addressed by the board before she can return to coaching.

PS --- two umpires for TEE BALL!?!?! Wow.

Sounds like you need the backup to safely reach your car!

Has there been some re-alignment in MLB I haven't heard about? :D

Suggestion - any time you issue a warning, write it down on your lineup card (if you are using one), and make sure that it is recorded in a scorebook as well. Now you have the written documentation for the coach.

Don't respond to her "I didn't hear the warning...." crap. Just tell her that the warning was issued, the out stands, let's play ball! It takes two people to have an argument..don't give her the satisfaction.

As far as the coach's comments, antics, and demeanor, I am in 100% agreement with mcrowder...the league administration needs to be aware of this coach's actions.

Hey mcrowder,

Just before leaving the ball field last night I talked to the administrator about the problems I'm still having with this one coach and sometimes her assistant. He already knew about the problems I had in the last game both with her and her assistant. Her teams name is "thunder"... which fits the way she talks to her players and the umpires at times. The administrator is also an umpire and during my game last night he was umpiring 10/under f/p in the field right across from where I was. He told me he had already heard about my teenage partner being driven to tears. I think her Mom must have told him what happened. To my surprise he said she needs to be able to control her emotions if she wants to be umpiring any more games. I told him she didn't start to cry while on the field but in between innings and where only a few people could see her. Then I told him about the bat throwing warning that the coach claimed she never heard, even though I gave the warning twice and those in her own dugout heard it. She was closer to me than her dugout. When I told him what she said about her not being a man was the problem, and she should quit and get a man to coach her team he told me he is going to call her and talk to her. Then he said he was going to call all the coaches. He told me T-ball is sometimes brutal. He reminded me what he said about not taking any nonsense from anyone. I guess I just keep thinking this coach will stop being such a jerk and I would rather not have to toss anyone, but in her case, judging from the comments I get from fans, I feel her ejection may get a lot of cheering. Thanks, You're exactly correct. ..Al

LOL... Nope, there's been no re-alignment in MLB. Thanks for pointing that out, it might have sparred me from making that dumb statement to someone else. :) ...Al

This is why in the league I umpire in during the summer DOES NOT keep score in T-Ball, which I think is great. T-Ball should not be competitive as far as score goes. The only people that care about wins and losses are the parents. You better believe, though, that mom and dad are in the stands with their pencil and paper keeping talley of runs. Sad. So Sad....

Wait a minute...
 

The pitcher pitches in a t-ball game? Am I missing something? :confused:

Yes, SRW, you did. That's what you get when you don't read the whole thing and just look for stuff to pick on. Read it again.

Good story. My favorite part:

Good luck doing these games. I've done some similar and know they take a lot of patience as well as umpiring talent.

Re: Hind catcher.

Al, are you by chance Canadian? This term seems common in "the Great White North". I buy a lot of baseball stuff on eBay, and everytime I see a piece of catcher's equipment that is described with the term "hind catcher", the seller is almost always from Canada.

What's up with that?

On to your post. Adults with this kind of behavior in youth sports really strike a nerve with me. My daughter's early days in rec ball exposed me to the absolute worst in outrageous behavior.

I've seen coaches of this type run a fine recreational program right into the ground. How many kids are going to say, "Gee, that was really fun, being yelled at and belittled by my coach. I think I'll sign-up for more abuse again next year!".

When this behavior goes unchecked, the league is in effect driving away players (customers). And then the clueless board of directors wonders why their sign-up numbers go down each year...

By nature, I am a pretty mild and easy-going person. But my "BS" detector is set at a very low threshold! When confronted with yo-yo's like this, it is my nature to set them straight. It's part of the reason I became an umpire and league official.

Given the history here, as soon as this "coach" said that she was going to the administrator, I think that my response would be, "Good idea. Let's both go and see him right now".

The administrator needs to be made aware of somebody's behavior, but it's not yours! Clueless morons like this need to put a lid on it or else be removed from the field.

Hey BretMan,

Hind catcher! I was always a catcher, but I don't remember hearing the term hind catcher when living in New Jersey. But here in TN. that's what the catcher is called. No, I'm not from Canada. I was raised in New Jersey. Went into the Air Force at age 20, then after 4 years of traveling from place to place such as Texas, Puerto Rico, Guam, Alaska, North Dakota, and Mass. My wife and I had enough of that. For me, the best part of the Air Force was meeting my beautiful wife in Puerto Rico, with whom I've been married 33 years now. We have 2 kids, 4 grandkids, another on the way.

My civilian job was waiting for me, if I wanted it, so I decided to do that and went back to work for the (American Can Company) in New Jersey. So now we figure no more moving, right? But just about the time we got settled into our first home ...I got transferred to another part of the state, and just two years, or so, later got transferred again to Indiana. But this time we didn't have to move for several years. Then the company closed down and a couple years later we moved to Tennessee and have not moved since. We are here about 15 years now.

My oldest grandkid plays T-ball, and my son tells me he hits the tar out of it! Too bad my wife and I don't get to see him play as he lives in Indiana and we live in Tennessee. My wife is now talking about moving closer to the kids and grandkids. So it's time to move again!

I doubt the administrator talked to the coaches yet, with this being Easter weekend. I umpire a game Monday with the coach from the pit, but hopefully she will have quit. I have to do what is best for the kids, fans and umpires, so next time she, or her assistant, gets out of line I must do what is right for the game and eject her. Thanks, Appreciate your post. ....Al

I thought the term was an older term because it was what my dad used. That's why I liked it. But perhaps your observation is right. He was from TN.

My dad was from TN, and I also grew up hearing this terminology used for the catcher.

They're all signing up to play in that other sport, where everyone is always showing outstanding sportsmanship and calm demeanor; parents never become outrageous, coaches are always nice, and the officials are respected at all times.

You know... Communist Kickball (aka Fútbol).

Yeah, sounds more like what I know as a coma.

I tried Communist Kickball
 

I gave it a try in the late 1980's. I followed a local JC team. I went to their games, home and most away. They were a Top 5 program in the sate. I tried to appreciate the nuances and all the other blah,blah,blah. Bottom line -it was boring.
Now I have a theory on why kids play kickball versus softball/baseball. Bottom line it's pretty easy . Kick the ball.run after the ball, kick the ball, stand there and take a break. repeat. Now softball requies catching, throwing, and hitting. Not easy. Parents have to spend time teaching their kids these very difficult skills. For whatever reasons parents these days are swamped and these skills take time to develop. So throw my kid on the grass, let them run around, hoot and hollar, and wha la my kids an athlete. Or I thow hours and hours of grounders, batting practice etc and maybe my kid will be sucessfull 3/4 times out of ten.

Just my opinion.....

I agree with this at the very young levels (10U and younger, maybe even include 12U). But, above that, they players do need to develop skill. But, my theory is not skill per se, but rather the fact that a skillless player can blend in on a kickball team, and does not have to stand, by herself, at the plate, and have her lack of skill out there for everyone to see. IOW, self-esteem!

In central VA where I lived for about ten years they called the catcher the backstop though I have heard hind catcher as well

Hey mcrowder,

Tonight I was informed that the man who told the coach from the pit to get back into the dugout, had passed away suddenly Saturday afternoon while fishing. He was the head coaches father. I thought that was probably the case by the way she listened to him when he loudly told her to get into the dugout after she started with that sexist talk. After the game on Thursday he told me he was not pleased with the way the coaches were treating the umpires. He told me he was an umpire for many years. We had a good chat and it's really sad that he has passed away. It's shocking when one is here one day and gone the next. Life is short. I thought I would be the umpire for his daughters team tonight, but it's not till tomorrow night. I don't know, but I doubt his daughter will be there, just a few days after losing her father. I don't know if she will blame me in some way, blame herself, change her ways for the better, or get worse. I can't help but wonder if the stress that came from that game Thursday may have been followed with more stress off the field. And I wonder if it had anything to do with his sudden death.

Tonight I had two games that went very well. No problems from coaches or fans. Everyone had a great time. One was a T-ball game and the other was coach pitch. The T-ball game had one little boy that made me laugh our loud. He steps up to the plate and looks up at me. He then looks, and points, down at his shoes and says if those shoes fall off I am still going to run, because I want to win this game! :) . gotta love um!

BTW, The administrator visited the coaches before the T-ball game tonight and will do so with all the T-ball teams coaches, even though there is only one problem team. .Al

Hind catcher
 

I was born and half-raised in AZ, then moved to TX. I thought the name of the position was hind catcher from birth to about age 12.

The first time I remember hearing "hind catcher" was when I came to TN.
Sounds like someone that catches hinds...lol

The game tonight went well without the two coaches from the pit. Before the pre-game meeting at the plate the fill-in coach came over to me to tell me both coaches would not be at the game, for their dad had just passed away. I told him I heard about Bill passing away, but didn't realize the two coaches were sisters. The kids on their team were acting more like kids in this game. One of their players who was the "hind catcher" was telling me about a big ole frog she caught, but that got stolen. I said maybe he just hopped away. She said only if he could open the door of the hamster cage. :) lol..Then her mom who heard this whole story told me she let the thing go wheh she wasn't looking.

Nothin' like fun at the ole ball park!