The worst umpire ever!
 

In one of my previous post I mentioned my hated of the other umpire. This is a little article I wrote for our association newsletter about the other umpire.

BTW if you want to see others our web page is wcua.info.

Bugg


The worst umpire ever!
There is an umpire in our association that I absolutely hate. I would go so far as to say every time I met him I want to punch him in the nose. This umpire makes the worst call, has the worst attitude, is never properly dressed, doesn’t know the rules, is a lazy goof-off, and is apparently does more games that anyone else in the association. Who is the weasel? The Other Umpire.

Have you ever made a call or enforced a rule only to hear from the players about what the other umpire did or didn’t do? The other umpire didn’t make us do that, or the other umpire let us, or the other umpire made us. The other umpire is so often plain wrong I wonder how he got onto the field in the first place. These are some of the comments made to me by players this week.

The other umpire told us you have to slide at home.
The other umpire allowed this bat in the game last week.
The other umpire didn’t make us remove our jewelry.
The other umpire said you don’t have to tag-up on an in field fly.
The other umpire said you get 1 + 1 on an over throw.
The other umpire said you only get one base on an overthrow from the out field.

How many of you hate this guy too? Lets vote him out of the association, banish him forever, send him far away. How can we rid ourselves of this horrible umpire? Simply by being better umpires ourselves. The other umpire can’t stand the light of common sense, good understanding of the rules, and proper on field mechanics. He crumbles to dust at the mere mention of reading the rule book. He heads for the hills every time we attend a clinic or an umpire school. Every time we act as a team and make the same call the same way, or correctly enforce to rules the other umpire is ejected from the game.

Let us send this guy packing.

The local variation....
 

Many of you know or have heard of Emily Alexander from here in the Phoenix area. If you don't, she is considered one of the best FP softball umpires and umpire trainers in the world. Literally.

One of her comments is that she is always hearing from other umpires that have been in "discussions" with coaches that the coaches are trying to make their points by prefacing them with; "Emily said...."

She told me that if she had actually said all of the things she has been quoted as saying that she would have been talking for the last 10 years straight!

Then there is:

You're the only umpire that asks for a line-up card;
You're the only umpire that checks the bats;
You're the only umpire that makes me wear my hat right;
You're the only umpire that makes us run out home runs;
You're the only umpire that calls illegal pitches;
You're the only umpire that yada, yada, yada........

Well, if true, I hope I'm getting paid more for since I seem to be doing more :)

And don't forget the backhanded jabs via the other umpire:

We've been using that bat all year.
We've been using that catcher's equipment all year.
She's been pitching like that all year.

I'm like "Happy New Year!"

My first ever player ejection was for a guy not wearing his hat right. You aren't the only one.

But we know what happens to assignments of umpires who step out of the norm and try to call it right. :(

Yes, we do.

Leagues are "right" TOO DAMN OFTEN. Don't get me started, or I'll be in the BIG doghouse.

Shhhh.... bite yer tongue, boy! :)

I LOVE this one. "But the umpire in our last game said it was okay to do this".

A few years ago, a coach (HS Varsity) said this to a friend of mine. His response was, "That's strange coach. I was the plate umpire in your last game".

I was the PU in a Varsity game, and AFTER a team warning about removing helmets during a live ball, I ejected the visiting team's catcher for removing her helmet on the way back to her dugout. Before you comment, she had just crossed the foul line, and was not near the dugout. The first base coach, who was also the Head Coach commented, "That always happens to us up here". "THank you coach. That tells me our umpires are doing their job". By the way, I was the Association Assignor at that time. I brought this up at our next meeting, and told the members that I appreciated the coach's remark.

Bob