Believe It or Not

[tcannizzo]

From the 2006 ASA 14A Nationals:

The following are true stories.
The names have been omitted to protect the guilty.

Just the facts:

1. I am U3. PU asks U1 " . . . SWING?" (I couldn't hear the first part.) U1 answers "YES!". Call changed from Ball to Strike. Sounds fine so far, right? The pitch they were discussing was 2 pitches earlier. I couldn't believe that the offensive coach did not ask to go the next step for help. I had to get three stitches to stop the bleeding on the inside of my lip from biting it so hard.


2. Sat 9PM game. Loser gets 5th place. Winner guaranteed 4th and still in it.
Game tied 1-1 after 7.
8th - neither team executes
9th - neither team executes
Top 10th - Vis gets 3
Bot 10th - Home gets 3
Top 11 - Vis does not execute
Bot 11 - Home has bases loaded with no out. 3-2 count on B4. Next pitch is Ball 4. BR goes into dugout to put bat away and then comes back out to the celebration at the plate. Defense is appealing BR did not touch 1B (which she never did). All 3 Umps run off field and get into the golf cart to get back to the house. Defense is pleading with the umps not to leave. 90 seconds later, they get the UIC who said he understood their position, but since the umps were already gone, there was nothing he could do about it. One of the umps was in the 2006 WCWS.


3. Three of the umps at the main complex were over 70. The oldest was 74. The weather was hot. High 90's in the shade. 4-5 games per day. They were dropping like flies. One ump had diverticulosus and had just been released from the hospital 2 weeks earlier. He was taken from the field and spent 3 days in the ICU. The 74 y/o had to be taken off the field on Tue, Wed and Thu. Finally on Thu they told him he was done for the tourney. Glad nobody died, but DAMN, these guys had no business being there.


4. In the house, during one conversation, at least 25% of the umpires said they would not honor a request for help on a check swing. Un-freakin-believable. Then they also said that if they were the base ump who was asked for help, that they would just automatically say "NO!". Just because they didn'y want to make their partner look bad.

I called 25 games. Worked with many different partners. I have a lot of opinions I which will not bore you with except this one:

5. I don't even want to go into the Sunday assignments. Although I did call games late on Sat. I would probably be banned from this board if I posted my notes. However, I will go on record that diversity supercedes competency. Before you flame me, I am not saying that I felt that I should have been calling on Sunday, but there were many umpires who were better than the ones who got selected, and they were also much better than I.


What is my point in posting this? It is to underscore that there is a critical nationwide shortage of quality umpires. Too many men and women have bitten off more than than they can chew. What I mean by that is calling too may sports and too many different sets of rules.

I hold myself to high standards. I only call girls fastpitch. I only call ASA (exc ept for school ball). What I am about to say may offend some of you, but how can you be competent at the highest levels in ASA, NSA, ISA, Pony, etc. plus do slow pitch, baseball, football, basketball? Nobody can beTHAT good in THAT many things. Especially when ASA pays a whopping $20 per game for a National Championship.

Sorry for the rant. It has been a long week.

[tcannizzo]

Rant continues...

I called 25 ball games.
Mon 1 game
Tue 4 games
Wed 5 games - got off the field at 1:15 am
Thu 6 games - back on the filed at 9:00 AM, last game ended at 2:15 AM
Fri 6 - back on the filed at 9Am - but got a bonus - off the field at 11:45 PM
Sat 3 games 11 - 1 - 5

When I left the tournament there were only 9 of 111 teams left.

Sunday assignments: Politically Correct - that is all I will say.

Food: Courtesy of Dept of Corrections - but plenty of it.

Awards Banquet: Sat 6:45 AM at the Holiday Inn breakfast buffet

Pay: $20 per game (up from the $18 that was originally quoted)

Accomodations: 2 per room. I was on a roll-away all week. Room mate didn't mind, he had a king bed all week. The other hotel had a drug raid on Mon night. This chased away all the prostitutes, but the cockroaches didn't mind too much. Umpires got moved to a new location on Tue 30 miles away.

No pay, no rest, no respect.
This is a National Championship, not a Boot Camp.
Changes need to be made.

[Steve M]

Wow

Nuthin' like any of that at any of our's.

Your Saturday 9pm ending almost sounds like on of the pro games I heard about over the weekend - but those umps didn't leave the field & made the call on B-R.

Now this part, I will respond to, kind of
"What is my point in posting this? It is to underscore that there is a critical nationwide shortage of quality umpires. Too many men and women have bitten off more than than they can chew. What I mean by that is calling too may sports and too many different sets of rules."

Yeah, there's a shortage. Too many of us are getting older (do we have a good alternative) and not enough younger ones are interested in getting into umpiring. Too many sports - I can agree with that. I'm of the opinion that you've got to pick one to work at as high a level as you're able to and, if you choose to do other games, stay at a lower level. I've got a number of different rulebooks to know - it is tough but can be done. I pretty much base everything on ASSA's rules and try to learn the differences amongs the other groups.

[tcannizzo]

Hate to say this, but this was my first and most likely my last Nationals.

I loved every minute of it, but too many minutes in such a short period of time. Not to mention the garbage on the field.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Bot 11 - Home has bases loaded with no out. 3-2 count on B4. Next pitch is Ball 4. BR goes into dugout to put bat away and then comes back out to the celebration at the plate. Defense is appealing BR did not touch 1B (which she never did). All 3 Umps run off field and get into the golf cart to get back to the house. Defense is pleading with the umps not to leave. 90 seconds later, they get the UIC who said he understood their position, but since the umps were already gone, there was nothing he could do about it.

Irrelevant. So what if they appeal the BR? One out, run still scores.

[azbigdawg]

I would say this:

For every big tournament,especially a big national, Youre gonna have umpires who dont "belong" there or dont really know what they are getting into. So you will have a wide range of talent and dedication (Unfortunately). Worry about YOUR games and getting them right.

Sounds like your local national staff needs to work on better planning.

I HEAVILY disagree with the multiple sport statement (but I have year around softball so I can stay sharp) I think you actually LIMIT your growth as an OFFICIAL if you only stick to one sport...and you limit your knowledge of softball if you only do one (FP or SP)

as for the diversity issue...ASA..on the national level .....tends to have only one color to it....maybe getting others looked at and interested in going to the next level isnt such a bad thing overall. Hopefully it wasnt at the expense of quality.

Go to another national. They are usually awesome experiences....

[IRISHMAFIA]

To start, FP & SP are not two sports, but two disciplines of the same sport. Nearly, if not more, than 85% of the rules apply equally to both games. Doing both well can be a chore, but not a difficult one.

However, trying to maintain a "national" or higher presence in more than one can be very difficult because on one end or the other, just about every sport crosses into the next and you just cannot be everywhere all the time for every sport and it is very difficult to make all the necessary clinics and schools without one interferring with the other.

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by tcannizzo

From the 2006 ASA 14A Nationals:

The following are true stories.
The names have been omitted to protect the guilty.

Just the facts:

1. I am U3. PU asks U1 " . . . SWING?" (I couldn't hear the first part.) U1 answers "YES!". Call changed from Ball to Strike. Sounds fine so far, right? The pitch they were discussing was 2 pitches earlier. I couldn't believe that the offensive coach did not ask to go the next step for help. I had to get three stitches to stop the bleeding on the inside of my lip from biting it so hard.


2. Sat 9PM game. Loser gets 5th place. Winner guaranteed 4th and still in it.
Game tied 1-1 after 7.
8th - neither team executes
9th - neither team executes
Top 10th - Vis gets 3
Bot 10th - Home gets 3
Top 11 - Vis does not execute
Bot 11 - Home has bases loaded with no out. 3-2 count on B4. Next pitch is Ball 4. BR goes into dugout to put bat away and then comes back out to the celebration at the plate. Defense is appealing BR did not touch 1B (which she never did). All 3 Umps run off field and get into the golf cart to get back to the house. Defense is pleading with the umps not to leave. 90 seconds later, they get the UIC who said he understood their position, but since the umps were already gone, there was nothing he could do about it. One of the umps was in the 2006 WCWS.


3. Three of the umps at the main complex were over 70. The oldest was 74. The weather was hot. High 90's in the shade. 4-5 games per day. They were dropping like flies. One ump had diverticulosus and had just been released from the hospital 2 weeks earlier. He was taken from the field and spent 3 days in the ICU. The 74 y/o had to be taken off the field on Tue, Wed and Thu. Finally on Thu they told him he was done for the tourney. Glad nobody died, but DAMN, these guys had no business being there.


4. In the house, during one conversation, at least 25% of the umpires said they would not honor a request for help on a check swing. Un-freakin-believable. Then they also said that if they were the base ump who was asked for help, that they would just automatically say "NO!". Just because they didn'y want to make their partner look bad.

I called 25 games. Worked with many different partners. I have a lot of opinions I which will not bore you with except this one:

5. I don't even want to go into the Sunday assignments. Although I did call games late on Sat. I would probably be banned from this board if I posted my notes. However, I will go on record that diversity supercedes competency. Before you flame me, I am not saying that I felt that I should have been calling on Sunday, but there were many umpires who were better than the ones who got selected, and they were also much better than I.


What is my point in posting this? It is to underscore that there is a critical nationwide shortage of quality umpires. Too many men and women have bitten off more than than they can chew. What I mean by that is calling too may sports and too many different sets of rules.

I hold myself to high standards. I only call girls fastpitch. I only call ASA (exc ept for school ball). What I am about to say may offend some of you, but how can you be competent at the highest levels in ASA, NSA, ISA, Pony, etc. plus do slow pitch, baseball, football, basketball? Nobody can beTHAT good in THAT many things. Especially when ASA pays a whopping $20 per game for a National Championship.

Sorry for the rant. It has been a long week.

Guess West Virginia isn't so bad after all . . .

[SC Ump]

When I first got into ASA, I heard of stories coming back from the nationals in Southern Alabama, where, "we got treated like kings. They rinsed and dried our shirts in between games and would clean our shoes for us."

I also heard stories of a national in Orlando with a new beautiful field, but the building wasn't completed. It was near 100º and the "umpire locker room" was the equipment shed.

With the risk of getting the latter, I have stated that I am not interested in a national whenever folks discuss them with me.

[tcannizzo]

Originally Posted by azbigdawg

I would say this:

Sounds like your local national staff needs to work on better planning.

I will let them know.

Originally Posted by azbigdawg

I HEAVILY disagree with the multiple sport statement (but I have year around softball so I can stay sharp) I think you actually LIMIT your growth as an OFFICIAL if you only stick to one sport...and you limit your knowledge of softball if you only do one (FP or SP)

At ASA Nationals, you are evaluated on how well you do with ASA mechanics.

In another case this week, a PU give a strike hammer with his palm facing the infield. Looked like a dead ball call with one hand. He later lamented that his baseball mechanics fooled the ASA umpires.

Originally Posted by azbigdawg

as for the diversity issue...ASA..on the national level .....tends to have only one color to it....maybe getting others looked at and interested in going to the next level isnt such a bad thing overall. Hopefully it wasnt at the expense of quality.

Getting others looked at is for pool play and early rounds. Not the Sunday crew. Sunday should only be quality, but it was not. Politically driven assignments compromised the quality.

[tcannizzo]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Irrelevant. So what if they appeal the BR? One out, run still scores.

Wouldn't you put the runners back on base? Since the award was nullified on appeal?

[HawkeyeCubP]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Irrelevant. So what if they appeal the BR? One out, run still scores.

How does a run score on this play? No runs score if there is an appeal where the BR is ruled out for not touching first base, correct? What am I missing?

[LLPA13UmpDan]

ugh what kind of umpires are those. dang. On number 2 there...thats bad. BR should be called out for leaving baseline/abondonment, and there should then be one out, bases still loaded. Umps kinda cost the defensive team the game. What is the world of baseball/softball coming too?

[SC Ump]

Originally Posted by tcannizzo

Wouldn't you put the runners back on base? Since the award was nullified on appeal?

"Bot 11 - Home has bases loaded with no out. 3-2 count on B4. Next pitch is Ball 4. BR goes into dugout to put bat away and then comes back out to the celebration at the plate. Defense is appealing BR did not touch 1B (which she never did)."

Appeal for missing first, or just calling the BR out for entering the dugout, that just makes one out. There is no dead ball situation, not even for entering the dugout. R1 is allowed to advance home on the live ball. What rule states she has to return?

[LMan]

Originally Posted by HawkeyeCubP

No runs score if there is an appeal where the BR is ruled out for not touching first base, correct?

If that is the third out, you are correct. Read the OP again.