Sometimes I wonder why I umpire

[John Robertson]

Excuse me while I rant...

Ever have one of those nights when you've put up with more than your fair share of abuse from a whining, losing team and wonder why you ever took up umpiring as an avocation?

Tonight was one fo those nights for me. Women's playoff game. The supposed favorite gets beat badly, 14-6. They deserve to lose, no question. They make at least six horrendous errors. Yet all they do is whine and complain about one call after another all night. The biggest complainers are the left fielder and center fielder who spend the entire game loudly complaining about calls at first base 200 feet away--calls that were unquestionably correct. For good measure they also loudly question balls and strikes from the same distance.

Now, if this game were played in May, someone would have been tossed. Trouble was, it's a playoff game and the complainers have the bare minimum of nine players. If someone gets tossed, the game will be a forfeit. Thus, the umps are in a tough spot. If you don't eject anyone, you have no guts and aren't doing your jobs. If you do eject someone, you "can't take it," you've ruined the game and "become a factor."

So what do you do? Do you put up with this bush-league behavior because it's a playoff game or do you toss the miscreants and have a forfeit?

Your comments, please.