What to say to a coach...

[SRW]

"Coach, I did not see her foot on the ground when her bat made contact with the ball."

[NCASAUmp]

That's a little more patience than I would've given him. I've seen some serious spankings on the field, but that's no excuse for a coach popping his lid. At the minimum, I would've said (in a calm manner), "coach, I realize you're upset, but if you want to talk to me, you'd better do it calmly." Depending on his attitude leading up to that point, I'd even go so far as ejecting him.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't stand a coach showing up an ump just for the sake of showing him up.

[NCASAUmp]

And speaking of someone trying to show up the ump, I dinged my first player of the season tonight. While batting, his lead foot stepped completely out of the box when he swung, so I "dead ball" the play and call him out. He thought I needed to learn the rules better.

I let him meditate on this thought in the parking lot.

Hasn't been 2 weeks, and I've already got one.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

And speaking of someone trying to show up the ump, I dinged my first player of the season tonight. While batting, his lead foot stepped completely out of the box when he swung, so I "dead ball" the play and call him out. He thought I needed to learn the rules better.

I let him meditate on this thought in the parking lot.

Hasn't been 2 weeks, and I've already got one.

I hope you meant to say "when he hit the ball" as a swing is completely irrelevant to the rule.

[CecilOne]

"you'd better do it calmly" sounds a bit threatening.

"I've already got one" sounds a bit antagonistic

[NCASAUmp]

Oops... Yeah, when he made contact, his foot was completely out of the box.

I can't remember if "you'd better do it calmly" were my exact words, but it was something along those lines ("do it as a gentleman" or something akin to that). This player was just "one of those guys," if you know what I mean.

As for "already having one," why is that antagonistic? Trust me when I tell you that I'm not looking to toss anyone out of a game, but around here, there are a lot of egos. Relative to most other umps, my number of ejections in a given year are about average.

[DaveASA/FED]

Along these lines, I was ready for one the other night. JV game and lead off and 2nd batter both had a VERY square bunting technique where there feet were close to the plate, still on the batters box lines so still good, but close enough it caught my attention. 6th inning R1 on 3rd trying to bunt her in 2nd batter squares and foot is on the plate when she makes contact with the ball, still a nice bunt....well I kill it right away, announce she is out for foot on the plate when making contact, B2 turns to look at me when I kill it and has this look on her face, 3rd base coach starts walking to me, as I announce why she is out thinking here it comes, B2 looks and says "can't argue that, I slipped all over the plate on that one" coach just walks backward to box smiling.