Worked at the PFX tour this weekend - Part I: The Ugly

[Julio Caliente]

There were quite a few "ugly" things that happened this weekend, but before I can say anything about anybody else I have to point the finger at myself first. I kicked a call......badly, very badly.

- 10U game, 3rd inning, R2, R1, 1 out, and I am PU. R2 does the normal thing where they get a huge lead and "taunt" F2. F2 decides to run towards R2 with the ball and in the process covers the plate in dirt. R2 retreats back towards second. F2 throws the ball to F1 who is in the circle near the rubber. At this point the ball is in F1 hands in the circle near the rubber, R1 is back on 1st, and R2 is about 3-4 ft off the base heading back w/o pausing (not moving fast). I raise my hands and say time to clean off the plate. About the time I got to "Tim.."in my time call F1 turned and threw to F4 who was on second. However, F1's throw sails in center field and R2 come sin to score, and R1 is safe at third.

I go out to my partner (who is regarded as one of the best umpire there and a friend of mine) and tell him I had called time prior to F1 throwing to second and we need to bring the runners back. He looked at me and gave me that "Your better than that look" and asked why I called time before R2 was back on 2nd base. I told him that I kicked the call and assumed that play was over. He laughed a little and said, "In 10U ball you cant assume anything, bet you don't make that mistake again." Neither coach really put up a fuss because the score was 13-1 and the losing team hadn't had a hit yet. Needless to say I was buying the drinks that night.



Now, on to some of the things that I would say are "ugly".

-Husband/wife umpire team (wife only does plate and husband only does field) call IFF with both hands in the air that caused a game ending tag when a player thought time was called (See IFF rule thread for the actual situation). BU also wore a ball bag WITH balls in it on the bases. PU refused to wear a hat. Also, when people tried to help them on their mechanics and dress the dynamic duo said that they had been doing this for 25 years, it was the way it has always been done, and they weren't changing.


-Facility was trying a new style of base peg that did not use concrete. Instead, you dug a hole and put this sleeve in the ground that had "prongs" that came off of it. The prongs were supposed to grab the ground when the dirt was filled back in. They didn't work at all and many times field maintenance was called to come re-dig the hole and re-set the sleeve.


-Another umpire whose pants we so tight you could see the outline of the pocket against her leg. I am surprised that she could even move in them, and no it wasn't a "good" tight. She also refused to wear a hat because it would mess up her hair.


-The facilities didn't allow the umpires any free concessions. All we got was water. I can understand not giving us the "rib eye" burger, but a sack lunch or Gatorade would have been real nice.


- I was up in the scoring tower showing a mother/daughter team how to work the scoreboard and a coach ripped me into. Went like this:

Door flies open and I am wearing my umpire pants and undershirt.
Coach: "Where the hell is Dot?"
Me: "Coach, I am sorry but I do not know who Don is." (I thought he said Don).
Coach: "How can you umpire softball and not know who the hell Dot Richardson is?"
Me: "I am sorry coach, I thought you said you Don. I do not know where Dot is at this moment."
Coach: "well, I need to find her so I can figure out why the **** I cant appeal a call."
Me: "Coach, please watch your language and I am sorry but I cant help you with your situation."
Coach: "Well, I need to find Dot and ask her my the god damn umpires kicked me out for trying to appeal a ****ing call. This is bull****."

At that moment the UIC comes from around the corner and joins in...

UIC: "Sir, you are going to have to calm down."
Coach: "This is complete bull****. All I was doing was trying to appeal a call and that umpire threw me out."
UIC: "Coach, calm down and we will get everything sorted out."
Coach: "This is still bull****. I am going to find Dot.

Well, the coach heads back down to the field and refuses to leave until he talks to Dot. The umpires stop the game; notify the PFX staff that escorts him off the facilities. Turns out he was trying appeal a judgment call from the BU to the PU who was having none of it. PU said that it was the BU call and he will not honor his appeal. Apparently that set him off and he got tossed. I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, wearing the wrong stuff.



- Umpire shows up on Saturday morning, does two games and has a game break before his next two. Leaves to go get food and isn't heard from again. No phone call or anything. I hope nothing bad happened to him.


- A temporary rubber was installed on one of the fields for a 10U game. Whoever put it here must have been drunk because it sat outside the original rubber towards the first base side. That made it about 1-2ft askew.

- Runner coming home on a passed ball, clearly safe but misses home plate by about 4". I signal a "weak" safe call, and DHC asks me "Blue, did she miss home plate?" I put my mask on assume position behind the catcher. Pitcher pitches and play continues. DHC comes out in between innings and asks me why I didn't answer his question. I told him that I was unable to answer his question and if he thought that the runner missed home he should have appealed. He didn't like that answer very much, but since he was down by 10 ruins at that point and was being dominated I don't think he really cared.