Blown call gone bad....
 

I had "the game to remember" this weekend. Unfortunately it wasn’t one I am particularly proud of. I need a critique of the situation, to help me learn from my mistakes.

USSSA State Tournament, 18U, losers bracket game, I am PU, 5th inning. Visitors are up 3-0. I ask my partner, who is keeping the time, how much time we have. He says we have 9 minutes (we had had a clock stoppage the previous inning for an injured player so I wanted to get a feel for the remaining time). I am standing at third base line extended, by the visitors coach and I tell him, "Nine minutes, coach." Home team's coach is "motivating" his team and, as he passes behind the catcher, I tell him "Nine minutes, coach." Visitor's go down 1-2-3. Home team's first batter, LH batter, hits the ball, which takes a hop about two feet in front of the plate. The batter starts to run and releases the bat and the ball hits the bat in mid air and the ball rolls toward first, staying in fair territory. Visitor's coach comes out and says the batter should be out and I tell him no, she's not out, it's a live ball. My partner and I conferred and he said that the bat did hit the ball a second time and she should be out. I went with my own ruling and told the coaches that the play stands. (I know, I should have called dead ball, batter's out. I blew the call, I realized after the game, after I had time to think.) Of course, visitor's coach goes ballistic, argues the call and I end up tossing him ("Learn the rules, blue" was what got him tossed, how ironic.) We get the game back under way. The home team scores two runs, so it's 3-2 visitors at the end of the inning.

I ask BU how much time is left, expecting the game to be over, and he says 30 seconds, so I say we will play another inning. The visitor's coach (substitute head coach) says that I told him "this is it, coach" the previous inning and that the game should be over. I told him, "No, coach, I told the other coach "Nine minutes"; I never told you anything about the time." So he argues about when does the next inning start and I tell him after the third out of the prior inning and he doesn't believe me and wants to protest my blown call and the time expiring. During this time the ejected coach is behind the dugout yelling at me and his coach. I tell the acting head coach he can't protest either call. He tells me "You suck, blue." and I toss him, ball game coach, you lose by forfeit. In hind site, I should have called a forfeit when the ejected coach returned, but I wasn't proactive in that respect.

After conference with UIC, they upheld the forfeit and told the coach that, if he wanted to protest a rule interpretation, he should have done it after the blown call. And you can't protest the time expiring because it hadn't expired. But sorry, you both got tossed, no other coaches in the dugout, the forfeit stands. At the same time I am talking with my next game partner and he tells me I got the call wrong and the batter should have been out. I had forgotten the rule during the game and I feel I just didn't think it through. To me, it was a bang, bang play with a rule that I had never used before or had never seen used before. Sure, I have read the rule book cover to cover, but it was the heat of the moment and I blew it. I admit it.

So, do I chalk it up as a learning experience, and kick it around my head a few more days? Or do I go back to the rule book with a renewed dedication to memorizing every rule so they can be applied properly the next time around? I have chosen the latter.

The time to have thought about it was when you partner was telling you the correct call. If he was absolutely sure, and you weren't, why didn't you go with him?

You have made the correct decision in dedicating yourself to constantly studying the rules. I try to do so daily, which is why I am thankful for sites like this one. They force me to get into the rule books.

Couple of comments: If you had been in Seattle, you'd have called the game with 30 seconds remaining. They are notorious time-shavers there. ;) :D

Actually, and seriously, I wouldn't feel bad about declaring 30 seconds remaining as DONE, especially since you had an unofficial stopping of the clock earlier.

The coaches deserved the forfeit. You did not cause that with the blown call; they caused it with their reaction to the blown call.

Also, in timed games, whenever one side asked for time remaining, I ALWAYS give the answer either loud enough for both sides to hear, or individually to both dugouts. Not saying you did, but the coach accused you of telling them this would be the last inning or something like that. I never use words like that without couching them in a lot of uncertainty. "7 minutes remain coach. This might be your last up unless this inning goes quickly."

As to the blown call - learn to trust your partner. ;)

You can try to memorize every rule, but unless you have a photographic memory, you will forget rules again. Then at some point something will happen on the field that will etch the rule in your memory and you won't forget it after that.

I see the issue as perhaps inexperience for both you and partner. If your partner knew that this was a dead ball situatioin he should have killed the ball when he saw the bat strike the ball. PU will not always see the contact and BU should not hesitate at all to make the call. Same with foul off a batter's foot. An experienced BU kills the ball and doesn't let these situations devolve the way yours did.

I don't know if you have ever reversed your own ruling, but when you know you miscalled a play you have to come to terms with it and eat the humble pie on the spot. I'm not saying that you should have known then and there that you kicked it, but sometimes you know right away and have the choice to eat the pie and fix it or stand your (shaky) ground. What I'm saying is to do the former.

If you're just not sure what the rule is, I'd say stop the clock and get the UIC to help. As much as UIC's may not like this, I think that USSSA will like it less if they get a reputation for poor officiating and teams avoid their tournaments.

Ok...you blew the call. You know it now, but you went with what you thought was right at the time. Bet you won't ever miss that call again! :D

Both ejections sound alright to me...don't have quite enough detail to comment about the first coach, but "You suck, Blue" definitely earns a tour of the parking lot.

I'm glad to hear the UIC backed you up on the forfeit - I've been around situations when that did not happen.

Chalk it up as a learning situation...As far as continued study of the rules, I like to focus on some of the rules concerning stuff that you don't see that often. That seems to be where a lot of umpires get themselves into trouble by trying to make up rulings on the spot instead of knowing the rule and enforcing it correctly.

We don't worry about seconds. If I saw my watch and it wasn't on the minute it's supposed to be to end the time, then we play.

Just one question. Why were they calling you "blue"? :rolleyes:

I'm confused why you think you blew this. I had understood (and could easily be wrong again) that bat hits ball: dead ball batters out. Ball hits bat: (unless we have intent to interfere) live ball which is what you called.
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CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT

You have receive good advice already. Will only add that when asked how
much time is left, I just reply, "Coach, you have under X minutes left." If
the opposing coach wants to know, he will ask.

Your explanation is true for a bat already on the ground. If the bat hits the ball a second time in the air (over fair territory) after leaving the batter's hands, it is interference, dead ball out. Simply put, the batter can discard the bat almost anywhere; if it is discarded into a fair ball, that is interference.

I agree with informing both coaches "X minutes left, coach", as the OP did, so that communication is consistent. If you tell one coach and not the other, you are begging for an incident.

Because the shirt color doesn't matter. Umpires are always "blue."

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it.

I really should have listened to him, would have made this all go away. I don't know why, maybe it was because he wasn't adamant enough.

A lot of the coaches around here play both ASA and USSSA and get confused with the time issue. I try to stress USSSA rules when they are playing USSSA, even letting them know that the DP/flex isn't used in USSSA (DP/DH) when they hand me their lineup cards. Just one of those things I try to "go by the letter of the rule."

Yeah, especially in NM where we wear cream shirts. No red, unless your partner only has red. Boy those light colors are nice!!!! In 2009 we in NM will wear cream shirts and black hats in the daytime, black shirts and black hats under the lights. No red!!!

Expanding on my earlier point about the BU needing to step up in this type of sit...

I worked a Senior LL playoff game a couple of weeks ago. It went into extra innings. Both teams had played hard and well and I as PU didn't want some type of avoidable mess up to ruin a good game. Before the 8th inning started, knowing my 2 partners were releatively inexperienced, I got them together and said "if you see a foul ball off a foot, don't assume I saw it also; KILL IT IMMEDIATELY!"

I'd never do that in a million years with experienced partners, and the guys I was working with were not exactly rookies (I think about 1-2 yr each of mostly LL work), but I was unsure of their experiene in this type of situation and decided to try to prevent a problem before the fact.

This is a hardball example but the point is still appropriate.

You are officiating a state tournament and you are not aware of that rule?

I'm not so sure that ejecting a coach because he says that you don't know the rules was justified, because you obviously did not.

The only other matter I would find fault with is extending another inning with less than 59 seconds on the clock. Call the thing and the coaches would never know. Trust me.

Coaches should only be on a need to know basis when it comes to time. It would be in your best interest to tell them how much time left only if they ask.

Other than that, I would chalk it up to a learning experience and know that when you are calling a higher venue of ball, more will be expected and required from you.......