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The nightmare partner.
I finally got stuck with the nightmare partner, last week. I'm the PU for the first game, and he stands next to me during the meeting at the plate, making what he thought to be some cute, and oh so witty remarks to the coaches and captains while I was trying to conduct the meeting. Finally, after I get the game started, he announces and shows the count after every pitch from his position on the bases. He made a call at second on a double from down the line at first. I assume he got caught off guard, because he was carrying a running conversation with whomever would respond to him. He cleaned the piching plate once before the game started. I ended up doing it while he smiled at me. A runner going from second to third was struck by the ball in front of the shortstop a few feet away from him, and he never moved a muscle. I called it.
The second game, he has the plate. Same nonsense during the meeting. The first ground ball into the infield, I get in position, make the call, and out of the corner of my eye, I see him making the call from behind the plate. He does this on every call in the infield. The one time he was supposed to get up to third to actually make a call, he's standing behind the plate with his mask on, and his hands folded in front of him. Thankfully, she was out by two feet. Once, while the throw in from the outfield was still rolling around the infield, he calls time to retrieve a bat. He calls a strike on a girl after she had hit the ball down the first baseline in fair territory. It just went on and on. All of this after claiming to have thirty years experience. I couldn't wait to get away from this guy. What a nightmare. :mad: |
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And there is no easy way around it....... It upset me enough to run for UIC in the 90's.......luckily our UIC at the time saw it too...... I actually disagreed with a partner several times in the early and mid 90's....... I am sure Mike will remember when I overruled a partner in a Umpire tournament in around 1997.........I caught a bit of flack on that on McGriff's........but still stand by my call given the situation...... I have always been a reader and a rule book guy......but have learned more on these boards in the last fifteen years than my first twenty of umpiring. Joel |
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One day, as a player (catcher), the PU was really annoying with the constant repitition of every call.....until a banger at 1B that I thought there was a pulled foot as I could see it clearly from trailing the play to back-up a possible bad throw at 1B. Problem was I only hear one call. I request & receive "time" and go trotting out to the BU. He was stunned that anyone would question a call. When I reached him it was, "what do you want?" I just smiled and asked him to go to PU for help on a pulled foot on the play. He told me he didn't need help and I informed him that I understood, but his partner definitely saw the pulled foot and would have had a different call. He looked at me and asked how I could know that. He was also pissed at his partner for telling me that, even though he did not as I had come nowhere near the PU since the call. When I got back behind the plate, PU asked what I said and I told him. He then asked how I could possibly know what he was thinking and then I simply stated "you didn't echo his call like every other one this game." That umpire never echoed another call. He left umpiring and ended up an NCAA DII coach. |
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Those that can't coach? |
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Man, he sure must travel a lot, cause he was with me on Saturday!!! :D
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Although I coached quite a bit of FP softball and soccer......even a tad of volleyball and basketball.......but I usually left that to the proffesionals.....lol Joel |
He doesn't travel a lot...He's been cloned!:):D
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It was a blast working with you too! ;)
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He's been around for a lonnnngggg time. I haven't umped a game for 16 years, but I swear I worked with him on my last game.
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