Adult softball

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by RadioBlue

I've done (Alleged) Adult SP for 28 years. Sure, it's had its moments. But by-and-large, I have enjoyed it ... until this year.

I have worked 7 nights for a total of 28 games and I've had 4 ejections. I haven't had 4 ejections in SP for the previous 10 years combined!!

I had one player spit in my direction, one player tell me to read the rule book, one player tell me to go back to my position and do my job, and another player question my integrity.

I work 4 more SP games next week. I'm pretty sure those will be the last four slow pitch games of my career.

Or maybe you should have been ejecting them the previous 10 years, but weren't.

I have no problem with them, though they may have a problem with me because I umpire as an umpire, not the GAGA they want out there.

Last night, had a guy point to the ground where the ball hit and demanded I explain how I called that a strike. Told him I didn't care. He says, "Obviously not". I just smiled and said "play".

You just cannot take them seriously and when they cross the line, no matter how important the game or subs they have (or don't have) in the dugout, you dump them.

I'm not there to make friends and if they don't like me, I don't care.

[RadioBlue]

Irish:
I think you hit on something right there. I'm not the GAGA they usually get.

Over the past 4 or 5 years, I only worked 3 or 4 nights a season. Now that my oldest doesn't play baseball anymore, I've had some more free time and got to work more nights than in the recent past.

During those past few years, the leagues here have deteriorated to the point where most umpires allow players to be outside of the dugouts during play, hang their bags in the fence in play, and generally let the inmates run the asylum. I don't come from that school. I go out there and bust my hump to be in the best position possible every play.

I have no problem dumping players when they decide they don't want to be there for the night any longer. The problem is, very few others take care of business.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by RadioBlue

During those past few years, the leagues here have deteriorated to the point where most umpires allow players to be outside of the dugouts during play, hang their bags in the fence in play, and generally let the inmates run the asylum. I don't come from that school. I go out there and bust my hump to be in the best position possible every play.

I have no problem dumping players when they decide they don't want to be there for the night any longer. The problem is, very few others take care of business.

I am the only umpire to ever ask for a line-up, the only umpire to ever check bats, the only umpire who ever abides by the ball rotation rule, the only umpire who keeps them in the dug out, the only umpire who makes them wear their hats right, the only umpire to make the runner on 3rd keep contact with the base, the only umpire to call an IP if the pitcher is off the PP, the only umpire to call an IP when the pitcher starts to pitch and stops for whatever reason the come up with......yada, yada, yada.

But to keep going, I just think how much smarter the Three Stooges were compared to these comedians.