New coach

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by Rita C

Be good and patient with the umpires.

+1

One of the worst experiences I've had doing Juco ball recently involved a head coach who came up to my partner and me while we were inspecting his team's bats, and started up a conversation by telling us he is a long-time umpire at the D1 level. My radar went up immediately.

Sure enough, he questioned a number of calls, and even questioned responsibilities. His team requested an appeal of a runner missing third base while scoring on a hit. I was the PU and gave the safe signal. He requested Time, sauntered over to me, and asked, "Who's call is that at third base?" I told him it was mine, and he asked if I was sure. I answered, "Coach, if you're an umpire as you claim to be, you know whose call it is. Now let's play."

Don't be "that coach".

[Rich]

My daughter will be 9. I am not expecting talented (or even competent) umpiring. If I get it, I will be pleasantly surprised.

I'll have enough things to worry about - there's absolutely no chance I'll get on an umpire.

I was tempted last year when one called strikes a good foot off the plate when my daughter was batting and I was just a dad in the stands, but I walked away instead.

[RKBUmp]

I'll have enough things to worry about - there's absolutely no chance I'll get on an umpire.

I said the same thing, but it gets real hard after several games in a row where the umpires dont even know the most basic rules of the game and even then the rules change from game to game depending on which umpire you get. I finally had a meeting with the assignor for the league and asked how were we ever suppose to teach the girls to play the game if we werent going to use a rule book. She told me they were allowing the umpires to use their own descretion as to what they did and did not call. So I asked her, in other words we are playing under a top secret rule set contained only in each umpires head?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by RKBUmp

I said the same thing, but it gets real hard after several games in a row where the umpires dont even know the most basic rules of the game and even then the rules change from game to game depending on which umpire you get. I finally had a meeting with the assignor for the league and asked how were we ever suppose to teach the girls to play the game if we werent going to use a rule book. She told me they were allowing the umpires to use their own descretion as to what they did and did not call. So I asked her, in other words we are playing under a top secret rule set contained only in each umpires head?

The thing I found a bit annoying just watching were the "special" rules that would change from day to day and game to game. I'm going to have to make a real effort to turn that part of my brain off and use it as a teaching moment for the girls.

[Welpe]

I put the over/under at 5.5 games.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Welpe

I put the over/under at 5.5 games.

Unless there's lightning involved. Then all bets are off.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Rich

My daughter will be 9. there's absolutely no chance I'll get on an umpire.

My daughter was 9 when I started... and yes you will.

1) A play needed to go home, so I moved everyone in, including my LF all the way to where a normal F5 would play. Umpire in C told her (HER! Not me... her!) she needed to move back. Yes, I got on him first for telling my player where to go, and second for trying to tell me I couldn't position my players where I wanted them.

2) Play at 3rd, F5 is clearly and blatantly blocking the base, my player slides and literally bounces off the fielder. Then F5 catches the ball and tags my player laying on the ground, who tried feebly to avoid the tag by crawling away. OUT! My first question - Did you see the obstruction. When he said yes, I asked how my player could be out. When he said, "She was moving away from third base when she was tagged." Yes, I got on him. Luckily his partner came in to fix things (yes, unsolicited, but I wasn't going to stop him!).

Yes. You WILL get on an umpire.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Manny A

+1

One of the worst experiences I've had doing Juco ball recently involved a head coach who came up to my partner and me while we were inspecting his team's bats, and started up a conversation by telling us he is a long-time umpire at the D1 level. My radar went up immediately.

Sure enough, he questioned a number of calls, and even questioned responsibilities. His team requested an appeal of a runner missing third base while scoring on a hit. I was the PU and gave the safe signal. He requested Time, sauntered over to me, and asked, "Who's call is that at third base?" I told him it was mine, and he asked if I was sure. I answered, "Coach, if you're an umpire as you claim to be, you know whose call it is. Now let's play."

Don't be "that coach".

If he is asking those types of questions, maybe you should find out what sport he umpires at the "D1 Level".....

[Rich]

I know I'll never use the phrase, "I'm an umpire" because I know how I react every time I hear someone say that to me.

Although I did put my resume forward when I questioned why my daughter's team (this past year) was playing in the middle of a torrential downpour / thunderstorm.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Rich

I know I'll never use the phrase, "I'm an umpire" because I know how I react every time I hear someone say that to me.

Although I did put my resume forward when I questioned why my daughter's team (this past year) was playing in the middle of a torrential downpour / thunderstorm.

I've always wondered why teams stay on the field when they consider it "unsafe"? You don't want to play in it, don't.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

I've always wondered why teams stay on the field when they consider it "unsafe"? You don't want to play in it, don't.

I wasn't the coach this past year. And putting unsafe in quotation marks implies that maybe it wasn't. It was 100%, positively unsafe -- the tournament cared more about "getting games in."

This past year, I should've simply pulled my kid. Next year, I'll pull my team. And the place where this tournament happened -- I guarantee that I will not be taking my team there.

[RPatrino]

Rich, I coached my son through his entire amateur baseball life and umpired during the last 5 years of that time. The hardest thing I found was keeping quiet when the parents and crowd were clamoring for me to confront the umpires. Most discussions I had were quiet, one on one discussions asking about rule interps. I found it easier to just be a bench coach, and not deal with the field action too much. I also handed out a lot of bottles of water...LOL.

[tcannizzo]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

I've always wondered why teams stay on the field when they consider it "unsafe"? You don't want to play in it, don't.

Before I became an umpire, in an ASA Tournament, there was significant lightning around the park, but the umpires would not suspend play.

I went to PU and said that if he didn't suspend play that I would pull my team off the field, even if it meant a forfeit. He still wouldn't yield.

I pulled the team. The UIC came over and ruled that we would not have to take the forfeit.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

I've always wondered why teams stay on the field when they consider it "unsafe"? You don't want to play in it, don't.

Originally Posted by tcannizzo

Before I became an umpire, in an ASA Tournament, there was significant lightning around the park, but the umpires would not suspend play.

I went to PU and said that if he didn't suspend play that I would pull my team off the field, even if it meant a forfeit. He still wouldn't yield.

I pulled the team. The UIC came over and ruled that we would not have to take the forfeit.

I've umpired in tournaments where it was made clear to the umpires that decisions regarding suspending play due to weather were reserved solely for the TD. They did not want each field to decide independently, but the tournament as a whole.

Fortunately, when this has been in the tournament rules, the TD has been very safety-conscious, so it never became an issue where I thought play should be suspended but the TD had not reached a decision yet (and it did provide a deflection for whiney coaches).

But, what is the thought here on such a tournament rule? Would you "violate" the rule if the TD was too slow to decide (i.e. in your judgment, the conditions were unsafe)?

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Dakota

I've umpired in tournaments where it was made clear to the umpires that decisions regarding suspending play due to weather were reserved solely for the TD. They did not want each field to decide independently, but the tournament as a whole.

Fortunately, when this has been in the tournament rules, the TD has been very safety-conscious, so it never became an issue where I thought play should be suspended but the TD had not reached a decision yet (and it did provide a deflection for whiney coaches).

But, what is the thought here on such a tournament rule? Would you "violate" the rule if the TD was too slow to decide (i.e. in your judgment, the conditions were unsafe)?

In the case of lightning or thunder, I've never had an issue where I thought it needed to be stopped but the TD didn't stop it. I have, however, had an issue where rain made MY field unplayable, but hadn't made other fields unplayable. I stopped my game, had the TD called over to address it. He ended up moving that game to another field while the field crew addressed my field. The skies cleared and the rest of the games on my field were played just fine.

Don't know if that completely answers your question. I suspect that if the TD had refused to do something, I would have stopped play and let him take it up with my UIC.