If you were the umpire
 

I heard about this from a coach yesterday. I can't comment on if it were true or not.

Apparently a local JV team played a conference opponent and beat the opponent 56-0 and 33-0 in two games of a DH (in 3 innings each). If you were the umpire, how would you handled this situation?

Cash the check.

Same way I would handle a 1 - O state final......

IMO, this is a question appropriate for the opposing coach, not an umpire.

Do you honestly believe there's something the umpire should do? Any umpire who tries to affect this is not doing his/her job.

Talk to myself throughout the game to stay focused, and be prepared to act if tempers were to flare up.

And what would you do then?

Tell everyone to settle down and go to their happy place! :)

As the umpire what situation is there to handle??
It's just another game at another school in another town in a long season.

He's probably wondering if we would do stuff like:
- Wiiiiiiiiiiden the strike zone when the trailing team is on the field
- Call every close play an Out against the leading team
- Make subtle comments to the leading head coach like, "How about having your runners leave early, Coach?" or "How about having your batters switch to the other hand, Coach?"

And on and on...

c'mon guys, be honest. if its 23-0 in the first inning your not going expand your zone? give the bang-bang call to the defense to get that 3rd out? really?

IOW, stop being an umpire. If you widen the strike zone, you do it for both teams, though you shouldn't do it at all

You call the play you see. If you have time to think about which team the play would benefit, your mind isn't where it should be.

Coaches who suggest I start calling people out for them to save face usually get told to just play the game. And if the other coach comes up and asks "Do we HAVE to keep playing?" my response is always "no".

Yesterday, my high school game was a lopsided 16-1, in favor of the home team, in the bottom of the fourth. Our run rule is 10 after 5.

Before they batted, the home team coach comes over to me and says, "I don't want to be out here all day. Some of my runners just might be leaving base a little bit early".

All I said was, "I just might see it".

They get the first three or four batters on base and score another run. No leaving early runners I could detect up to that point. Then, with runners on the corners, the runner on first seems to come off the bag right before the pitch is released. It wasn't a gross violation, but still looked a bit early to me.

I kill the play and bang the runner out. They make the other outs by having all of their hitters bunt.

As he's walking back to the dugout, home coach tells me, "That wasn't one of the runners we were trying to have leave early!". :eek:

All I said was, "Coach...you asked for it".

No. Are YOU????

yes, its JV, its 23-0 in the first inning!!!! now i'm not saying call the ball that hits in front of the plate a strike, or out at first if it not a banger, but come on.

I change nothing, and suffer through like I should. And here is a story that will serve to tell you why:

A few years ago, I had a game between two private HS that was atrocious. However, it looked like we were well on our way to a 10 after 5 run rule. At the end of two, the visiting team was ahead 19-0. They tacked on a couple more in the top of the third. Bottom of the third, something happens to the home team. With a combination of errors by the defense and timely hits and lucky ball placement, they manage to plate 12 runs. In the fourth, visitors do nothing and home team got a few more runs. Long story short, after 4 hours and 10 minutes playing, the final score was home team 33, visitors 31. What would have happened if either my partner or I changed anything about the way we approached that game? We could have altered what appeared early on to be a lost cause. Thankfully, we both just struggled through, and the outcome was left entirely to the players (or lack thereof) on the field. Probably the worst, and certainly the longest 7 inning game I have ever umpired.

This makes me glad the local public school league has a 10 run per inning limit in freshman/JV games.

Depending on the nature of the unsporting conduct: warn, restrict, or eject as prescribed by rule.

Just last week, I had a similar situation when I volunteered to help out my son's old local LL. Majors baseball game, and the visitors jumped out to 15-0 lead in the first couple of innings. "Over there", they have a 10 after 4 May Concede rule (if the trailing coach wants to continue playing so that his/her players get some reps, we allow it). Well, the home coach had already mentioned to my PU partner that they would likely not continue if the game didn't change complexion.

Change it did. In the bottom of the fourth, the home team scored 7. The visitors added a couple in the top of the fifth to make it 17-7. Home team added 6 more in the bottom of the fifth, so we had to play the sixth. Game ended 17-15. Lots of participation by all players, which is the goal of LL Regular Season play.

Suppose the PU had widened the zone on the visitors in this one. What would he have done when the game got close? Close it up again? Leave it wide? It's a no-win situation.

No umpire likes to stay out there during a blowout. But it comes with the territory.