Baseball ejections

[Herdcyclones]

I officiate baseball. I'm not going to pretend I'm the world's best umpire, because I'm not. But I have been doing it awhile. From my observations, and talking to various partners over the years, here are some takes I have on "being blue".

Everybody has their off days. Just like the studs might go 0-4 with 2 Ks, even a good umpire has a bad day at the plate. Sometimes I feel like I am rockin' and not missing a thing. Other times, you just have a hard time getting in the zone. Not to point fingers, but sometimes the catchers cause problems for an umpire. Catchers that start to stand up early-you are locked in to the zone as the pitch is on the way, and the catcher comes up and blocks your view.

Once I umpired behind a catcher who was about 6' 5". In his crouch, his head was higher than the top of many batter's strike zone. You adjust, but balls just look different coming in. I know I was more inconsistent that night.

Sometimes, with a 2 man crew, you just can't get a good look at a play. One night, I was in "C", which to the non umpires, that is where you stand with a runner on 3rd, in front of the SS. There was also a runner on 1st. The catcher made a snap throw down to first, a few feet off the bag. There was a swipe tag towards right field, I saw daylight, and called the runner safe. Right as I was calling safe, the runner kept walking towards his first base dugout. By then, the hollering started, he made a quick u-turn, and was just safe again as the first baseman tried to tag him again as he returned to the base a 2nd time.

Apparently, he had thought he was picked off, and just started walking to his dugout. I had given a safe call, but the runner, in essence, called himself out. Of course I heard it from the fans. The defensive manager came out. In that case, I'm giving him a long leash. He wanted to gnaw on me, and that is fine, as long as it didn't get personal. Obviously the call got missed. But I was 110 feet away, with the tag away from me, and my partner was about 95 feet away, with the tag away from him.

I told the coach, "Yup, it appears like I missed it. But I'm 100 feet away with the tag away from me. But I'm not going to change it, because I saw daylight at the tag. I'm going with what I saw, despite what the runner thought" The coach grumbled a bit, and went back to the dugout, and the crowd was all over me for the remainder of the game.

It might be that part of the reason for the lack of good umpiring is normal well adjusted people don't like people hollering at them. So they quit the profession. Doing freshie games are generally the most fun for me. They don't pay quite as much, but for the most part, no one gets too wound up, they are during the day, and it is mostly moms at the game out sunning themselves.

Hey, I will even moan at an official if I don't think he is hustling. I saw a young guy, maybe 20 doing a HS game the other day. He was on the bases, and was pretty quick on his out/safes and he used closed fists while giving safe signs. Using closed fists while giving safe signs is not a good mechanic, but that doesn't make him a bad umpire. He had a good ball/strike when he was the plate guy in the other side of the DH, and he hustled. That is somebody I hope sticks with it.

I have officiated with dozens of guys over the years in baseball and football. I have never met someone who was out to job somebody, or some team. There are some teams, and some players who are not going to get any break because they act like buttholes. A pitcher starts making faces as me, he is not getting the corners. A face on a key pitch at a key time, not a big deal. But if it continues, I'll tell the catcher to go out and tell his pitcher to knock it off--he made his point, let's play ball. At that point, it is up to the pitcher if he wants the corners.

Most days, it is very enjoyable to be out on the field of play, playing with kids who are out to have a good time, and give their best effort. The ones that aren't, is when it is really hot, it is 13-4 in the 6th inning, and the fans of the losing team are getting on you about something. You start thinking, "what the hell am I doing out here?"

 

[MVCR]

There is a simple explanation for why there are more ejections in baseball then any other sports. It's the only possible response for arguements, in basketball you can get a technical foul and in football you can get a flag, but in baseball there is nothing that can be done to punish the team, they cant be like ok the other team gets 4 outs this inning instead of 3, or this team gets a free baserunner. The only form of punishment that exsists is ejection, it's not that complicated to figure out.

I've seen players and coaches get ejected for pretty small arguments in baseball but i've watched coaches have near meltdowns at football and basketball games that only draw flags and techs. If you've ever been on the sideline of a basketball or football game the coaches will be in the ear of an offical for a very long time, because they can do it from their coaching position without showing up the offical. In baseball if you want to say something you have to come out in front of everyone and do it which obviously shows up the ump leading to ejections.

 

[3D23]

Very well said, Herdy, thanks for your POV.

Too often, we are quick to blame others rather than try and see the reasonable perspective.

I actually loved reading your candor, and appreciate your honesty. More players, coaches, and parents should be made to read your response.

I have come across very few 'bad apple' umpires in my time walking the Earth, and for the most part, the guys (and gals) are just trying to be as fair as they can, and do their job. I think, in every aspect of life, you get occasional knuckleheads that want to play the role of jerk on the field, but more often than not, the ump or ref has become that way from years of abuse from teams, but mostly abusive parents.

Here's my problem with most of what occurs, and I have seen A LOT with my profession, and am generally speaking, an innocent bystander, no horse in the race:

When did it become acceptable for parents or players to act as they do? I graduated in '84, and at that time, if I acted the way 90% of the players do now, there is no question in my mind that my dad would have beaten me bloody for 1) Disrespecting authority 2) Embarrassing him 3) Letting the other team know that anything that happened upset me in any way. #2 was the reason I never did act like that, because you did NOT want to disappoint your parents. #3 was his pet-peeve, and is now mine with my children. Never, ever, under any circumstances, give your opposition the tools to beat you down. As soon as your enemy knows they are in your head, it's over.

I started seeing this new phenomenon when my nephews were entering into sports around 1990, and each year I am floored by the spectacles that are splashed all over the news, YouTube, Facebook, etc. In what world did it become acceptable to presume to walk onto the field of play, and assault opposing team members, heckle from the stands to the point that it becomes personal and distracting, calling a coach to ask for more playing time for your child, etc.?

It wasn't so long ago, you would be told by your parents that if you didn't like what was happening, figure it out. You want more playing time, work harder. You think things are unfair? Tough, life is unfair. You want to quit? Not an option. You start what you finish. The era of the helicopter parent that swoops in to repair damaged self-esteem, right the wrongs of the world, and make everything level and equal has exacerbated (in my opinion) the failure of quality umpires now.

From what my experience seems to tell me is, it started with the prevalence of club sports. I could be way off base here, but to me, it seems to be when it began occurring. All of a sudden, parents were throwing thousands upon thousands of dollars at a sport that their child had show promise in, and turning it into a machine to generate the best possible outcome for their child. But, as the youth sport movement began gaining steam, you had more and more parents coaching (who really had no business coaching, but how would their child get maximum playing time unless they could oversee every aspect?) and willing to go toe-to-toe with opposing coaches, parents, players, and officials. Then, as these same children entered into the high school arena, and coach dad or mom was relegated to the stands, they couldn't shut off the need to drive the machine.

In the beginning, it didn't happen often, and coaches would step on it before it got out of hand. But as coaches with dwindling salaries, and apathetic AD's began getting worn down by the constant attacks walking into their office, calling their cell phones, calling their homes, etc., it began occurring with more frequency.

This is a theory I have drawn from past experiences and I could be way off base. As with any phenomenon, it starts out innocuously, and grows out of the mob mentality until it is a mainstream thought process that never even occurred to us to attempt to stop. There are other theories out there, and as I said, I could be way off on this, but I just can't see how else we arrived at this place now. Even IF the umpire was engaging in a conversation with the second baseman that could have been avoided, you shut your mouth, be respectful, and do your job. Even IF you did get a hand on the ball and it was still called pass interference, shut your mouth and move on. You arguing with the official is doing absolutely NOTHING to help your cause, and is probably making it worse. The more you whine, more often than not, the more the official is tuning you out. The bigger the temper tantrum you have, the greater the odds that the next time it happens, even if you aren't in the play, it's probably not going your way. And maybe not on a level of spite from the ref, but more to the point that you insult people, and they stop paying attention to you.

And to come full-circle, you now see where the level of intellect to the sport they officiate is lacking, because the referees and umpires who ruled with authority and knowledge are gone, and replaced by those who are willing to take the abuse, the harassment. For little pay, and even less respect given, we are now seeing the reciprocal fallout of our actions. I truly believe that we, as a society, reap what we sow.

 

[cidhawkeye]

Never will defend a player that behaves that way, I also believe that the umpire could have handled the situation a little better. I have had teenage employees behave that way at work, I don't think I fired them for shaking their head at me, probably has occurred a little more then I would have hoped for. I have seen umpires go out to the middle of the outfield after some close calls and not been close to any player to avoid that type of conflict. Both were wrong in this case, I just think the ejection went a little too far.

 

[smallcenter]

3D23, you're not off based at all. You are right on. I've seen it too. Society has changed to a point where now when something like the umpire and the 2B conflict happen the adults looking at it say well the kid was wrong, BUUUUUT the umpire should have handled it differently. You know what, the kid was wrong and put both of them in that situation because he is immature and has been taught to act that way, either directly or indirectly. The kid was wrong. If he doesn't act the way he did the whole situation doesn't happen. End of story.

 

[Dastardlydan]

I have always believed kids should be taught to be respectful and to have some poise when things don't go their way. Coaches who insist on it have players who usually act the right way. Please don't take what I'm about to write as a defense of any player or coach who acts inappropriately during a game. I also don't want to seem like I'm attacking "herdcyclones", who sounds like an official who's doing it for the right reasons.



But here it is: The strike zone is in the rule book. Every ump should be attempting to call pitches using that strike zone. It's frustrating as a player, coach, and fan to have one game where the zone is waist to knees with no corners, followed by a game where everything in the general area of the plate is a strike. An ump who tells coaches before a game that the strike zone will be large, so kids shouldn't stand and not swing is out of line and should be corrected for doing so. Coaches spend a lot of time trying to teach kids to discern which pitches to swing at, and umpires should just call balls and strikes.

It's even more frustrating to see an umpire take the corners away during a game, and I don't think an ump should intentionally do that, no matter what kind of glares or comments he's getting. You deal with behavioral issues by warning or ejecting the guilty party. You should call a strike a strike, even when you're pissed.






This post was edited on 7/13 3:03 PM by Dastardlydan

This post was edited on 7/13 3:03 PM by Dastardlydan

 

[cidhawkeye]

Ever jaywalk? It's against the law and I can just imagine the fit you would throw if a police officer gave you a ticket for it, and when he looked at you and said "your action is the cause of this, end of story, pay your fine" just how well that would go over. Umpires are held to a higher standard then the players, the player was wrong, the umpire was wrong, nobody wins. Both could have handled the situation differently. And don't put me in the coddling of player catagory, I am completely against that.

 

[Dastardlydan]

..

This post was edited on 7/14 6:38 AM by Dastardlydan

 

[Herdcyclones]

3D, good post. We are of the same graduating class, and I agree with your post.

Dan, I know what you are saying, and no offense taken. And I should say, that it is rare when that happens for me. I am probably being overly dramatic for the sake of illustration. My number one goal is to go home early. I love strikes and outs as an umpire. And as I mentioned, I will have a private conversation with the catcher, and allow him to go out to the pitcher and tell him you made you point, no more faces. That usually solves the problem.

And as mentioned above, baseball doesn't have the technical foul, or the 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty. Makes it tough as an umpire, because there is not an easy way to nip stuff in the bud, other than telling them to knock it off. When it is obvious that a pitcher was throwing at a batter....I have to go back to my talk to the catcher, "you made your point, knock it off, have him throw it over the plate." I have had 100% success with that one. (The most frequent is fake bunt bat waving on 3-0 counts)

Out on the bases, when the runner is doing some obnoxious clapping...I may make my way over and tell the runner if given an opportunity and say, "if it were me pitching, the next time you are up, you are getting a pitch in your ear hole for that clapping, but that's just me." I might say that if I have some familiarity with the player or team. I can't really penalize the runner. But I don't want unsporting like behavior to get out of hand. And on that one, I should add, it depends on the team and the player. Other times I will simply ask the question, "Do you think what you are doing is good sportsmanship or adds value to the game?" And actually that one is pretty good one. That works pretty well too. Occasionally I get, "My coach wants me to do it." Pretty much roll my eyes on that one.

I look at umpiring as ruling with the book instead of by the book. And there is a fine line there. I want everybody to have a hard played game, with the best of their ability, without a bunch of shenanigans going on. A banger at the plate, I know half the people are going to be all over me with whatever I call. I'm good with that. But if some player or coach is going to become overly dramatic and start causing me problems, I am not going to look too kindly on that. It means I might start going by the book instead of with it. One example is stepping out of the box. If the game is moving nicely, I am not going to get bent, or maybe even say anything if on a taken outside pitch, the batter completely walks out of the box. But if you have a pattern of honking me off, we might start playing rule book on that one, and getting on a batter's case to the get in the box, which may potentially throw his routine off, which puts him at a disadvantage. Again, I am being a bit dramatic, and talking rare instances, but I have done that.

Like any sports, it is more fun to talk about the weird instances, dramatic ejections, and so on. So despite some of my stories, for the most part, it is a lot of fun to be on the field, kids hit the ball, kids wearing different colors field it, and we all go home and have a pop, beer, or lemonade when it is all done and talk about it.

 

[homerun-11]

I saw a dozen games and didn't see a player or coach raise their voice, or even make gestures with their hands. The games I saw were very well umped, coached, and played by all teams. Even the fans were pretty well behaved. An occasional ball/strike comment, but pretty good on the whole.

 

[circleherk1]

Originally posted by homerun-11:

I saw a dozen games and didn't see a player or coach raise their voice, or even make gestures with their hands. The games I saw were very well umped, coached, and played by all teams. Even the fans were pretty well behaved. An occasional ball/strike comment, but pretty good on the whole.

Probably 3A or higher games I am guessing. The lower levels have some atrocious umpires. Not to mention some very poor coaches that in some cases, know little about the game let alone how to "coach".

 

[smallcenter]

Originally posted by circleherk1:

Originally posted by homerun-11:

I saw a dozen games and didn't see a player or coach raise their voice, or even make gestures with their hands. The games I saw were very well umped, coached, and played by all teams. Even the fans were pretty well behaved. An occasional ball/strike comment, but pretty good on the whole.

Probably 3A or higher games I am guessing. The lower levels have some atrocious umpires. Not to mention some very poor coaches that in some cases, know little about the game let alone how to "coach".

1A and 2A ball breeds bad everything because there are not a lot of good coaches in 1A and 2A (there are some really good ones, but they aren't plentiful). I have worked a lot of ball games, especially JV and below. That's where it's the most telling. With most 3As and some 2As you are going a good clean game, for the most part, no matter what level you watch. I've seen 3A and 4A 8th grade teams play better and more disciplined than some 1A varsities. Bad play puts umpires in bad positions because there is no predictability and knowledge of the rules on the players (and coaches) part tends to lack. Again, that's not all small schools, but definitely a much higher percentage than you see with the larger schools. Here's an example. Runner on second ball is hit to the right of the infield. The umpire is in C position to start the play and with a roller to the right side he's probably going to start moving towards first base to get a little closer for the call there because that's where the play is. But more times than I'd like, in 1A and 2A the second baseman will decided to try to fire over to 3rd and then you have a banger at third and you've lost your proximity and possibly blown your angle.

Now, that said, there are a lot of young umpires that are working 1A and 2A ball. The biggest problem that I am seeing with young umpires is that they are not getting trained in by more experienced umpires on 2 man mechanics and rotations. What happens is two college kids say, "Hey, we both played baseball. Whataya think about umpiring for a summer job?" The other one says YEAH! They get excited, get their gear, and go to it. But they are never trained in by working with someone who knows what they are doing and willing to tell the young one what they need to do. The state offers the clinics, and they are helpful. But you can't cover nearly every situation in an 2 hours.