I had a bad game, today.

[newblue4co]

was BU and excited to pick up a JV game at last minute. 1st play of the game, ball hit to SS, he bobbles and runner beats throw by about a step and a half. I am about to call the play and FBC shouts out "Safe!" I signal the play and say to the FBC " I will make the calls at first." He responds with the normal, "I was talking to my runner." I said " It is kind of like me calling Time, when you pitcher is in the middle of a pitch." He didn't like that too much, but didn't call out a again the whole game.

Things are moving okay, I feel a little out of snych, since I have not had a base assignment for 4 weeks. Third inning, all hell breaks loose. I am at "c" with r1 and r2. HT at bat. Batter shows bunt and bunts it up the 1st BL. F1, f2, and f3 are all moving that way. r2 broke for 3rd on the pitch. I start to commit to the play at first. f1 who has been mowing them down grabs the ball and fires a laser to 3rd. I am not in ideal position. I turn and try my best to get set, I see the ball into glove,he wasn't pulled, and runner at best getting foot onto bag. I call "He's Out!" and HC goes nuts. "You made a horrible call, blue." "you weren't in position, for that call!' "you have to ask for help on that one!" "You made that call too quickly!" All at the top of his lungs. Never once asking for time or wanting to discuss the play, when he started his list of screams the second time, I said, "Coach, that is enough" and put up the stop sign. His base coach at first starts screaming something along the lines of your horrible. The hometeam parents are yelling the normal stuff about robbing the kids. I said to the HC, "Coach,the runner did not beat the throw, it is a force out." He wants me to ask for help, to which I refuse. There was no pulled foot. Things calm down and the half is over with a few runs scoring. Same inning, during HT's at bat. Ball hit to shallow Lf and r2 will safely make 3rd but tries for home. The throw to F2 takes him a little off the line but he has the ball in front of the runner by a few feet, but is turned away from the baseline during the catch. As he turns, he hits the runner right on the top of the helmet. It was a hard hit, but it didn't look like MC. PU calls the runner out, same HC out screaming about the MC and how could you call the runner out. That was the third out of the inning, and the kid took a pretty hard hit. HC and BC swarm my partner screaming they want F2 ejected for MC. I run up and get the BC back towards his dug out. I think the situation is over and my partner announces that he needs to get with me. This sets off the BC and he makes a couple of comments. I hold the stop sign and tell him, that this is his warning, and any more outbursts, he will be done for the day. PU asks me what I say, and if I think it was MC. I said it was a hard tag, but I didn't think it was anything but trying to get turned back into the play from the throw.

He calls the visiting coach and f2 out and warns the player about safety. HC quiets down, and never hear anothe peep from BC. Fans somehow think I caused the HC not to eject the f2. So more booing and comments.

short version of rest of the game, is I had three more plays at third and two went against the HT and the one that didn't the crowd still was in an uproar.

Top of the 5th, two outs and the score is 14 to 1.Batter comes in and swings at the first two pitches. You can tell his coach is telling him to swing to get the out. I think to myself it will somehow be my fault that if he accidentally hits a ball and gets on 1st safely. Next pitch, foul. He yells sorry for hitting that one. Next pitch in the dirt he swings, and catcher drops it, and tags him out while he is standing there grinning waiting for the tag.

HT teams score 2 more runs but game is ended by 10 run mercy rule.

The things I learned from today's game are :1. I should not tried to react to the bunt to first so strongly. I was caught offguard by the f1's throw. 2. I should of tossed BC. 3. I do think my positioning on calls is somewhat off. I did feel like I needed to get a better angle for one of the plays. 4.I learned the importance of being set and making a call without it appearing to be rushed. 5. Leave my water bottle near the exit. That sucked to walk by losing teams fans.

I would of given the coach the opportunity to discuss the call with me but he did nothing but scream repeatedly. At post game conference, I asked my partner if he thought I missed the call that was so controversial. He said that to him, it looked like the ball and foot were at the same time, but he would of called him "safe" because of the tie. Which is a whole another discussion. He said that I hustled and did my job, even with the fans, I didn't let it show that it bothered me. I felt like I had happy feet for part of the game, and it bothers me how this one played out. My partner did say the HC apologized to him about the whole MC incident, and that he was only looking after his players safety.

[SocalBlue1]

Seems you thought about things and came back with the right answers. An honest self-evaluation is always good: make it a career-long habit. Game management is learned through experience & mistakes will be made.

As I see it, the one BIG mistake was not dumping the base coach. No way can you let a coach or player get personal like that. Secondly, a base coach should NEVER be allowed such latitude. They exist to tell runner to stop or turn left, period.

In regard to the post: try some editing before posting? Makes things easier on all.

[DP]

First of all, stop and take a deep breath. You are probably new to this and I can remember when I got into this I went thru a growing process. I actually came upon this site after a partcularly difficult Legion game. Carl Childress, Roy Giusti, and a few others jumped right in to support me and give me some tips. Fact is that the learning process never stops. I learn some things every game I do because each game is different. The best thing you did was self-evaluation. I kept a journal of every game I did for about 10 seasons. Now I only make entries when there is something unusual. It is really helpful to go back and look at some of these thing during the winter to reflect and evaluate what you did and how you might handle it now that you have more experience and knowledge.

One rule I do have is I DO NOT TALK TO ASSISTANT COACHES. As they say in the legal system, "they have no standing." If one of them starts a bunch of crap, he's gone. Funny story: We have a great tool in FED and that is confining them to the bench. Used that this year. Seems like a pitching coach on one area team would be yapping about pitches early in the game. Then, in about the 5th inning every game, he would start about the pitcher not coming to a stop. I had this in my games but, since I go to a lot of games as well, I noticed the pattern. It was like it was scripted. (Took me a little while to figure it out.) In a game this year, I was BU. When he started, I was focused on the pitcher's hands and he was stopping(in my opinion). I told him, "we have a discernable stop in my opinion." He kept it up. I called "time" and told the HC that the pitching coach was confined to the bench and any more and he was gone. That stopped it. (Funny thing was that as pitching coach he was seated on the dugout steps, essentially on the bench, giving those goofy signals that look like he is trying to pick his nose.) I have had that team several more times, home and away, and he has been as nice and polite as he could be. Go figure?

At any rate stay with it, evaluate your performance each game, and remember, as it says in Rule 1, baseball is a GAME with 9 players ................

This forum is a great place to go when you have a difficult game. The guys are very helpful and will give you great support. Take in what you see and hear with an open mind and you will improve. The games do get easier and do become more fun but, that takes time. You still will have a difficult game from time to time but, they seem to happen with less frequency.

[torquer]

was BU and excited to pick up a JV game at last minute. 1st play of the game, ball hit to SS, he bobbles and runner beats throw by about a step and a half. I am about to call the play and FBC shouts out "Safe!" I signal the play and say to the FBC " I will make the calls at first." He responds with the normal, "I was talking to my runner." I said " It is kind of like me calling Time, when you pitcher is in the middle of a pitch." He didn't like that too much, but didn't call out a again the whole game.

Things are moving okay, I feel a little out of snych, since I have not had a base assignment for 4 weeks. Third inning, all hell breaks loose. I am at "c" with r1 and r2. HT at bat. Batter shows bunt and bunts it up the 1st BL. F1, f2, and f3 are all moving that way. r2 broke for 3rd on the pitch. I start to commit to the play at first. f1 who has been mowing them down grabs the ball and fires a laser to 3rd. I am not in ideal position. I turn and try my best to get set, I see the ball into glove,he wasn't pulled, and runner at best getting foot onto bag. I call "He's Out!" and HC goes nuts. "You made a horrible call, blue." "you weren't in position, for that call!' "you have to ask for help on that one!" "You made that call too quickly!" All at the top of his lungs. Never once asking for time or wanting to discuss the play, when he started his list of screams the second time, I said, "Coach, that is enough" and put up the stop sign. His base coach at first starts screaming something along the lines of your horrible. The hometeam parents are yelling the normal stuff about robbing the kids. I said to the HC, "Coach,the runner did not beat the throw, it is a force out." He wants me to ask for help, to which I refuse. There was no pulled foot. Things calm down and the half is over with a few runs scoring. Same inning, during HT's at bat. Ball hit to shallow Lf and r2 will safely make 3rd but tries for home. The throw to F2 takes him a little off the line but he has the ball in front of the runner by a few feet, but is turned away from the baseline during the catch. As he turns, he hits the runner right on the top of the helmet. It was a hard hit, but it didn't look like MC. PU calls the runner out, same HC out screaming about the MC and how could you call the runner out. That was the third out of the inning, and the kid took a pretty hard hit. HC and BC swarm my partner screaming they want F2 ejected for MC. I run up and get the BC back towards his dug out. I think the situation is over and my partner announces that he needs to get with me. This sets off the BC and he makes a couple of comments. I hold the stop sign and tell him, that this is his warning, and any more outbursts, he will be done for the day. PU asks me what I say, and if I think it was MC. I said it was a hard tag, but I didn't think it was anything but trying to get turned back into the play from the throw.

He calls the visiting coach and f2 out and warns the player about safety. HC quiets down, and never hear anothe peep from BC. Fans somehow think I caused the HC not to eject the f2. So more booing and comments.

short version of rest of the game, is I had three more plays at third and two went against the HT and the one that didn't the crowd still was in an uproar.

Top of the 5th, two outs and the score is 14 to 1.Batter comes in and swings at the first two pitches. You can tell his coach is telling him to swing to get the out. I think to myself it will somehow be my fault that if he accidentally hits a ball and gets on 1st safely. Next pitch, foul. He yells sorry for hitting that one. Next pitch in the dirt he swings, and catcher drops it, and tags him out while he is standing there grinning waiting for the tag.

HT teams score 2 more runs but game is ended by 10 run mercy rule.

The things I learned from today's game are :1. I should not tried to react to the bunt to first so strongly. I was caught offguard by the f1's throw. 2. I should of tossed BC. 3. I do think my positioning on calls is somewhat off. I did feel like I needed to get a better angle for one of the plays. 4.I learned the importance of being set and making a call without it appearing to be rushed. 5. Leave my water bottle near the exit. That sucked to walk by losing teams fans.

I would of given the coach the opportunity to discuss the call with me but he did nothing but scream repeatedly. At post game conference, I asked my partner if he thought I missed the call that was so controversial. He said that to him, it looked like the ball and foot were at the same time, but he would of called him "safe" because of the tie. Which is a whole another discussion. He said that I hustled and did my job, even with the fans, I didn't let it show that it bothered me. I felt like I had happy feet for part of the game, and it bothers me how this one played out. My partner did say the HC apologized to him about the whole MC incident, and that he was only looking after his players safety.

Okay, so you think you had a bad day. Every ump has them. It is just a game. No life and death situations are in play here. Now to your points of issue. You just never really know for sure where a youth baseball player is going to go. It sounds to me that you did the best you could. Only thing I would emphasize would be the working area behind the pitchers mound. You can't get distance but you can get angle. Angle is king. Read what plate is doing, he's stuck on the line for that bunt and also an obstruction or interference call. Your on your own in situations like this. Give up that distance and get an appropriate angle to make a call. I thought you did okay in a game like this. They all aren't this testy.

Jess

[MCLEOD36]

We all have bad ones, where we kick calls. I would stress a couple of things, Preparation first, have a pregame and go through even mundane things if you are working with a new partner. I concur about talking to coaches, keep it to a minimal and address captains and head coaches only and out of the box, I wouldnt be that vocal. You make the calls, dont rub his nose in it at first. If you dont like it over and over, just say Coach, I got this game, enough. That usually settles it down quickly and quietly.

I look at it as learning daily, each game even a 12U game can keep you focused on strange happenings, in a situation like that, game is slower and you can focus on the right calls. Also, never lose sight of your best friend on the field, your partner. He might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but at least he is in the drawer with you.

Post games too help and keep an open mind, you might not like a partner, but ask for insights, how WE can make the game better next time......

[willv28]

Okay, so you think you had a bad day. Every ump has them. It is just a game. No life and death situations are in play here. Now to your points of issue. You just never really know for sure where a youth baseball player is going to go. It sounds to me that you did the best you could. Only thing I would emphasize would be the working area behind the pitchers mound. You can't get distance but you can get angle. Angle is king. Read what plate is doing, he's stuck on the line for that bunt and also an obstruction or interference call. Your on your own in situations like this. Give up that distance and get an appropriate angle to make a call. I thought you did okay in a game like this. They all aren't this testy.

Jess

It might be life or death if you had the catcher I did Friday. Ever hear the saying "Death by 1,000 stings"?

[newblue4co]

I like the idea of keeping a journal. I know I am still learning so much. I found the game to be humbling, in the sense, that I was feeling good about where I have gotten to so far in my short umpiring career. I am ready to get back on the horse for a game this week.

[willv28]

Well, I had a good game today, softball LL Majors. The game itself wasn't all that good other than the pitching. But in the first inning, I had a runner keep dancing off the base early. Given they don't get much practice and the coaches disn't know. I'd figure I'd let it go unless they were stealing the first inning. Between innings, I give the away coach an explanation of what his players were doing, nothing else. So they stayed on base the whole game, the home coach whom I know knows the rule and heard him tell his players so I didn't really have to deal with him.

So last inning home down by a couple of runs (no scoreboard). R3, 1 out. Pitch comes possible steal of home. THAT'S when his player decided to leave early. I call no pitch, runner out for leaving early. Bases then are empty, 2 out, final out is after a single, steal and steal attempt at 3 resulting in a put out, and it ends there.

The reason it's good is because I love making that call.

[archangel14]

One rule I do have is I DO NOT TALK TO ASSISTANT COACHES.

I realize that you said this with regards to the OP/coaches chirping. However it would've been good to tag an additional "when they complain ".
In a normal game, if an AC politely asks me a Q(depending on the Q, of course), I will politely answer- thats just common courtesy....

[robbyrudd455]

The important thing is that you recognized your mistakes. Now, concentrate next game on improving those.

Additionally, don't bring a water bottle to the game. Leave it in the cooler or drink one before the game and one afterwards.

[dash_riprock]

was BU and excited to pick up a JV game at last minute. 1st play of the game, ball hit to SS, he bobbles and runner beats throw by about a step and a half. I am about to call the play and FBC shouts out "Safe!" I signal the play and say to the FBC " I will make the calls at first." He responds with the normal, "I was talking to my runner." I said " It is kind of like me calling Time, when you pitcher is in the middle of a pitch." He didn't like that too much, but didn't call out a again the whole game.

Things are moving okay, I feel a little out of snych, since I have not had a base assignment for 4 weeks. Third inning, all hell breaks loose. I am at "c" with r1 and r2. HT at bat. Batter shows bunt and bunts it up the 1st BL. F1, f2, and f3 are all moving that way. r2 broke for 3rd on the pitch. I start to commit to the play at first. f1 who has been mowing them down grabs the ball and fires a laser to 3rd. I am not in ideal position. I turn and try my best to get set, I see the ball into glove,he wasn't pulled, and runner at best getting foot onto bag. I call "He's Out!" and HC goes nuts. "You made a horrible call, blue." "you weren't in position, for that call!' "you have to ask for help on that one!" "You made that call too quickly!" All at the top of his lungs. Never once asking for time or wanting to discuss the play, when he started his list of screams the second time, I said, "Coach, that is enough" and put up the stop sign. His base coach at first starts screaming something along the lines of your horrible. The hometeam parents are yelling the normal stuff about robbing the kids. I said to the HC, "Coach,the runner did not beat the throw, it is a force out." He wants me to ask for help, to which I refuse. There was no pulled foot. Things calm down and the half is over with a few runs scoring. Same inning, during HT's at bat. Ball hit to shallow Lf and r2 will safely make 3rd but tries for home. The throw to F2 takes him a little off the line but he has the ball in front of the runner by a few feet, but is turned away from the baseline during the catch. As he turns, he hits the runner right on the top of the helmet. It was a hard hit, but it didn't look like MC. PU calls the runner out, same HC out screaming about the MC and how could you call the runner out. That was the third out of the inning, and the kid took a pretty hard hit. HC and BC swarm my partner screaming they want F2 ejected for MC. I run up and get the BC back towards his dug out. I think the situation is over and my partner announces that he needs to get with me. This sets off the BC and he makes a couple of comments. I hold the stop sign and tell him, that this is his warning, and any more outbursts, he will be done for the day. PU asks me what I say, and if I think it was MC. I said it was a hard tag, but I didn't think it was anything but trying to get turned back into the play from the throw.

He calls the visiting coach and f2 out and warns the player about safety. HC quiets down, and never hear anothe peep from BC. Fans somehow think I caused the HC not to eject the f2. So more booing and comments.

short version of rest of the game, is I had three more plays at third and two went against the HT and the one that didn't the crowd still was in an uproar.

Top of the 5th, two outs and the score is 14 to 1.Batter comes in and swings at the first two pitches. You can tell his coach is telling him to swing to get the out. I think to myself it will somehow be my fault that if he accidentally hits a ball and gets on 1st safely. Next pitch, foul. He yells sorry for hitting that one. Next pitch in the dirt he swings, and catcher drops it, and tags him out while he is standing there grinning waiting for the tag.

HT teams score 2 more runs but game is ended by 10 run mercy rule.

The things I learned from today's game are :1. I should not tried to react to the bunt to first so strongly. I was caught offguard by the f1's throw. 2. I should of tossed BC. 3. I do think my positioning on calls is somewhat off. I did feel like I needed to get a better angle for one of the plays. 4.I learned the importance of being set and making a call without it appearing to be rushed. 5. Leave my water bottle near the exit. That sucked to walk by losing teams fans.

I would of given the coach the opportunity to discuss the call with me but he did nothing but scream repeatedly. At post game conference, I asked my partner if he thought I missed the call that was so controversial. He said that to him, it looked like the ball and foot were at the same time, but he would of called him "safe" because of the tie. Which is a whole another discussion. He said that I hustled and did my job, even with the fans, I didn't let it show that it bothered me. I felt like I had happy feet for part of the game, and it bothers me how this one played out. My partner did say the HC apologized to him about the whole MC incident, and that he was only looking after his players safety.
That's not a bad game. MAYBE you kicked a whacker at 3rd, maybe you didn't (and if the coach thought it was a tie, then you DID get it right), and you should have dumped 2 coaches. Big deal. You learned a few things. Your bad game hasn't happened yet. Prepare for it.

[Dano]

My 2.8 cents worth (inflation).

When a coach talks about a call and they use the term YOU, they just hung themself by making it personal.

Secondly, in the heat of the battle, many times it is difficult to separate the Head Coach from the Assistants, especially when they all are going ballistic.

Thirdly that argue about "being in the wrong position" normally don't have a clue as to what the reality is, especially in 2 man mechanics.

Fourthly, I love it (sarcasm) when Coaches, players, and Fans act like a JV game is the 7th game of the World Series.

Last but not least, as many others have said, we all have bad games. Just remember the rule: There is no last game, there is no last play, there is only this play right now.

[bobjenkins]

Secondly, in the heat of the battle, many times it is difficult to separate the Head Coach from the Assistants, especially when they all are going ballistic.


Just repeat, "John (HC name), I will be glad to talk to you." Place increasing emphasis on the word "you" until your partner gets in to play rodeo clown.

[golanthius]

I worked a frosh/soph game solo the other day. Its difficult to get into position to make all the calls. I had one play in particular that was almost an ejection. The batter bunts and the catcher jumps up and blocks my view. It seems the ball hit the bat twice but I didn't see it nor did I hear it. I pointed the ball fair and said "Play it" to the catcher. BR beat the throw, and all hell broke loose from the HC of the defense. He storms out of the dugout and starts in on me. I listened for awhile, then said "I did not see the ball hit the bat twice, we have nothing to talk about, play stands." He kept going for a liitle while longer to which I told him to get in the dugout or someone else will finish this game as coach. It ended there.

I would have liked to have some help on those kinds of plays, but when you are by yourself theres nothing you can do...

[heyblue26]

I worked a frosh/soph game solo the other day. Its difficult to get into position to make all the calls. I had one play in particular that was almost an ejection. The batter bunts and the catcher jumps up and blocks my view. It seems the ball hit the bat twice but I didn't see it nor did I hear it. I pointed the ball fair and said "Play it" to the catcher. BR beat the throw, and all hell broke loose from the HC of the defense. He storms out of the dugout and starts in on me. I listened for awhile, then said "I did not see the ball hit the bat twice, we have nothing to talk about, play stands." He kept going for a liitle while longer to which I told him to get in the dugout or someone else will finish this game as coach. It ended there.

I would have liked to have some help on those kinds of plays, but when you are by yourself theres nothing you can do...

On the play you describe in your post you can not really do anything but use your judgement as you did and make the call. With only one umpire being used you cannot catch everything but do you're best in which I believe you did. If they want you to call something that you didn't see or hear then they need to pay for two umpires so you have some help not from the teams but a fellow umpire. Good Call, IMO