Was it always this crazy?

dgfred said:

I think the leagues would be more fun if the umps didn't charge so much.

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I have umpired exactly one game when our youth umpire didn't show for a 10U rec game. I came away thinking that umpires (youth and adult) don't charge enough.

YoungBuck said:

... nothing like a 'low-bar !'

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Yes that is definitely one way of looking at it. And I honestly think some of my parents would agree with you 100%. I know for a fact one dad still cannot understand why I was so excited at his DD missing a flyball in centerfield. The reason I was so excited is she drop-stepped, tucked her glove like we worked on, and took an awesome route to the ball. She reached up and it hit her glove and plopped out. I could not have been more happy with her. Well obviously I would have been even happier (for her mostly) if she caught it, but you get my point. I am sure her Dad thinks I set a "low bar" because to him it was just a dropped ball. My guess is some here will understand why I was so happy.

And I also "expect" the umpires will make some mistakes from time to time. Some will call it a low-bar but I say it just does not matter in the big picture. For me the big picture is if over the course of a season we create much better softball players and umpires in the rec leagues than when we started then we win. To me at this level, it does not matter if every outcome is perfect but if they improve their technique and learn the right way to play and call a game. Crazy way of looking at it I know. And like I say it drives a good number of my parents crazy.

BTW when I coached my first DD years ago I was crazy. Pure crazy. Every call was life and death. Every pitch my DD threw would dictate whether her life was going to be successful or not. Ok I exaggerate....but just a little.

In 12U travel ball, I see very few issues between parents/coaches and umpires. Most of the time the umpires joke around with the parents before the game and in-between innings to keep the mood light. Once play starts, they rarely confront the parents (which I think is smart). Rec league parents are a little crazier than most because they are new to the game and they think "little Suzy" is the next Jennie Finch. These parents tend to mellow as the years go on....with the super crazy parents having a hard time finding teams for their kids since most coaches will not tolerate their nonsense. One season (as a coach) I had to umpire two 8U games. As an umpire, you hear everything and it's not easy working a game by yourself. I tried to be firm in my judgment calls (whether I was right or wrong) and didn't get into it with the parents. Gives you a new respect for umpires, its certainly not easy.

I had to an emergency fill in for an 8u game last week. Walking back to my car at the fields last night one of the players from that game said 'Hi Mr. Umpire!'. I think my tank has been filled to umpire a few more games.

Due to scheduling issues we have had two games with no umpires showing up. I was "volunteered" both games to ump from behind the pitcher. I think I got more grief from my fellow assistant coaches than I did from the other team?

It is worse. This past weekend, fly ball deep to right. Offense had runners on 2B and 3B. RF on the run, extends glove and touches the ball but doesn't catch it immediately. Ball goes up, RF still on run and catches ball. Not a lot of distance between touch and catch but some distance. Runners take off after ball is tapped up. RF catches ball and other team scores 2. Team throws balls to 2B and 3B expecting outs. Fans are crazy for triple play. Nope. You should have seen some of these fans as the approached the fence yelling at the PU. How some of those fans were not ejected is beyond me. One guy kept yelling that the ball has to be in possession "before a tag up is legal." Every pitch after that, a comment was made about the umpire.

Cannon, that's a great story. It's bad enough when someone argues a call, but it's worse when they don't even know what they are talking about and won't listen.

We had one this year where 2 the runner on third didn't go on a passed ball and the runner on second ran to third. At one point they were both on 3rd but no one tagged either and they wound up back on bases. One family was just yelling at me to go argue with the umps. I took it for a minute and finally just said, "you are wrong" and walked away.

I don't think the teenage umps in our rec league take a lot of guff, but they may disagree.

I try not to berate umps too much. In some of the fall games, the local LL would have just a plate ump, and the team parents had to volunteer to ump the bases. (usually two umps).

A few times DD #1 and one of her friends volunteered as plate umps for DD #3's game while they were waiting on their own game. (Ump's little sister was on DD #1's team, too). That worked out well. One time I volunteered as a plate ump for one of DD #1's games. That showed me how hard it is to ump. It looks so EASY! Anyway, a girl on the other team, still one of DD #1's best friends, requested to DD #1 that I never, ever ump another game.

So, I realize the umps have a harder time than it looks. No wonder they make so many mistakes!

As the parent of a pitcher, the last thing I want is the parents on my DD's team riding the umpires, especially on balls and strikes. If I was an umpire and one team's parents started riding me about balls and strikes EVERY SINGLE close call after that would go against that team.....that's just how I roll

I'm still ashamed of the way our team's parents behaved years ago when DS was just peanut. I'm more ashamed that I got pulled into it too. Since then I've become the Dad that always sits alone way down the baseline or in the outfield and tries to just clap politely and cheer when appropriate. My blood pressure is a lot lower these days. "Did you have fun kid? Well, I did. I love to watch you play." I try to leave it at that, but don't always succeed. I am better at it than DW though.