Get it right, Blue!

Sweet Lou said:

I was once playing in a game after the first pitch ump says 0-2.

I didn't think any thing of it until the 2 pitch was strike 3.

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Slowpitch?

My DD1 used to ump for the local league. She didn't like it, but she made decent money for a 14-15 yr old. She quit after making an admittedly bad call, but then had the 3 coaches, who she happened to know for years and were board members of the league screaming at her. She was umping a 12u Rec game behind the plate, by herself. She had compliments on her strike zone though. One came from a coach that also coached for the local community college.

MoparFin said:

Slowpitch?

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It was an 18 over Sunday BB league. I think the guy just forgot to reset the count from the prior batter. I'm all how can I strike out on 2 pitches? He's like I've got 3. It wasn't worth blowing up over I think we only had 9 players.

I just shook my head and walked back the dugout. We had a good laugh over it.

They seem to lose track of the count A LOT. That is their main job at that moment so it's pretty irritating.

MoparFin said:

My DD1 used to ump for the local league. She didn't like it, but she made decent money for a 14-15 yr old. She quit after making an admittedly bad call, but then had the 3 coaches, who she happened to know for years and were board members of the league screaming at her. She was umping a 12u Rec game behind the plate, by herself. She had compliments on her strike zone though. One came from a coach that also coached for the local community college.

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In DD's league some of the coaches are super abusive to the teen umps. I feel bad for them. It's true that some of them aren't very good yet, but these girls will get better if the coaches don't scare them away from continuing to umpire.

Lightning said:

In DD's league some of the coaches are super abusive to the teen umps. I feel bad for them. It's true that some of them aren't very good yet, but these girls will get better if the coaches don't scare them away from continuing to umpire.

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The girls could be good umpires. But where a lot of the rec leagues get it wrong is they give them a couple of hours of training, if that, and turn them loose on the fields. What they need to do is to have someone there evaluating them and helping them. If someone from the league is there it tends to put a sock in the mouth of a lot of coaches.

Sparky Guy said:

The girls could be good umpires. But where a lot of the rec leagues get it wrong is they give them a couple of hours of training, if that, and turn them loose on the fields. What they need to do is to have someone there evaluating them and helping them. If someone from the league is there it tends to put a sock in the mouth of a lot of coaches.

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Our league used to do a few training sessions before the start of the season. They were about 2-3 hours long and it was once a week for about a month before the season. Then the new umps would be field umps only for 12u and up and behind the plate for 10u for their first year. They had to be second year umps to be behind the plate for 12u+. It seemed to work pretty good.

I definitely agree with having a board member at the games with new umpires. When my DD was umping, the UIC would schedule her on games that I was near, so that we didn't have to drive to 2 different fields. I would be coaching on one field and she would umpire another. My wife would go watch some of the games she was umpiring, since she was a board member also they would behave for the most part. The one time that I mentioned, were we didn't go because the coaches were also board members, is when she got screamed at the most, by the board members. I was HOT after that. I was really more upset with the fact of how they talked to a 15 year old girl when they were representing the league as board members. I didn't really defend her as my DD until one of the coaches later said that she was lying about what happened. That conversation happened in front of the VP.

...(Our third base coach: "You didn't see it? You're standing right there!")

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...but then had the 3 coaches, who she happened to know for years and were board members of the league screaming at her...

Click to expand...

In DD's league some of the coaches are super abusive to the teen umps. I feel bad for them. It's true that some of them aren't very good yet, but these girls will get better if the coaches don't scare them away from continuing to umpire.

Click to expand...

And people wonder why all of the umpires are so old and we don't see many young umpires......

I have tried to recruit new umpires from club ball teams emphasizing that it keeps them close to game they like, if not love. The part time status and the $$ they can earn.
One of the most common responses I hear is " No thanks...I've seen how my parents and others have treated umpires while I've been playing since I was 10 years old,,,I don't want any part of that..."

Ajaywill said:

And people wonder why all of the umpires are so old and we don't see many young umpires......

I have tried to recruit new umpires from club ball teams emphasizing that it keeps them close to game they like, if not love. The part time status and the $$ they can earn.
One of the most common responses I hear is " No thanks...I've seen how my parents and others have treated umpires while I've been playing since I was 10 years old,,,I don't want any part of that..."

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That is so true. There will always be bad calls, it is just the way it is. A few years back we did not have an ump show up for a game, so I got my 13 yo son who is a catcher to call the game. He said what if they start yelling at my calls - I told him to toss them. He laughed and called a great game. Even though he enjoyed it, he has no interest specifically for the reason you stated.

I have been saying for years. As soon as my DD is done playing HS Ball, I am going to try to become an ump. Hopefully, my experience from the stands and the dugout, will give me a better starting point than some of the folks we see on a regular basis.