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May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
Well, of course, I can't tell if you were out of line with the umpire or not, and no I would not ream any ump at any age.

That said, I have seen enough teen umpires to tell when one needs to get to his GF's house. :) Maybe he just thought he had worked long enough that night for his $20.00 (or whatever.)

Was this kid working alone and was he in position? Does your league have a system for rating umpires?

Have a good weekend. It is 107 degrees here.
 
Jun 22, 2008
3,731
113
And people wonder why it is so hard to find umpires anymore. So, he called your kid out on a high tag, if he had called it the other way, he most likely would have had the other coach in his face. Sometimes you have whole games of nothing but close calls with alternating coaches out complaining.

New umpires have to learn, and they learn in the lower age brackets. Just as your daughters are learning, so are they. All umpires have to have thier 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 10th game, what ever it may be for them. But, if they are first starting out, there should be another experienced umpire working with them, to not only teach them, but also help control the coaches. Believe me, coaches, parents, kids, fans will push it further with a kid ump than they will with an adult.

My 18 year old daughter was working a 12u game alone and had a pitchers parent riding her all night long. Apparently it was my daughters fault that her daughter couldnt get the ball within 3' of the plate. I was working another game, and as we were walking out, the mother was following us making snide comments all the way to the parking lot. After she had followed us all the way to our car, I finally told her enough was enough and that we would be contacting the league about her behavior. At this point, she informed me that "it was her right to say anything she wanted to the umpires, it was thier job to take it and deal with it".

I had umped this same team myself, and her daughter had done just as poorly with me, yet I was not harrassed at all. Any time you confront an ump with anger or percieved aggression, they are most likely just going to tune you out. But, if you approach them in a calm manner, ask them what they saw, explain what your perception was, and if they might ask their partner for help, you are much more likely to get something out of it. Just jump down thier throat and yell at them, and they are just going to walk off the field.
 
May 5, 2008
358
16
Wow! Lots of good stuff here.

I do not think you were wrong for having Tammy go to first. I don't think you were wrong for "disregarding" your daughter. As Amy said, you know her well enough to know she was alright. Everyone on the field is always more concerned than I am when she gets a bump or scrape or any other not so serious injury. Like your daughter mine is Tiny for being 11.

As far as the umpire thing, there are different stylea on dealing with that. Personally, I'm not into reaming any umpire, much less a young one, regardless of how they are calling the game.

I would much rather teach my team to play their BEST regardless of what's going on around them than win 1 out of every 5 or so "blow ups" at the umpires. There are other ways of getting your point across to the umpire and my own personal style does not include "reaming."
 

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