Umpires..

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MTR

Jun 22, 2008
3,438
48
I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter where or which softball affiliation your tournament is in, bad umpires are everywhere. Even watched bad calls in the WCWS. Just hope the calls are going your way. If they aren't it's even more difficult.

Guess you can go out there and show them how it is done, right?
 
Jan 22, 2011
1,610
113
I was happy to see some younger umpires at Nor Cal states the past weekend. I try to be more tolerant of younger umpires, because the older ones I see weren't exactly youngsters when I first got involved with youth softball 10 years ago. I know some of them will be retired before my DD graduates high school. About two years ago many local high school games started only getting 1 blue due to lack of umpires. The rec league my daughter played in has a shortage of umpires, so I wind up having to do 6-8 games a year.
 
Aug 29, 2011
2,581
83
NorCal
I go out of my way to thank umpires after each game when I can. We lose too many umpires to hot head **** coaches who berate umpires. It's a pretty thankless job and without them it's pretty tough to play a game.
 
May 18, 2009
1,314
38
Guess you can go out there and show them how it is done, right?
I do know a ball hitting the home plate is a ball.....so I guess I could do it better than some, probably not as good as all. My original point is that you hope calls go your way.
 
Mar 1, 2013
396
43
It’s amazing how much better the umpiring is when you don’t have a kid on the field.

Amen :)

A few years ago, I'm on the bases in a USSSA tournament pool game. Pitcher is pitching really well. Lights out, big lead. Late inning, she brain farts, steps back off the pitching plate then forward for her delivery. Illegal pitch. I call it, runner from first goes to second, ball 1 on batter. Gets the batter out for the third out and I believe the end of the game (could have been the penultimate inning, don't recall if we went out for one more).

Anyway, as I'm leaving the field, pitcher's dad starts walking next to me to give me an earful that "she hasn't been called for an illegal pitch since 12U. SHE DOESN'T PITCH ILLEGALLY!!". I just kept going, told him to have a nice day and went to my car. I guess having his perfect player (who was very good and she was quite legal the entirety of the game other than that single pitch) called on an IP was an affront to his masculinity.

Granted, I am sure I can thank some of my local brothers in blue for never calling an IP on her since she's 12 (if that's REALLY the case) but that's another story.

Anyway, we are all human and make mistakes. Umpires, coaches, players, scorekeepers, etc.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
Amen :)

A few years ago, I'm on the bases in a USSSA tournament pool game. Pitcher is pitching really well. Lights out, big lead. Late inning, she brain farts, steps back off the pitching plate then forward for her delivery. Illegal pitch. I call it, runner from first goes to second, ball 1 on batter. Gets the batter out for the third out and I believe the end of the game (could have been the penultimate inning, don't recall if we went out for one more).

Anyway, as I'm leaving the field, pitcher's dad starts walking next to me to give me an earful that "she hasn't been called for an illegal pitch since 12U. SHE DOESN'T PITCH ILLEGALLY!!". I just kept going, told him to have a nice day and went to my car. I guess having his perfect player (who was very good and she was quite legal the entirety of the game other than that single pitch) called on an IP was an affront to his masculinity.

Granted, I am sure I can thank some of my local brothers in blue for never calling an IP on her since she's 12 (if that's REALLY the case) but that's another story.

Anyway, we are all human and make mistakes. Umpires, coaches, players, scorekeepers, etc.

Didn't they change that a while back and it used to be legal in USSSA to step back? That could be why she wasn't called on it before. Either way no reason to get bent out of shape over one call.
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Amen :)

A few years ago, I'm on the bases in a USSSA tournament pool game. Pitcher is pitching really well. Lights out, big lead. Late inning, she brain farts, steps back off the pitching plate then forward for her delivery. Illegal pitch. I call it, runner from first goes to second, ball 1 on batter. Gets the batter out for the third out and I believe the end of the game (could have been the penultimate inning, don't recall if we went out for one more).

Anyway, as I'm leaving the field, pitcher's dad starts walking next to me to give me an earful that "she hasn't been called for an illegal pitch since 12U. SHE DOESN'T PITCH ILLEGALLY!!". I just kept going, told him to have a nice day and went to my car. I guess having his perfect player (who was very good and she was quite legal the entirety of the game other than that single pitch) called on an IP was an affront to his masculinity.

Granted, I am sure I can thank some of my local brothers in blue for never calling an IP on her since she's 12 (if that's REALLY the case) but that's another story.

Anyway, we are all human and make mistakes. Umpires, coaches, players, scorekeepers, etc.

Well, that's quite an overreaction. My daughter got called for an IP this week. Said she was out of the pitching lane with her curve ball. I have no idea if she was or not because the turf fields we were on had no lines for the pitching lane. She tried to get clarification on where the lane was but really, without lines, it's kind of hard to judge. Our other pitcher got called for coming onto the rubber with her hands together. She knows better, it was just a whoopsie. I didn't flip out or chase the umpires into the parking lot and neither did the other pitcher's parents. lol. I was, however, irritated that all the crow hopping, replanting pitchers we played against didn't get a single IP call, even when the HC pointed it out to the umpires, the same ones who called IPs on our girls. But again, no screaming or chasing. It is what it is. You have to learn to let that stuff go or you go nuts and make a fool of yourself.
 

MTR

Jun 22, 2008
3,438
48
Said she was out of the pitching lane with her curve ball. I have no idea if she was or not because the turf fields we were on had no lines for the pitching lane. She tried to get clarification on where the lane was but really, without lines, it's kind of hard to judge.

Not a new rule, has been in place for decades without demarcation. Unless this is her first year of pitching, I don't know how she got this far without knowing the rule and where she could step
 
Jun 12, 2015
3,848
83
Not a new rule, has been in place for decades without demarcation. Unless this is her first year of pitching, I don't know how she got this far without knowing the rule and where she could step
She knows the rule. But we've literally played one game on turf ever until this week.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Jun 29, 2013
589
18
I've seen generally very good umpiring all year. There are a few who aren't as mobile and can't get to the plays to really tell, but by and large, what they miss for us they miss for the other side The one play that I have seen that is consistently missed (for us, against us, in games we didn't play, and even at the recent USSSA elite select Futures World Series at the Space Coast Facility) is the bunt where the ball does touch the batter. It happens every tournament that we play in at least once. My $.02 is to blame this on where the home Blue positions him or herself. They just can't see the ball hit the batters foot (none take crazy hops, but the contact is clear from my view, typically next to our dugout with a scorebook). Nothing malicious by anyone, it's like watching an NBA game where the refs can't see the first elbow thrown.
 

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