Deception

We had a game that was an absolute mess, one of my recreates is I did not grab DD and just leave. One thing that happened that applies to this thread is our HC yelled out at a play at 2nd. They filled a formally protest after the game against us, one of thier points was HC was trying to influence the umpire.

quincy said:

We had a game that was an absolute mess, one of my recreates is I did not grab DD and just leave. One thing that happened that applies to this thread is our HC yelled out at a play at 2nd. They filled a formally protest after the game against us, one of thier points was HC was trying to influence the umpire.

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Need to check the fingers? Other than eligibility, a team cannot protest once the game is over. OTOH, wouldn't that be great if there was such a rule?

chinamigarden said:

What a dirtball. Must feel good to trick an 8 year old. I hope the league or org he is with was informed of that bush league antic.

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Maybe it was just an overzealous parent or coach? I've seen it before where the parents and coaches are more into the game than the players and yell "SAFE!" or "OUT!" loud enough for the whole field to hear. Especially in 8u. Eventually they either grow out of it or they wear the crazy parent/coach label.

We had a coach in 8u that acted like a 5 year old who had 100 pixie sticks, jumping around, hooping and hollering, hyper as can be. Never a bit of ill will or intent to deceive, but we had to constantly tell him to tone it down. Now in 14u, he's as mellow as the crowd at a Phish concert in Colorado.

This guy wasn't just excited. The catcher was very good and caught two runners in the game. Not a peep from coach. Then when DD's safe he's suddenly loud.

Maybe you had to be there, but it was totally intentional.

I had something similar happen 2nd year 8u in elimination play at the first tournament. Time has expired, we are down 1 run, last ups. With time expired, I knew what the call was going to be, since the coaches had been influencing the umpire some earlier in the game.

No outs, with me doing coach pitch, girl hits a hard grounder to right field. Girl should easily be at 2nd, but our 1B coach didn't know how slow this girl was. Ball beats her to 2nd, but SS at 2nd doesn't tag her, just stands on 2nd. Other team's coach yells, 'out', so she walks off base. As coach pitcher, I can't say anything. I'm standing right next to umpire since he's calling the game from behind pitcher. Our sideline yells at our runner. SS drops ball trying to tag runner. Our girl clearly steps back on 2nd before she is tagged. One of my parents has it on video. Umpire calls out. I knew that was going to be the call because what umpire in a time expired 8u game with a 1 run lead, wants no outs, runner on 2nd vs. 1 out, no runners on, willn't take advantage of that to get an easy out?

After the game, I smile at the umpire, looked him in the eye so he knows I know what and why he did it, and said thank you.

The other coach was a winner. When he was coaching 1B early in the game he was getting into it a little bit with our parents. I reminded him of Rule 4.7.C.4 and he insisted he had the constitutional right to talk to anyone he wanted to. I asked him if he wanted me to call time and discuss with the umpire what his constitutional rights on the softball field were. He called time out shortly afterwards to talk to his batter and suddenly there was a new 1B coach.

Dabears17 said:

The other coach was a winner. When he was coaching 1B early in the game he was getting into it a little bit with our parents. I reminded of Rule 4.7.C.4 and he insisted he the constitutional right to talk to anyone he wanted to. I asked him if he wanted me to call time and discuss with the umpire what his constitutional rights on the softball field were. He called time out shortly afterwards to talk to his batter and suddenly there was a new 1B coach.

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Please explain. What is this rule you mention?

ASA Rule 4.7.C.4 'A base coach may address only their team members.'

Dabears17 said:

ASA Rule 4.7.C.4 'A base coach may address only their team members.'

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That means they cannot address the players of the opposing teams. Complaining about a coach talking to a non-participant would be ignored by any competent umpire.

MTR said:

That means they cannot address the players of the opposing teams. Complaining about a coach talking to a non-participant would be ignored by any competent umpire.

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MTR,

I know I was stretching a little bit, but I would hope an umpire, especially at an 8u level, would try to defuse the situation if a 1B coach was arguing with the parents of the other team. I told our team's parents to ignore him.

Dabears17 said:

MTR,

I know I was stretching a little bit, but I would hope an umpire, especially at an 8u level, would try to defuse the situation if a 1B coach was arguing with the parents of the other team. I told our team's parents to ignore him.

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It isn't the umpire's concern. S/he is there to officiate the game inside the fences. Trust me, there is more than enough happening on the field to occupy the umpire's attention without the need to deal with alleged adults. And remember, it takes two to tango.