Coach refuses to leave after ejection

[Tide_will_Roll]

Recently, during a tournament game I was watching, a coach from one of the teams was ejected by the home plate umpire. He didn't want to leave the field. Eventually, he did.

However, within a minute or two he was back on the diamond arguing with the umpire. He left again and went outside the dugout where the spectators were watching. Yes. He went back through the dugout onto the diamond to argue with the umpire again before finally leaving.

It is my understanding, if a coach is ejected he has to leave. End of. He can sit in the parking lot, go home, go to a bar or wherever but not in the stands and certainly not back onto the field.of play. Am I correct on this point?

What recourse do the umpires have if a coach won't leave or keeps returning like I witnessed?

 

[Strike2]

Suspend play, and possibly end the game with the coach's team forfeiting. Summon the tournament director, who then escorts the offending coach out of the park, or even calls the police. You never know who might be nearby. Last night, I was at the local field and I walked by a younger Rec team gathered for a coach talk. One of the dads in the crowd was a uniformed state trooper. They're not always so obvious, but cops are both parents and coaches. They're one phone call away from sending an out of control coach or parent off to jail, with all the embarrassment and expense that can entail.

 

[radness]

Lol ...off to jail...

 

[Cannonball]

Multiple times, I have seen an umpire end the game and walk off with the opposing team gaining the win. I have seen this at both the TB and HS levels. At the HS level, the police showed up due to both coach and fan behavior.

 

[_MIA_]

Amateurs

 

[reagansdaddy]

Back when I was an umpire, I did have to eject a coach on a few occasions. Once a coach is ejected, they generally want to "get their money's worth." I understand that and would allow a bit of it. Once I felt they had blown off enough steam, I would simply say "You've got 60 seconds to get to the parking lot. If I hear or see you again after those 60 seconds are up, then this game is over and your team forfeits." Only one time did that not work and when the parents figured out what was about to happen, two Dads escorted the coach to the parking lot.

 

[marriard]

Recently, during a tournament game I was watching, a coach from one of the teams was ejected by the home plate umpire. He didn't want to leave the field. Eventually, he did.

However, within a minute or two he was back on the diamond arguing with the umpire. He left again and went outside the dugout where the spectators were watching. Yes. He went back through the dugout onto the diamond to argue with the umpire again before finally leaving.

It is my understanding, if a coach is ejected he has to leave. End of. He can sit in the parking lot, go home, go to a bar or wherever but not in the stands and certainly not back onto the field.of play. Am I correct on this point?

What recourse do the umpires have if a coach won't leave or keeps returning like I witnessed?

I will again note that I have never had to run a coach in softball for arguing; and haven't in other sports I officiate for a long time. Long enough that I have forgotten when the last time was... I have also never had to forfeit a game due to behavior of the participants. I am not sure I have even been in a situation where I would have even thought it was close.

That said, I have ejected coaches in the past; this is how I generally handle it. I was originally taught this as a basketball officlal; but I have seen similar advice given in softball/baseball umpiring clinics.

Once ejected, the ejected participant has a have a very short, but reasonable period to leave the field and get out of sight - in all the sports I officiate, the rule book basically says they must leave the field of play and not be present in any way; so while you don't care where they go, it better not be someplace where they can be seen or heard.

If they leave and return and they can be seen or heard; it doesn't matter where they are; the outfield or in the stands or pulling into the closest parking space to the field (yes, I saw this), you stop play, let the acting-head coach or onsite official know they can't be there and play will not start until they are removed. If they refuse to leave, the game will be forfeited. "I just wanted to watch" will be their excuse... If they return a second time after this, game over.

If they actually returned after leaving and came back onto the field or wanted to address an official or continue on their argument, the game would be over immediately.

 

[Big Daddy Michigan]

And the coach should be removed of all coaching responsibilities. There's no reason to lose composure so badly that you can't regain it. Be a roll model FFS.

In all my years I've never been involved in a game where the coach was ejected.


I saw a game where the visiting team was leading by two and the home team had runners on second and third with 2 out in the last inning. The batter hit the most obvious foul ball. You could hear it and it hit damn near the top of the back stop. I don't know what happened that made the home plate ump miss it, but he didn't call it a foul ball and both runners, who were running on contact advanced a base to tie the game and put the winning run on third. The ball literally hit 15 feet high on the backstop & the batter swung. Now common sense tells you it's a foul ball, because there is no way the batter takes a level cut at a pitch that is 15 feet high. Somehow ump never heard or saw the contact.


The coach asked the home up if he could ask for help. The PU asks the field ump if he saw contact and he says, "No." The shortstop says, "You've got to be kidding me." I heard it with my own ears. She didn't scream it, and didn't use any expletives, just looked at the base ump a few feet away and said, "You've got to be kidding me." The ump ejects the shortstop. So the coach very calmly says from the dug out, "If you're going to toss her you might as well toss me too." The ump obliged.

The problem was the team didn't have an assistant coach, so the coach who was a friend, asked me to finish the game, which I'm pretty sure isn't legal, but I did. The next batter singled and the game was over. I suppose I got the loss for that one.



The only other coach I saw get tossed ended up in a forfeit. It was a U12 game and the assistant coach, whom I know very well, is a complete douchenozzle. It's just his personality, not just as a coach, but born that way. At some point a call goes against the visiting team, and their coach who weighs a solid 400 pounds and maybe is pushing 5 Bills, starts chirping at the PU a bit. At some point, douchenozzle starts chirping back.

Eventually, the back and forth starts getting obnoxious. DN questions a call from the 3rd base coaches box, and the big guy makes some comment prompting DN to yell across the diamond, "I'm not talking to you fat boy!"

This brings "Fat Boy" out of the dug out and he and DN square off. The ump sends "Fat Boy" back to the dug out and he complies, but DN has completely lost it. He continues to scream from the home plate area at "Fat Boy." Eventually, he get the boot, but won't leave the field. The head coach can't get him off the field. The parents of his team can't get him off the field. Even his wife can't get him off the field. The ump has no choice, but to end the game & declare a forfeit.

The worst part was this jackass was a volunteer assistant. The good part was he didn't coach anymore... ever.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Lol ...off to jail...

Jail for coaches ... you mean, like, I can't sit on the bucket outside the fence, I have to stay in the dugout?

 

[The Man In Blue]

Once a coach is ejected, they generally want to "get their money's worth." I understand that and would allow a bit of it.

NO. "Their money's worth" (an atrocious phrase as I am not getting paid to be abused) was the choice they made to remove themselves from the game. They are done. That is it, end of story. Your partner and the ACs should be ushering the ejected coach off the field. To current and upcoming umpires I would strongly encourage you NEVER do this.

I understand you felt that you were letting them vent and diffusing the situation, but you are not. You are reinforcing the expectation that this behavior is OK. You are making it worse for the next umpire.

Not quite a coach ejection, but I have pulled my "crew" (OK, it was just one partner) off the field during a varsity baseball game. It was a bad rivalry that was carrying over from the football playoffs. After several fan removals over multiple incidents, the athletic director almost cleared the entire park (because the HC wouldn't man up to his fans who started acting up every time the AD walked back over to the softball game). The only reason we went back on the field was that, to my surprise and delight, the players were not acting like the fans (and coaches to a lesser extent). I was told we actually made the news, but the story the posted online edited out the bad stuff (so I'm not giving up the link).