H.S. Parent Follows Ump into Parking Lot

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radness

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Dec 13, 2019
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Does it? You don't know what the fans were saying. Maybe that was his way of warning them. Umpires can eject fans if they're being unruly, so maybe this guy was giving them a chance to behave better.

Now that I think about it, you might be right. This suggests to me the umpire is probably more patient with a bunch of loudmouthed obnoxious parents than I probably would be.
Some umpires say never talk to the fans.
Rather address issues with the coach.

Umpire addressing fans opens that door to direct communication with them.
 
May 29, 2019
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I am not an umpire, so I do not know what the "proper" protocol is when having a problem spectator. I know what I would personally want to do if I were an umpire:

-I'd want to call time and tell the home team umpire that "You have an unruly fan situation that needs to be addressed. Please handle it". Again, I don't know if that is the proper way or not but I have seen this done before.
-If the coach says "Sorry Blue, nothing I can do about the parents." (seen this before too) Then I would tell the coach to "Summons a school official down here to address this situation. We have time out, and will not resume play until this is handled." If I'm feeling salty, I'd maybe throw in a "and If we don't get 7 innings in, and you lose by one run, that's on you."

I could never be an umpire. I'd want to toss way too many people. :ROFLMAO:
 
Feb 13, 2021
880
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Or, as an umpire, you take a seat in the stands next to loud-mouth dad and call a few balls and strikes from there before admitting, "Y'all are right, you have a MUCH better view from here than I do from right behind the plate" //sarcasm off//
 
Feb 24, 2021
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DD had a varsity high school game last night. It was a pretty close game through the first few innings, then we broke it open. Ended up winning 17-5, or something close to that. Things were pretty calm, except for the belligerent parent for the opposing (home) team that got louder and louder about his displeasure with the umps strike zone. He must have been the pitcher’s dad. The ump did seem to have a tight zone, but was definitely consistent both ways. I never heard either coach chirp about the strike zone.

Fast forward to after the game, and I notice that still belligerent parent B-lining to the parking lot with that familiar “I’m a pissed off obese person waddle” yelling about the umpire. Ironically, he was parked right next to the ump. Parent immediately pop’s his hatch back open and is shuffling through his stuff, yelling at the ump the whole time, while the ump is trying to change his gear and get the heck out of there ASAP. You could see that the ump (probably in his 70s) was intimidated and visually “shaken”. He called the other ump over and asked if could “keep an eye on me”, which he did. Now, I saw this whole thing playing out from the beginning, so instead of waiting for my DD to tell her good job, something in my head told me to go to the parking lot to in case “something stupid” happened. It was small parking lot, and the two umps, belligerent parent, any myself were the only four people there at the time. I walked up about 20 feet away from their position and postured myself to where it was obvious that my entire purpose was to be a witness to their confrontation. I think I took the 2nd ump by surprise as he started to stare me down with that “what the heck” look. I gave him a wink and nod to let him know that I had no ill intent towards them. Belligerent parent then noticed me and gave me a stare down too, to which I stared back. He then turns back to the ump and starts yelling, “I never threatened you…NO! I never threatened you. I just had to tell you what a bad job you did!” Parent gave me another stare then started walking away. Plate ump is now changed out of his gear, and then peels out of the parking lot. 2nd ump asks me “What’s the deal with that guy?” to which I reply, “I don’t know, I’m a parent with the opposing team. It looked something stupid might happen so I thought that if there was a witness, that might diffuse the situation.” To which he thanked me. I then told him they umped a good game, and that I would not want to be an ump because of parents like that. He thanked me again, then also said that the plate ump was an idiot too. o_O

I was going to let this whole thing drop, but the more I think about it, I am wondering if I should report this parent to the other teams Athletic Director? It’s one thing to chirp in the stands about a call, but I think that following an ump to the parking lot after the game is WAY over the line. Did I prevent a physical altercation? I don't know. I’m not going to say that he went out the parking lot to physically beat the ump up, but you never know how things can escalate. I definitely think he went out there to at least verbally intimidate the guy. There is no place for that! So, should I report the guy, or let it drop?


First, talk to your AD about what happened. There should be a police or campus security person escorting them to the field prior to the game and back to their cars afterward. The only four people that have ANY contact with the umpires before the game are our head coach, the asst. coach, the AD and me as the official scorer. That's it. With the COVID situation, we ask they come to the field dressed. So, I would report it.
 

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