Missed Call-Umpire Etiquette

[marriard]

Just acknowledge you missed the call. A simple raise of the hand, or a nod of the head can calm the parents and the coaches (unless it was a game-altering call, then oh boy, haha). Maybe give a make-up call on the next strike? BUT THIS CAN BACKFIRE ALSO you called a ball a strike and strike a ball, and some may not pick up on the "make-up call", and just make parents and coaches even angrier.

Never do any of the above.

99% of the time you will be just throwing fuel on a fire.

It is not the umpires job to try and calm parents down or placate someone who is upset - and honestly I don't care (or notice for the most part) if spectators are upset or not. Most close calls are going to upset one group or another and I am not going to be influenced or seen to be influenced by who has the loudest group. And I have umpired a couple of sports at the D1 and International level in front of crowds up to 20,000+ where basically 19,000 people were for one team and started in on you the moment you walked out so crowds are just background music to me

If you want to recover from a bad call, the best way is to re-focus and make as many good calls as you can from that point on.

Never, ever do a make up calls and you have now made TWO bad calls. Great way to show that you don't know what you are really doing.

All I know, in my area we have had to cancel several high school games because we can't get enough umpires. Part of it is how they are treated by parents, coaches, and sometimes players. The umps are just tired of being treated like crap.

We don't have many younger umpires coming through. Simple as that. We used to train them in rec and then move them up - and during rec season you could get travel players umpiring. But now it is year round travel, so they are not available. We have several Vietnam Vets in our umpire room. - and a lot didn't come after COVID.

The original poster was already doing HS games his first week umpiring. That is NUTS no matter how much they know about the game.

 

[KenBlackfish]

99% of the time you will be just throwing fuel on a fire. Disagree. most of the time, you will calm the waters at the lower levels.

It is not the umpires job to try and calm parents down or placate someone who is upset - Agree, but lets be real. You blow an ovious call, and you own it, you can prevent more drama down the road, unless you keep making crappy calls. and honestly I don't care (or notice for the most part) if spectators are upset or not. I call BS, you are human, and you have ears, and this is when you talk to the coach, never to parents in the stands. Most close calls are going to upset one group or another Agree, "close calls" The OP was talking about a completley blown call. and I am not going to be influenced or seen to be influenced by who has the loudest group. Agree And I have umpired a couple of sports at the D1 and International level in front of crowds up to 20,000+ where basically 19,000 people were for one team and started in on you the moment you walked out so crowds are just background music to me Cool. This topic/thread/post is about High School Ball, and Rec. lower level, Not D-1, so egos can be checked at the parking lot.


If you want to recover from a bad call, the best way is to re-focus and make as many good calls as you can from that point on. Agree, but there is no problem at the lower level letting parents / coaches know you blew a call with a knod or raised hand. Calm the beast before the beast forgets you are human. In fact, they will appreacate it, especilly if you do what you said " Re-focus..."

"the best way is to re-focus and make as many good calls as you can from that point on.""

"never, ever do a make up calls and you have now made TWO bad calls. This is why I said it could backfire. You have to read the room, and if you do make the "make up call", don't do it on one down the middle. We can agree to disagree on this one, because it can bite you. But if you hosed a kid on a bad strike call, why not try and make it right? "Great way to show that you don't know what you are really doing." Its a fair way to try and make it right when you make a really bad call ball or streak.

Sorry for the split-ups...not used to how the forums work. So I just made my responses in "Bold."

We don't have many younger umpires coming through. Simple as that. We used to train them in rec and then move them up - and during rec season you could get travel players umpiring. But now it is year round travel, so they are not available. We have several Vietnam Vets in our umpire room. - and a lot didn't come after COVID.

The original poster was already doing HS games his first week umpiring. That is NUTS no matter how much they know about the game.

 

[Mike Hurd]

Yes, yes, yes?

Never reverse your call in that situation. You missed it. It happens. Move on.

 

[marriard]

Disagree. most of the time, you will calm the waters at the lower levels.

That would go against everything I have seen for 30+ years of officiating multiple sports at all levels.
8u and 10U parents are just INSANE. Not even exaggerating. They have NO idea - especially the first timers. It is a total mad house. Players do weird stuff, parents and often coaches don't know even simple rules, many parents running on high emotion...and so on.

Don't feed the sharks.

It calms down once you get to 14U and HS. But even then there are there ready to go....

 

[253umpire]

Never do any of the above.

99% of the time you will be just throwing fuel on a fire.

It is not the umpires job to try and calm parents down or placate someone who is upset - and honestly I don't care (or notice for the most part) if spectators are upset or not. Most close calls are going to upset one group or another and I am not going to be influenced or seen to be influenced by who has the loudest group. And I have umpired a couple of sports at the D1 and International level in front of crowds up to 20,000+ where basically 19,000 people were for one team and started in on you the moment you walked out so crowds are just background music to me

If you want to recover from a bad call, the best way is to re-focus and make as many good calls as you can from that point on.

Never, ever do a make up calls and you have now made TWO bad calls. Great way to show that you don't know what you are really doing.


We don't have many younger umpires coming through. Simple as that. We used to train them in rec and then move them up - and during rec season you could get travel players umpiring. But now it is year round travel, so they are not available. We have several Vietnam Vets in our umpire room. - and a lot didn't come after COVID.

The original poster was already doing HS games his first week umpiring. That is NUTS no matter how much they know about the game.

It is nuts, definitely don’t disagree there. I had ONE middle school game, then was thrown into a D3 scrimmage behind the plate with an evaluator present, and that was that. My first few V games I was definitely asking myself “how the heck am I doing these games right now .” I’ve now done two tournaments 10u up to 18u games, and if I hadn’t been around the game my entire life and knew how to work with coaches/game management I’m not sure I’d of stuck around. The first tournament I did there were two of us rookies, and the other guy was an athlete but it was obvious softball wasn’t his sport. He was MURDERED out there by the 10u parents. It was the perfect combo of a few missed calls, parents not understanding the rules, coaches then getting worked up, and the energy just stayed out of hand from there.

I don’t know what the answer is for getting umpires prepared with such high expectations in youth sports, but calling the lower level games have been far, far more difficult. Bad coaching (and coaches getting mad at umpires more or less looking for a bailout) fans that don’t know the game as well, players who are still figuring out the game, and then a rookie or newer umpire tasked to sort out all the ridiculousness that can happen? These games are the ones that demand an experienced umpire in my opinion, but we put the rookies out at the lower levels to get beat up like that and then want them to stick around? Calling balls and strikes, fair/foul, safe and out….this is the “easy” part if you’ve been around the game. When weird stuff happens on the field and you get the all hell breaks loose moment though? We had one at a V game last night and the PU and I got together, talked through the rules to make sure we had it right, explained everything to the coaches, and got the call right with close to zero drama. As I jogged back to my position in the field all I thought was, “man I’m glad that didn’t happen in the 10u game I did last weekend!”

 

[The Man In Blue]

No personal offense directed at you @253umpire, but that is the stuff that p!$$es people off. Either they can't get the opportunities they need, or they get thrown in over their heads, so they quit after a year or two. I'm happy you have those opportunities though!

I spent several years chasing JUCO and low level college games in my area, and I finally gave up on it out of frustration. It is a combination of geography providing limited opportunities and the old-boy network locking out those opportunities. This past fall there was a tournament at the local complex. The local D2 team was playing a few games at the complex. Rather than using the younger, local guys, the assigner had shipped in two guys who were 65+ (from two hours away) and used a local guy who cannot work two-man due to his limited mobility. But those are the guys who have done it for ages.

I actually considered staying in Mississippi because there was plenty of opportunity there and I was finally starting to make the right contacts. If only umpiring paid the bills ...

On the high school front, I remember the first year I registered with IHSA I could not get a game if I offered to pay them. The next year, once I "had a year under my belt" (although I didn't work a single game), I was turning stuff away left, right, and sideways. I understand that you need to establish yourself, but the development process in my area is TERRIBLE. It is the wild west and we are only making it worse.

Sorry for the rant!

 

[The Man In Blue]

Sorry for the split-ups...not used to how the forums work. So I just made my responses in "Bold."

General reactions ... and stealing what somebody else said ... no, no, no.

"I forgot to put the breaks on the motorcycle I was building, I'll just add a second headlight instead." Two wrongs do not make a right.

I don't disagree with owning the call. We agree on the "read the room" approach as to whether you should say anything or not. Do not ever, EVER, give "make up calls" though.

I absolutely agree with @marriard ... the lower the level of the game, the worse things are going to turn out for you if you practice those things.

 

[CoachJD]

I would say to not do anything if not questioned directly. It's one ball/strike call, and everyone (except maybe the batter) will forget about it if you get back to calling a good game.

If someone (respectfully) questions it, admit you missed that one, I guess. With ball/strike calls, it's tough. I don't argue balls/strikes. I might grumble about them quietly in the dugout, but I don't argue them.

I am generally OK with two scenarios: 1) A zone that's a little weird, but consistent. 2) A good zone with the occasional missed pitch.

In scenario one, we can adjust. We had an umpire that was calling low strikes last week. But he never called the high strike and he was consistent. It's easy to tell the batters they have to adjust. He may have called a couple that were low beyond being hittable, but mostly it wasn't too bad.

In scenario two, it's easy to write off the couple misses. They happen, and it doesn't affect how I want my pitchers to pitch or how I want my hitters to hit.

The worst thing would be to give a make up call or adjust your zone on the fly. Now as a coach I don't know what to expect. I don't know what to tell my pitcher when she tells me the zone is jumping around.

 

[CoachJD]

I don’t know what the answer is for getting umpires prepared with such high expectations in youth sports, but calling the lower level games have been far, far more difficult. Bad coaching (and coaches getting mad at umpires more or less looking for a bailout) fans that don’t know the game as well, players who are still figuring out the game, and then a rookie or newer umpire tasked to sort out all the ridiculousness that can happen? These games are the ones that demand an experienced umpire in my opinion, but we put the rookies out at the lower levels to get beat up like that and then want them to stick around? Calling balls and strikes, fair/foul, safe and out….this is the “easy” part if you’ve been around the game. When weird stuff happens on the field and you get the all hell breaks loose moment though? We had one at a V game last night and the PU and I got together, talked through the rules to make sure we had it right, explained everything to the coaches, and got the call right with close to zero drama. As I jogged back to my position in the field all I thought was, “man I’m glad that didn’t happen in the 10u game I did last weekend!”

While level matters somewhat, I think what's more important is new umpires aren't stuck by themselves too often, especially if the stakes are high*.

It is probably easier for an umpire to get his feet wet in a 14u game or even a lower level HS game with an experienced partner than it is some random 8u rec game with a bunch of rabid parents.

*The stakes are rarely actually high, but don't tell that to the parents.

 

[MoJo]

So here is another case of umps just making stuff up. New for me today.

USA and USSSA is primarily played here.

Catcher and pitcher and doing warm-up pitches at the change of the inning. Ump tells them they only get three pitches. Everything being normal in a team switch after 3 outs.

Both Rule Sets ..... "At the beginning of each half inning, or when a pitcher relieves another pitcher, not
more than one minute may be used to deliver not more than five pitches."

Teen athletes can be negatively impacted by rouge comments, changes, etc.
Why and how do umps make stuff up and not held accountable?

There certainly isn't any coach to ump exchange that with correct issues.