Strangest thing an Umpire has said to you?

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NBECoach

Learning everyday
Aug 9, 2018
408
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In his defense you could be st softball fields across the street from our school. In full view of the HS sign. Every person there would be wearing HS gear. And you could be in the wrong place. On the other hand our varsity fields have no view of the school sign.
Understand how that could be the case. However in this instance it's hard to imagine because of the following. 1-'' Both diamonds (var & jv) are adjoining each other on campus visible from the road. 2- the bleachers behind the var diamond plate have large signs indicating this field is the home of X HS softball. 3- there is a sign by the road identifying the school. 4-there are no other diamonds for blocks. Just saying...
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
10U rec ball. One of our batters has been warned twice about throwing her bat after she hits the ball, and is informed by the PU that she will be ejected if she does it again. On her next at bat, I tell her to run with the bat to 1B. The PU looks at me, and says, "if she does that, she will be out, and you will be ejected".
 
Sep 10, 2019
59
8
Today, our Blue said, “I can award bases as I see fit!” I’m just glad he was arguing with the other team’s coach. lol
 
Apr 30, 2018
349
43
Ump this weekend told one of our coaches that if my DD (10U catcher) would move closer to the plate he could call more of the pitches strikes. Coach relayed that one to me and we both dumbfounded. DD was a little far back, but nothing too crazy.
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
113
So Cal
Ump this weekend told one of our coaches that if my DD (10U catcher) would move closer to the plate he could call more of the pitches strikes. Coach relayed that one to me and we both dumbfounded. DD was a little far back, but nothing too crazy.

In our experience, umps say this to catchers more than they do to coaches. What I taught my DD is that if an ump says something like this to her, it means she gets to work her @$$ of selling anything close to the zone. She loves it when that happens.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
Ump this weekend told one of our coaches that if my DD (10U catcher) would move closer to the plate he could call more of the pitches strikes. Coach relayed that one to me and we both dumbfounded. DD was a little far back, but nothing too crazy.

That’s not all that strange. Where the catcher sets up determines where the umpire sets up. You would be surprised how much difference a little distance makes in the angle and view we get.

Setting up further back pushes the umpire away. Going to try to be nice in this next part ... If you have an umpire who is, shall we say “attuned to the catcher’s actions” then you are giving the ball another X inches/feet to travel. You are probably selling yourself out of strikes.

If you have an umpire who is calling it where it should be called (over the plate) and not paying attention to the catcher’s actions, you are still drastically altering the umpire’s view of the plate. Depending on the view and the umpire, you may be getting more or getting less. Either way, it does have an impact.

(That said, I will never tell a catcher or a coach to change the catcher’s position ... I work with what you give me. If you don’t like it, you need to figure it out.)
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
This is a joke that I thought of over the weekend ... my fellow umpires liked it ...

After a few innings of listening to a coach complain about virtually every call, the home plate umpire decides he has had enough. Between innings PU stops the coach as the coach heads out to coach third base.

”Coach, I’ve decided to become a Nazi umpire.”

The coach is flabbergasted and doesn’t know what to say about this. He is finally silent.

The umpire continues, “Well, you keep asking me things like “How did you not see the runner leave early?“ and “Can you not see strikes?“. Yep, I’m definitely becoming a NOT SEE umpire.”
 

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