Umpiring

The Core RPGC Main Forum
1

I ump softball for our town league. I generally love it, the people involved are pretty good, I get some pocket money, life is peachy. But this season. UGH.

Most of the teams were good for the season, except for one. They were a good team (won the championship, actually), but they had extremely large mouths. They just wouldn’t shut up, wouldn’t respect our calls, loudly second guessed all our calls, etc. I got so fed up with them I went to my boss and then they were told to take it down, which they never really did. Then I umped a semi-finals game that came down to a play, but I called the girl out based on the rule. The winning coach basically said “I don’t care, we won,” while the other coach was contesting the call all he could. Eventually, the losing team started getting really bitchy and loud, while the other team basically left. We stuck around (we being my boss, the other ump, and some other coaches) and discussed it, and finally decided I had made the wrong call because the rule had been minsinterpreted, but we stuck by it anyway. So then that team wanted me to die, but I didn’t really care 'cause I don’t got to deal with them until next season.

So while the teams were pretty good, the senior league coaches were horrible. They were rude, arrogant, assumed they knew all, talked down to us, and basically thought we were dirt. Not all the coaches were like this, but some of them did it so often it just built up and eventually we had to make it so that the coaches couldn’t contest any call we made at the end of the year. Not that they followed it too closely.

But what’s gotten to me now is the parents. They’re second guessing EVERYTHING and doing so very loudly. And we can’t deal with them because we can’t pinpoint a single person, so we can’t throw them out, so it just goes on and on. I mean sure, you can have an opinion, but if you want to make calls, then you go sign up like we did and get your training, then you can ump.

Ugh, I needed that rant. Read it or not.

2

Hey, if you think that’s bad, you should be in an MLB ump’s shoes for a week, and see what they have to go through.

3

Yeah Peter, but those guys get paid a LOT more to put up with that crap.
I feel your pain, Phoerret. The parents are worse than the kids.

4

At least a MLB ump doesn’t have to worry about bumping into a disgruntled fan walking down the street. The people Phoerret’s talking about live in his own town.

5

Ughpire…>_> That sucks, glad its over for you. Its just a game people, its not deciding the fate of the world; thats what I would say.

6

Correct. They have to worry about drunk fans storming the field and attacking them.

7

Like hell they do - have you ever even been to a baseball game? Not only is nobody really drunk (especially since alcohol isn’t served past the seventh inning) but in the chace you got on the field you’d get tackel’d, especially in this post 9/11 world. The only time I’ve ever seen anybody get on the field and even close to a player was like 6 years ago when a fan ran onto the field and mooned John Smoltz.

8

Last year, a Whitesox umpire was attacked by a fan during a game.

Two years ago, a Royals first base coach was attacked by a father and son during a game

Both occured at the Whitesox stadium.

9

Well that’s the White Sox. I’ve been at games all across the country - St. Louis, New York City, San Fransisco - and I’ve never seen how anybody could get on the field. If you’re on the ground level, then I can see how it’s possible, but between the bat boys and the cops I don’t see how it can happen.

10

Well, everybody kept blaming the security, and some were blaming the beer being sold.

A lot of things were blamed, so it’s hard to tell what’s really at fault.

But they increased security after the first event happened. Didn’t work, so they increased it again.