Umpires that need to move to Freshman/JV

[default]

Can you think of anyway a hearing impaired person would affect the way a game is called?

A person that loses an eye adapts their depth perception and perpherial vision. True, not initially but humans have this amazing ability to adapt.

I would hate to face Rooster Cogborn in a gunfight. (Think John Wayne) Also, why do sharpshooters close one eye?

Sharpshooters keep one eye open(their dominate eye) because they are looking through a scope or using a sight. Your actually taught to shoot with both eyes open when not using a sight, but its easier said then done. I remember reading a few years back a Marine became the first to graduate Marine sniper school with vision in only one eye. Not sure what that has to do with umping and not meaning to hijack the thread, but Johnnies asked a question I knew the answer to :lmao:

 

[default]

How about an AD who has a rescheduled game on Friday with the visiting team tied for the league lead in a league that has a rule that the ump behind the plate be a Class 1 umpire. He puts out the call and hires two brothers from the visiting teams town. One is Class 2 the other is on no OHSAA list of certified umpires and he works behind the plate. Should the AD be punished?

 

[default]

Can you think of anyway a hearing impaired person would affect the way a game is called?

A person that loses an eye adapts their depth perception and perpherial vision. True, not initially but humans have this amazing ability to adapt.

I would hate to face Rooster Cogborn in a gunfight. (Think John Wayne) Also, why do sharpshooters close one eye?

As an Umpire you/I use my hearing at the plate. You are taught to hear distinct sounds of the ball hitting a bat and/or hitting the body and/or the mit of the catcher. They all make fairly distinct sounds. As umpire you use these to help make your call. Especially if you're by yourself. (Rec Ball games)

You also use your hearing to communicate with your partner. There are times: ex, fly ball where you as the plate umpire are looking one way and your partner is looking another. One has the catch and the other has the tag-up. You listen for the "Catch" from your partner in order to make a ruling on the tag-up.

One thing that has not been brought up here is the fact that there are many times where you go to make a call and a player steps in your line of sight. If this happens you may be making that call with one eye. If this happens to a one eyed umpire he/she may not see the play at all. That call could change the game and that is not fair to the players.

There has been nothing said on here that has swayed me to believe that a one eyed umpire has the physical abilities to umpire softball.baseball.
As I have said from the beginning there may be an exception to the rule however that exception would be such an exception that many other kids would have their games altered because of the physical limitations of the umpire. That is not fair to the kids.

On this site there are posting all the time asking if you have walked in the shoes of another. I have in this case. I am an umpire. If you have not had the experience then I hate to say it but there is not much you can say to sway the fact that umpires with physical limitations, because of those limitations impact the game is unacceptable.

As for age I am more excepting however there still are many older umpires that need to move out of the varsity level. The game has passed them by. There are also older umpires that do a fine job. But the age can eventually also be a limitation.

 

[default]

How about an AD who has a rescheduled game on Friday with the visiting team tied for the league lead in a league that has a rule that the ump behind the plate be a Class 1 umpire. He puts out the call and hires two brothers from the visiting teams town. One is Class 2 the other is on no OHSAA list of certified umpires and he works behind the plate. Should the AD be punished?

Not up to date on the OHSSA rule. However I would virtually guarantee that they would receive some reprimand(?).

 

[default]

Not really ... pretty evasive ... but that's fine ... you have shown your true colors throughout this thread and I am done with it.

Still does not matter.... however I currently do HS at the JV level. I have not taken my Class 1 test because my DD still plays. I also umpire in travel tournaments in the summer. I have been blessed to do some very good games as well as teams. 2 years ago my first year at this I umpired a game that had the eventual ASA 10U National champions- Indy Dreams. The game was a against the Indy Thunder the final was 4-3. To this day was one of the best games I have ever done. The same year I also did some 18u and 23u championship games. Being a rookie umpire I was doing these games I do not think that was by accident. Matter of fact I was given the 23u and 18u games by the veterans that I was umpiring with that weekend. 2 of those veterans do College ball.

The one game I umpired had the current Ohio State pitcher Lindsay Bodeker. Man could her ball move. That was awsome to be behind the plate that game. She was playing for the Miami Valley Express 18u Gold team.

I have also been assigned 23u games that year. One weekend I did the quarter finals, semi finals and the championship. I was behind the plate for the quarter finals as well as the finals. After the finals game both pitchers made the comment to me that I was the best umpire they had all year.

Coacjjwb.....Maybe you should not have asked.

 

[default]

Just a couple of questions.

1. I wonder what Sprinfield / AW game this one eyed, one legged, 409 lbs, deaf, 93 year old ump, with a monster case of dandruff (possibly the most serious of conditions ya know with all of the itchy stuff going on...how could you concentrate), called?

2. How did he( I am assuming on this one) get to the game?

 

[default]

How about hard of hearing umpires? (loaded question)

Aren't all umpires hearing impaired? They gotta be to tune out all the abuse. I get so sick of games where parents are complaining about every ball and strike and every close play. I would gather that umpiring softball or baseball is one of the toughest games to officiate. Many of the plays are close and could go either way, whereas in other sports it may be a black and white issue, the player was/was not offsides, the ball did or did not go into the basket, although there are gray areas in other sports as well.

Many calls can be missed because the umpire is in wrong position or simply because they cannot be in 2 places at once. Is the umpiring better at the college level because they're better or because they have 3 umpires instead of 2 and is umpiring better at varsity games because they're better or because they have 2 umpires instead of one? I'm guessing that the answer to both is yes, but how much does having more umpires on the field contribute to the quality of umpiring?

Sometimes umpires just can't win. There was a play the other day where the base umpire was obstructed from the play at first and asked the home umpire for help, but the fans went crazy. Personally I was glad the umpire asked for help rather than making the call on something he didn't see and guessing at what the call should have been based on fan reaction. The fans went crazy saying it wasn't the home umpire's call when the base umpire was just trying to do the right thing. It takes a special kind of person to umpire, one that can tune out all the negativity and have a thick skin. I must say many of them have a great sense of humor about the whole thing. Overhead a few of them talking last year.
Umpire 1: "Did you hear that I was the worst umpire that this team has ever seen?"
Umpire 2: "No, that can't be right, because I heard the same thing at the 1:00 p.m. game. I'm the worst umpire they've ever seen."
Both umpires :lmao:

 

[default]

Not only hearing impaired but very thick skinned. The good ones make the call and move on !

 

[default]

Just a couple of questions.

1. I wonder what Sprinfield / AW game this one eyed, one legged, 409 lbs, deaf, 93 year old ump, with a monster case of dandruff (possibly the most serious of conditions ya know with all of the itchy stuff going on...how could you concentrate), called?

2. How did he( I am assuming on this one) get to the game?

It was not a Springfield/AW game

 

[default]

Cocky know-it-all umpires are the WORST!!

 

[default]

I want "know it" all umpires just not cocky ones.

 

[default]

Why is it when you are at a plate conference the umpire tells you he has a small strike zone and tells you to tell your players to swing. (Oxymoron there) Isn`t the strike zone specified in the rule book. Why do umpires make it what they think it should be? Is that being fair to both teams. Does that not punish achievement by making a pitcher throw the ball across the plate in a license plate strike zone? I had two umpires tell me that this season and one only called 5 strikes the entire game that the batters on the opposing team did not swing @. My pitcher had 16 strike outs that game. Just wondering................

 

[default]

Know-it-all umpires usually know nothing. They are so busy showing everyone their authority and knowledge, they miss the whole game. I have had umpires stop games to scoot the coaches over 1 inch in the coaching box. Know it alls are the WORST!!

 

[default]

Why is it when you are at a plate conference the umpire tells you he has a small strike zone and tells you to tell your players to swing...

Because the umpire is obviously either: Untrained, or; Trained, but thinks he knows better than his trainers. Neither is a good thing, but the latter is probably the worst. If someone is willing to listen and learn, they will. If not, well, you can't really change a person's personality.

As a matter of good game management, an umpire should NEVER go into any detailed descriptions about how he's going to call the strike zone, or lay out instructions about "his" strike zone. It can only lead to confusion, complaints or confrontation for the coaches and players.

The pre-game plate conference with coaches should consist of:

1) Brief introductions.
2) Taking the lineups from the coaches.
3) Going over the ground rules.
4) (Optional, depending on league or association). Have coaches confirm if teams are properly equipped (Mandatory for high school ball).

And that is it. Circumstances might dictate a coin flip to determine home team, or confirming any time limits or special rules for a league or tournament. This entire meeting should take about two minutes, tops.

The pre-game conference is not a rules clinic and time should not be spent with unecessary explanations of standard playing rules (unless a coach asks a quick question about a specific rule) or having an umpire go into detailed explanations about "his" strike zone or "his" particular philosophy about how he's going to call the game or interpret any standard playing rules.

Now, the umpire who told you this was not only doing the wrong thing, but he was doing it the wrong way. "I have a small strike, so tell your player's to swing", doesn't even make any sense. A small strike zone would encourage batter's to not swing. If you want to get the bats swinging, you would need to call a bigger strike zone!

The essence of good game mangement is for the umpires to keep control of the game. Going off on goofy tangents at the pre-game conference can start the umpires down the slippery slope of losing control of the game- before the game even starts!

 

[default]

Know-it-all umpires usually know nothing. They are so busy showing everyone their authority and knowledge, they miss the whole game. I have had umpires stop games to scoot the coaches over 1 inch in the coaching box. Know it alls are the WORST!!

Again, I think we all want umpires that know the rules. If you have an impire that has an atitude and knows the rules, its not that he knows the rules that is the problem its his attitude.

Klump- You will be complaining next week about an umpire who does not know the rules - Right!?;&

 

[default]

Everyone should complain about umpires who don't know the rules. I'm complaining about umpires who are so wrapped up in awe of their authority and knowledge that they forget they are umpiring a game. Attitude is what I'm talking about, know-it-all-attitude. Not knowledge of the rules. Try listening, you might learn something.

 

[default]

Everyone should complain about umpires who don't know the rules. I'm complaining about umpires who are so wrapped up in awe of their authority and knowledge that they forget they are umpiring a game. Attitude is what I'm talking about, know-it-all-attitude. Not knowledge of the rules. Try listening, you might learn something.

It appears that you have a personal vendetta against umpires, have you considered Anger Management? I have seen plenty of coaches over the years that possess the same attitude, as you have described about the umpires.
And, Yes everyone does complain about the umpires, whether they are the very best to the very worst, all one has to do listen to their remarks coming from the bleachers.

FASTPITCH! Anything else and you're playing to SLOW!

 

[default]

this is better...monday night JV..lake/boardman...runner on 1st 2 outs...full count ..ump calls strike 3!..no drop 3rd strike..girl runs to 1st...inning should be over????lets the girl stay at 1st...told the coach he couldnt remember what he called...field umpire didnt see it!..everyone at the field heard stike 3 excpet the guy who yelled it!

 

[default]

A rule that I have heard mis-interpreted lately has to do with where the catcher is allowed to set up during the execution of an intentional walk. The catcher is allowed to set up ANYWHERE within the confines of the ENTIRE catching box PRIOR to the pitch being thrown and then move out even farther to receive the pitch AFTER it has been released by the pitcher. Two umpires have not gotten this right recently and have required the catcher to stay behind home plate until the pitch is thrown. A basic softball rule.

 

[default]

Here is a good one. Sectional game. Ball hits the foul pole in left field. Home Plate umpire calls it a foul ball and admits it hits the pole. We cannot get him to overturn the ruling during our conference. Pole is shaking so everyone call see it hit the pole. Plus local TV was filiming so everyone could see it later.HR , not called. We lose the game. It would have been 4-3 with us having one out, so we might still have lost. Off course all the know it all parents are riping us the next day for not protesting the call. ttp://www.ohsaa.org/sports/sb/girls/mailings/Manual09.pdf NFHS 4-4-1. Ohio didn't adopt.
Page 19 and OHSAA bylaw 8-3-1. So you cannot protest the call in a high school game.

Plus what I don't like about the new rules for 2009, if we had got thrown out, the new penality for coaches is not worth it.