Umpires Gone Wild

I guess the umpires should flip a coin before a game to see if they make calls as they see it or as the spectators want them to see it.

 

You call 100% of the balks everyone sees
You call most of the balks that baseball people see (players, coaches, umpires)
You call none of the balks that only you see...."

Dodger, this is perfect. Another way of saying: "Don't make calls that nobody wants." Let the game be played by the kids.

 

I called baseball, at all levels, for 18 years. I worked hard to be the best umpire I could be. Much like UK has said, I strived for those games that no one noticed me. I enforced the rules but wasn't a show. There were times that I had to "swell up" to keep a coach in line, but I hated those nights. I just had to for the sake of the game.

I haven't seen the balk call you are talking about so I can't comment on that at all and I would hate to speculate. I was given the same advice that Dodger mentioned and it has worked extremely well for me.

Intimidator, you need to put the blue shirt on sometime and step across the white line. Then make some of the comments you are making. I don't mean that to sound harsh. I just think that you would understand what those of us that umpire are trying to say.

Advantage----Disadvantage.......

 

Opinions

Intimidator Coach you have yours I have mine. You obviously believe that umpires have no discretion and should not use judgement or common sense. You believe that there is a rule book and it should be followed by the letter of the law period. I simply do not follow that line of thinking. I feel that good umpires use good judgement and common sense an let the rule book guide them. In the ASU CSF game the umpire decided that he was going to make a call that was borderline at best and decide the outcome to the game. It is not bs to not want to win that way. I would rather have a player drive that run home or work a walk to score the winning run. And if we could not score a run with the bases loaded and no outs then we did not deserve to win the game at least not in that inning. Your analogy that it is no different than having a great player make an error is totally off base. A player making a error is the players deciding the game. A umpire making a bogus call to decide the game is the umpire deciding the game. Totally two different things. Have you seen the balk in question? It was a ridiculous call in that situation and it was very questionable if he even balked at all. The next night the same umpire called a balk that was clearly not a balk at all. The pitcher stepped off the rubber and was called for a balk. The umpire said he started to the plate and then stepped off. The replays clearly showed that this was not the case.

 

I also officiated college basketball (lower levels). When a game was decided & I noticed that a coach had sent the end of his bench to check-in, I would find a way to stop the clock. If nothing semi-legit happened immediately, I would blow a whistle so I could pick up a "make believe" object from the floor.

Coaches, players & fans appreciated that...even though it was not 'strictly by the rule book'. My point: Discretion in fringe areas is reasonable & prudent. It's a shame some umps forget to employ some at key moments such as listed in this thread.

 

........could'nt have said it better myself bro.

 

It is like the Armstrong band is not going to distract anyone.

 

Postscript on the armband incident

So now the player who was disqualified for wearing the armband (and later appropriately ejected for mouthing off about it) has to sit out an additional game tonight because of the ejection.

Nice job, blue...

 

Mental Game

It seems that everyones wants the games to be decided by the players...well the greatest thing about baseball is that is is a mental game...one person cant dominate the sport just because they are physically gifted...they must also be smart...It seems to me that missing 1st on a homerun, or balking durring an importaint part of the game are all mental mistakes...Im my opinion the players did decide the game by playing like idiots...thank god the umps were there to call the game the correct way, and not be scared of this unnecessary criticism

 

You Da Man