This is a hard nut to crack - amateur empires. The consistency’s with this population can be “if-ee” at best sometimes. And no matter how hard you, or anyone else for that matter, tries to reason things out, it is what it is.
So look, these people are doing this umpiring thing for many reasons. Some for extra money, some because they love the game and have found a way to stay with it, some like to be in charge of stuff … real control freaks, and others for as many reasons as there are reasons.
Now I’m going to pass something on to you and anyone else that’s interested:
1) Regardless of the quality of officiating, umpires are the official representatives of baseball, and as such, deserve your complete respect.
2). The amateur umpiring population is just that - amateur. They don’t do this for a living full time, and the exposure that they do get is not enough to expect perfection. So don’t go looking for it. In all the years that I was with baseball, I never argued or “showed up” an umpire - never. Their job is tough enough without whining-n-crying over something that’ll be forgotten and wrapped up with Friday’s fish. And buy the way, playoff berths and championships are not won or lost by umpires, I don’t care who says different.
3) If your call is uniform by every umpire that’s officiating your game - then it’s you. If your call is come-see-come-sa depending on who’s calling what, roll with the punch.
I saw college freshman who was tossed into the 5th as a sacrificial pitcher, and it was obvious that he was going to get hammered - and he did. I mean, even the other club’s mascot had a good time making fun of the guy. The umpires were the worst. He was called for infractions that were marginal at best, repeatedly. The second base umpire made it a point to stand about three feet from the pitcher’s mound. Very distracting if you ask me. Yet, all through the fifth and sixth, the young man held his composure and hung in there. After the game, while his teammates where getting on their bus, I did something that I normally didn’t do, as a matter of protocol. I waited for him outside of players entrance, met him walking towards the bus and gave him my business card. The following year, he was signed with us, and three years after that, he was gone for better ball.
If you have any desire to play better ball, be it college or professional. don’t play the blame game. Deal with it quietly and with composure. Amateur umpiring is a hard nut to crack - it loaded with personalities, little actual game experience to start, and the expectations that everyone on and off the field knows more than the empire. So be reasonable and just play.