[quote=“Dino”]Corsairkid,
Perhaps the most uncomfortable part of my time spent coaching 16U baseball was the grief opposing coaches would give the umpires. Some of these umpires were good, some bad but the conduct of the other coaches was unbelievable. I’m mean really, what are we teaching the guys on the team when we throw tantrums over a call that for the most part did not determine the outcome of the game. And even when it did, I preferred to tell my guys to win it anyway. I spent alot of time breaking up arguements and fights at my job; I didn’t need to do it in my spare time.
One thing I always impressed on my son and I enforced it was…don’t ever blame the results of your performance on an umpire. If you have to pitch to a strike zone the size of your fist then make the adjustment and quit laying the blame on the ump, or the weather or the mound or your defense or…
The truth is when you accepted money for umpiring…you became a professional umpire and you should be treated with due respect. When I was little league age, my cousin who was in his twenties umpired in our league. We were the sons of steel workers and we knew the consequences of disrespect. Anyway, I recall one of the opposing coaches disagreeing with my cousin over a call and he hauled off and got him in the eye with a sucker punch. My dad, who was also my coach and a pretty tough mill hunkie “got even” later on. No police needed, thank you very much.[/quote]
My last game I ever umpired, the one that threw me over the edge, was during a 9 year old fall ball game.
The two head coaches apparently knew each other, because they were joking around with each other the entire game. This included mocking my calls, and disrespecting me as an umpire. After the 4th inning, I called both coaches to home plate. I said “I will not tolerate any more mockery of myself, or the game of baseball. One more word out of either of you and you are both ejected, and you both forfeit.”
As I walked to the backstop to get some water, I heard one of the coaches say to his “buddy”, “Who does this punk think he is?! He needs to learn some respect!”
I had had enough at this point. I went to home plate. Yelled “Time Out!”. I then said “You’re gone, and you’re gone” (directed at the 2 coaches). I then walked off the field and found the tournament director who then forfeited both teams.
Later on, the TD said that he had had problems in the past with these 2 coaches. I had 0 fun that day, and I refuse to umpire again.