| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Cherokee Thunder
91 Posts |
 Posted - 04/30/2012 : 13:46:26
|
This past weekend in a tournament we had an umpire who would not call a curve ball breaking in the strike zone a strike. During the course of the game one of my asst coaches asked the umpire very nicely and I truly mean nicely if the curve ball was outside or inside. Umpire takes his mask off and yells back all the curves have been high! Nothing else was said during this game or after the game by coaches, players or parents and nothing was said during the game prior to asking the first time.
Also, our 7-1 lead evaporated to a 7-6 win after my asst coach asked his question. We went from 0 walks in the first 3 innings to 5 walks in the last 2 innings.
Next day our team is 3-0 and in the semifinals and we are warming up two pitchers before the game. Same umpire is watching the prior game and watching my pitchers warm up. This umpire walks over and starts telling me how he will never call my team’s curve balls a strike. I asked him if he was calling the next game and he states yes.
I told the umpire how unprofessional I thought he was by coming out of his way to talk balls and strikes to a team he was going to call in the next game. As a coach I would never go up to an umpire after or before a game to discuss something that was left on the field in a previous game.
I did bring this up to the TD who shrugged it off but I did make it point to let other know as I had a feeling we would be in for a long day. We went on to walk 13 batters and used 7 different pitchers in losing 15-0 as my pitchers could not throw a fastball or curve ball for a strike. Of course when we batted everything was a strike.
Any thoughts to how this could have been avoided? Has this happened to anyone else?
In four years of coaching and 18 years of being around high level baseball I have never had a major run in before, during or after a game with an umpire and no umpire has ever come out of his way to start / say something before a game prior to this incident.
|
|
|
peashooter
297 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 14:25:21
|
Wow, that sucks. Classless. You can't avoid it, if the ump is a jerk then he is a jerk. Couple of ideas if you knew it was going to be that bad...video the game and the calls...contact his supervisor, and get him fired.
If you are old enough and throw hard enough like I did you can pull the old...Curve ball low and outside...catcher breaks and I throw one 90MPH right down the middle but the catcher is blocking the curve ball...I would only do that in cases like you describe, in which I had 1-2 in my 18 years of playing. |
 |
|
|
bball-fan
89 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 14:50:37
|
Am I reading this correct? First you say it's ok to hit a batter in the head, now you think it's ok to intentionally hit an umpire with a fastball?? Wow...
Didn't happen within the past couple years in a high school game and the players lost their scholarships? |
|
|
|
christheump
351 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 15:00:33
|
quote:
Originally posted by peashooter
Wow, that sucks. Classless. You can't avoid it, if the ump is a jerk then he is a jerk. Couple of ideas if you knew it was going to be that bad...video the game and the calls...contact his supervisor, and get him fired.
If you are old enough and throw hard enough like I did you can pull the old...Curve ball low and outside...catcher breaks and I throw one 90MPH right down the middle but the catcher is blocking the curve ball...I would only do that in cases like you describe, in which I had 1-2 in my 18 years of playing.
Cherokee Thuner
It is funny to read every time how nicely someone "asks" the umpire about the call. My guess is the truth is somewhere between you never saying a word up until that point or you were on your bucket squirmming and chirping after every close pitch and letting eveyone in the park know about the close calls not going your way.
Was the umpire out of line for initiating a conversation in the manner he did: Yes. Would he have been out of line for squeezing your pitchers based on what happened earlier: absolutely. You should have just gotten your .02 worth of his ear, gotten tossed, and went on your merry way until the next game. You did the right thing in speaking with the TD. The umpire should have gotten his butt chewed for initiating the contact, and that would have been my point of contention with the TD and the UIC. The one thing I would suggest is asking the TD to switch up the blues or to hang around your field for a little while just to see for himself. Now the stinker is balls and strikes are judgement calls and blue can always say it was in or out, or up or down, or just barely missed. I can say this too, I am convinced each umpire has his one coach that things will ALWAYS GO BAD with. I do not know why, but there is always one, each season that we seem to never see eye to eye with each other and NOTHING works no matter how hard we try.
But peashooter, you are taking it to an entirely new level that is 100% un-warranted in a game. Your suggestion to injure, or attempt to injure, an umpire on purpose is the epitome of classless. |
|
|
|
christheump
351 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 15:03:24
|
quote:
Originally posted by bball-fan
Am I reading this correct? First you say it's ok to hit a batter in the head, now you think it's ok to intentionally hit an umpire with a fastball?? Wow...
Didn't happen within the past couple years in a high school game and the players lost their scholarships?
Yes it did happen and if I am not mistaken the umpuire suffered a concussion. I have a decent mask and it will still ring your bell pretty good if hit squarely in the mask, even at 11u/12u AAA/MAJOR ages |
|
|
|
peashooter
297 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 15:49:29
|
| My scenario was at 17yrs old and in pro ball. |
|
|
|
christheump
351 Posts |
Posted - 04/30/2012 : 16:35:50
|
quote:
Originally posted by peashooter
My scenario was at 17yrs old and in pro ball.
Even worse..... |
|
|
|
michael payne
19 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2012 : 12:51:34
|
Where did this happen? Did you get the name of the umpire? His booker needs to know he is not ready to call a game where curve balls are involved and what kind of umpire does not want to call strikes.
peashooter, you are better than that. |
|
|
|
F2202
63 Posts |
Posted - 05/08/2012 : 13:27:47
|
quote:
Originally posted by peashooter
Wow, that sucks. Classless. You can't avoid it, if the ump is a jerk then he is a jerk. Couple of ideas if you knew it was going to be that bad...video the game and the calls...contact his supervisor, and get him fired.
If you are old enough and throw hard enough like I did you can pull the old...Curve ball low and outside...catcher breaks and I throw one 90MPH right down the middle but the catcher is blocking the curve ball...I would only do that in cases like you describe, in which I had 1-2 in my 18 years of playing.
Come on. Throw at the ump. Get him fired. Is this how you handle situations in life where you don't get your way? Injure the person or take away their livelihood. Underneath that uniform you despise, there is a human being. We all make mistakes, I'm sure you've made your fair share.
And yes, a pitcher/catcher did lose their scholarships when they hit an umpire on purpose in a GHSA state championship game. Was it worth it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0j0H_6lut8 |
|
|
|
jimmadden
32 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2012 : 08:40:16
|
| Cherokee Thunder. If you are convinced of your position i suggest that you let us all know what tourney this was and who was running it so we are aware. I would also contact the Ump Assoc. and state your case. |
|
|
|
bball1311
20 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2012 : 19:05:45
|
| The scenario was with Stephens County and Cartersville. Cartersville was winning and the Stephens County pitcher threw a fastball and the catcher pretended to block a curveball. The baseball hit the umpire in the face and both pitcher and catcher lost their scholarships. |
|
|
|
psindians14
735 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2012 : 15:00:03
|
Hey Chris the ump, I am also a umpire been doing it for 25 years and also a youth coach of a 10u travel team, any UMPIRE that lets anything a COACH say to him change the way he calls the TEAM does'nt need to UMPIRE any SPORT, or a UMPIRE should NEVER go up to a COACH before a Game and tell that Coach he not going to do this or that, any UMPIRE that thinks he the KING and will do what he wants on the FIELD don't need to UMPIRE. A UMPIRE job is to go on the FIELD and give 100% to the game and let something go in one ear and out the other, and call the game like its suppose to be called for BOTH SIDES, if a Coach or fan gets out of hand and you have to have a talk to the COACH thats when you give a warning to the COACH and if he continues thats when the Umpirs taked action but doesn't change the way he calls a GAME because he has a problem with one of the Teams COACH or FAN.
UMPIRES youre getting PAID for doing a quality JOB if youre not willing to do that DONT UMPIRE. |
|
|
|
nastycurve
244 Posts |
Posted - 11/30/2012 : 13:10:02
|
| Well Said Steve! |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Umpire talks to opposing team before a game
