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What Coaches Expect from Umpires
"Why is it they boo me when I call a foul ball correctly and they applaud the starting pitcher when he gets taken out of the ballgame?" - American League Umpire Jerry Neudecker
Thank you for providing all the information in your news letter to the coaches, players and umpires on how baseball has changed over the years, and how much effort goes into teaching the game of baseball to the future stars of this game.
I was not a very good player, but loved the game of baseball so much that I wanted to stay close to the game. I went to an umpire camp where I was able to be instructed by Doug Harvey, Mike Winters, Larry Poncino, Gary Darling, Dale Scott, Bob Brooks, Ted Barrett, Joe Burleson, John Deluca, Ron Barnes, and Dan Wickham. There are four of these instructors in Major League Baseball and umpiring games at the big league level. I went to this camp to try to be the best amateur umpire I could be and to learn the rules and what was expected from umpires. Currently umpiring the top conferences in the country at the collegiate level (PAC-10, WAC, Big West, and West Coast Conference) and still working the High School Level. I have found that consistency, accuracy, and being professional on and off the field are what is expected from all levels we work. The Coaches just want umpires to hustle, be in position, and get their call right. We want all umpires to enforce the rules as written and to go out with the Doug Harvey perception which was "the integrity of the game is the umpires and nobody else". Now assigning the umpires in the bay area for over twenty years I find that simple approach of Accuracy, Accountability, Hustle, Diligence, Work Ethic, Confidence, Appearance, Knowledge of the Rules, Fair, Impartial, and an Approachable is what every coach is demanding before we walk on the field. So when I have to decide which umpires get moved up to the college level and which ones stay down and work another year of high school I'm asked to Identify the above qualities, evaluate umpires on their ability, consistency and how they handle their situations.
The most asked question is how do I handle that coach that is in a dugout yelling at the plate umpire about his strike zone? I always start with the word Stop.
Since the rule book was rewritten in 1950 the formalized wording process protects the umpire at all codes from Little League to the Major Leagues against any coach or player arguing balls and strikes. If stop does not work and a coach continues to make statements about the strike zone, such as (but not limited to):
"Hey Mark, where is that pitch?"
"Don't squeeze us"
"You missed that pitch."
"That pitch is not down."
"Bear down back there."
"That's a good pitch."
Most of the time the catcher will stand up and signal to the coach how far the pitch was actually out of the zone. If they continue to make commits about the zone and it needs to stop I will put a stop to it immediately and it does not matter if it is the first inning or the bottom of the ninth. I will call time, take off my mask step out and single out the coach that questioned my call by taking out the lineup card, and verbally stating that this is your warning on balls and strikes, if you continue to argue balls and strikes I WILL EJECT YOU. That way if any game personnel on that team argues balls or strikes and I eject them I have formally warned them. When I fill out an ejection report and it goes to the Athletic Director and he pulls the guilty party into his office and asks whether or not Mark warned him about arguing balls and strikes, that coach then has to face the question- why did you continue after you were warned ? This is not a good position to be in.
I have been asked to also address how to approach an umpire when the coach believes that the calling umpire has missed a call or made the wrong call. There are going to be seven situations that after the call is made that I will go to my partner:
1. After I ball the pitch and there was a checked swing and the coach stated that the batter went around, or can you ask for help-I Will Ask.
2. If I am blocked out of a play (and this says I was out of position), I will ask.
3. A dropped or juggled ball during a tag play-I will ask.
4. A batted ball that goes over a fence (pole bender) and I called it foul or a batted ball that I called foul that bounced over a fence for a potential ground rule double and we can get it right if I missed it. We will get it right.
5. Spectator Interference where a ball is hit down the line and is a fair ball and then a fan reaches over a fence and interfered with the batted ball.
6. Foul Tip for strike three and my partner can see that the ball hit the ground and was not caught clean by the catcher and should have been foul ball.
7. I call a balk and my partner clearly had the foot off the rubber.
There are also times that the coach will come out on plays where there was a sweep tag or a pulled foot at first base and the coach was told that I saw that the foot was clearly off the bag. If you were the coach and came out professionally, calmly, in an approachable manner, and with a good attitude and asked if I can ask my partner (because you believe his angle was better than mine), I will ask you directly, "What do you want me to ask?" Your direct wording should be that your first baseman's foot was on the bag, with the ball. I will ask you to return to your dugout. Then I will ask my partner what he has. However, if we do not change the call, you cannot come back out on the field and engage in the argument again. If you do, I will have to eject you (Collegiate Rule) by rule. When I go to my partner, and I have to change the call, we will expect an argument from the other team's coach, and he will be allowed to come out for an explanation of the overturned call.
When asked to write this article, I could think of several situations and calls that I have made over the years, and one that happened last year was probably one that I never thought would happen to me. I was the third base umpire with no outs and no runners on base.
A ball was hit into left field, into the sun, and hit very well. I turned, looked right into the sun, and lost the flight of the ball. So, I looked to the fielder, knowing that the left fielder would take me to the ball. I heard a loud thump (which was the ball hitting the fence) and the ball was now spotted on the left field fair line, so I pointed the ball fair. The batter is standing on second base, when the home coach asked for time (which was granted), and he came to me smiling, and said, "You never were able to see the ball, were you?" My reply to the coach was "Why do you say that?" He stated, "That ball hit off the wall, three feet foul." The coach asked if I could get help from my partners in this situation, and I stated that I could get help and that I would ask them. The coach immediately returned to his dugout with the collegiate rule explained to him. When asking both my partners, they both had been able to see the ball hit off the left field wall, in foul territory, so with that information; I overturned what I had pointed fair. The call was changed to a foul ball. After this, the visiting head coach came over to me (which I expected), and before he could say anything, I said, "Let me explain myself." After telling him all the above information I told the coach that if I had called the hit ball foul, it is foul forever and cannot be reversed. By calling it fair, I did not take a double from the hitter and when approached to get help, our objective is to get every call right out here. He looked at me, smiled, and said, "I had a good look at it, and it was foul."
This will not be the outcome in every situation, but with coaches understanding that we are working hard at trying to get everything right and hustling at all times, we will be respected by all. Respect is not given, you have to earn it, and that stands true with coaching and playing the wonderful game of baseball. Thus, when it comes to the question of how to approach an umpire when you think he made the wrong call, always keep your emotions under control, come out with the mind-set that we want to get all our calls right, and have all the right questions ready when we meet. I hope we don't have this meeting, because that means I might have done the one thing I hate to do - miss a call out there.
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