Umpires

[fhs33]

I thought there was some kind of training course the Umpires had to go through? I've tried to keep my patience cause I respect their service. But, I've seen a couple now that clearly didn't know the rules and when it was calmly pointed out to them they have gotten mad and upset and over stepped their authority instead on consulting the rule book like it says to.

[ManitouDan]

As a very overall generalization my biggest gripe is when they do make a mistake ( and they are humans not robots ) just admit it . Just say " coach I missed that one " instead of going into some 5 min explanation on why they actually got it right .

On the same line of thinking our jr high had a situation where a runner was on third . We are on defense . Batter swings and foul tips ball off catchers glove that continues backward to the backstop ... Runner trots home . Obviously blue should have sent runner back to third , but he allowed run to score even though he admitted it was a foul tip that the catcher didn't catch. Made up his own rule that the catcher " had a chance to catch it". Or some other invention . Other than just looking the rule up and getting it right . Happened in a tight game and could have changed the outcome

[fhs33]

That actually might be a worse mistake than what I had been seeing. I as well as most coaches I think would respect it more if they would either say "I missed it coach" or Id even be ok I think with "I JUDGED it this way". I could accept that better than listening to them make up rules about morphing baselines that extend to the dugouts and not understanding how the "Effort to Avoid Contact Rule" works. Then when you try to explain they are wrong they threaten to throw you out. lol

[RoadMan]

I am curious as to what the "Effort to avoid contact rule" is. I don't think I have ever seen or heard of this.

RoadMan

[fhs33]

In your youth leagues it basically says
"A runner shall make an effort to avoid contact with the defensive player"
Meaning they either have to slide, or make a dodging move going into a base versus running a player over or just standing up. If not they are out by rule.

[Pol pot]

And I'm sure you guys know NFHS rules better than the umpires, without you giving any examples I'm sayin you may have had a rule mixed up with MLB or ASA, and they are very different in many areas.

[ManitouDan]

there is no " you must slide rule " its a myth . at least in big girl softball.

[fhs33]

Not saying that doesn't happen. But I think in the examples from earlier that definitely wasn't the case. I have several friends who umpire and they umpire everything from Pitching Machine - High School. Many umpires do this too. So its just as likely for them to get the rules mixed up as the managers. Mix up of the rules can happen. I think were more talking about where you can tell the ump is making it up as he goes instead of saying "my bad"

[SouthernohioSB]

Most of the top high school umpires dont call junior high or below. Those games are usually called by inexperienced and young umpires. They are learning the game and how to handle situations just as the girls are learning the game to get better. There are a few of the better umpires that call the lower level games. You can tell when they call a game because there are usually no issues. The better umpires usually have a high school game every night and double or tripleheaders on Saturdays. Maybe the younger guys are afraid to admit they are wrong because they don't know the rule about the situation. I have umpired for 20 years and still learn something every week.

[fhs33]

You're right Dan. Slide rule is just a "Avoid Contact" used in your Youth Leagues.

Good breakdown on the Ump process southernohioSB
I think more Umps need to be ok with saying "I missed it"

[ManitouDan]

While we are on the topic of blue , I'll say up front I know nothing of how umpires are assigned but when you consistently get the same umps at the same places ( I'll let the readers guess ) and you constantly have calls go against you it becomes an issue for the athletes . There seem to certain places you know you might not get a fair shake . Maybe I'm paranoid ? Is there any truth to this or just coincidence that some crews always call at some places ? Is it geography ?

[SouthernohioSB]

MD the process for hiring officials in the SOC is that the athletic directors or the coaches hire the umpires. Some coaches prefer to do this so they know who they are getting but that is only a select few that do this. Mostly it is the athletic directors. Problem is that some schools wait until after the season or during basketball season to schedule umpires for the upcoming season. My crew is almost completely full for next years conference schedule. This is why some teams always see the same umpire at a particular school. There is no other umpires to choose from. My crew does both baseball and softball so we usually do 2 baseball and 2 softball at the schools that contact us. All the SOC schools know next years conference schedule now.

Other conferences may have an assigner. I know the SVC does and the SCOL used to but not sure if the still do.

[HHSSoftball]

SouthernohioSB,
You are correct, the SVC has a league assigner for all league games. Schools, AD's, nor coaches have any say who is umpiring their home league games. I like this system because you see various different umpires throughout the league schedule and it eliminates, or rather should eliminate, any thoughts of home cooking just to get hired back by that particular school (now if we could just find a way to get the league to pay them also... LOL)! However, the AD or coach still hires their own umpires for non - league contests.

[Xtoxxviii]

So far we have had very good umpires in the SVC this year.
But good ball does bring out the better officials, they enjoy a good game as much as the rest of us.

[athens78]

Most good umps go to the good teams because they want to get the good games and the teams also want them. With BB/SB starting at 5:00 it will limit the distance that umps will go for games because of the travel and having to leave work. This may be the main reason you see the same because they work close to home.

[The Broker]

Most umpires are terrible these days. One reason is some of the worst ones are teaching the classes. I started out taking the classes to get licensed. But once I figured out that I know a lot more than the instructor I quit going. What a joke.