Umpires for 12U States

[artomatic]

CoachKev.
This is just my opinion, but I think when all your energy and focus is on the umps, it takes that energy and focus away from your team's game.
And if your girls pick up on that, it takes their focus and energy away from their game also.
Pretty soon everyone is so upset at the ump, they forget there is a game going on...

If I have an ump that is giving us off the outside of the plate, and I have a pitcher that can hit that spot, well, yeah, we're going to live out there.
And my catcher is going to tell my pitcher that same info after the first couple batters.

I saw one team yesterday in one of the late games where about half of the parents were standing directly behind the backstop yelling, pirouetting, screaming at the ump on EVERY SINGLE PITCH...they were so focused on what they thought was horrible pitch calling by the ump that the game quietly slipped away from them, and suddenly, game over, and they were on the losing end of a one run game. Don't they think the ump can hear everything? Don't they realize the ump is human and subconsciously will start calling everything against them because he is now upset himself?
I was just thinking, maybe if they could control themselves, they could let their girls focus on trying to push one more run across, but as it was, they could only concentrate on what they felt was a horrible ump "screwing them over"...
Another thing, if an ump is making bad calls going both ways, and one team (coaches, players, families, etc) is giving the ump a hard time, the calls sometimes start becoming one sided against the vocal group.

Ok, I was there with no horse in the race, and yes, it's easy to stay calm in that mind set. But if you can learn to do it when you are in a game, it's just better for your team in the long run.
And what about when you have this ump again down the line?
Think an ump just wipes out his memory about a team that gives him a hard time?
Nope...

[coachkev]

Art very true, and thank you for the advice but I am a young Jedi and there are many lessons I must learn before I can slay Darth-TB

[artomatic]

Those are wise words grasshopper Art.
Now it is time for you to go.

dammit, i ripped the rice paper walking across it again!

[Sam]

Much safer to have a consistent liberal zone over a HP that makes these kids throw the ball down the middle.

[CharlieHough]

Try throwing a knuckleball for a strike!

[melsdad]

"With strike zones from the neck to the ankles and 6" off the plate was given as well. "

Oh please with that description.
I will agree that most catchers will catch a good breaking pitch 6" off the plate, when they are 12-18" BEHIND it when the catch is made. If you are complaining now I can imagine what it will be like when the girls get older.

I stood behind the plate for several games and can verify that the strike zones were consistently very liberal...which gives a big advantage to the top pitchers, who are hard enough to hit when there is a disciplined strike zone.

But I didn't see any blues favoring one team over another...they were just calling lots of balls strikes all the way around.

I stood behind the blue the umps were horrible, these kids work WAY to hard to have these kind of calls made, strike calls made in the other batters box, so here comes the chief umpire from asa and watch the calls ( with a blank look on his face ) the coach has them do a pitch out ( great play by the way ) catcher catches the ball on the outside line of the other batters box she nails the girl trying to steal and we look at ump, he's got his hand up calling it a strike! and yes the guy from asa still standing there with well.......that look,we had two games with this clown.Waste of money and time

[weekend4trvl]

All of the plate umps we had were pretty good. A couple of the base umps....well it's all part of the game.

Spaz you are to kind...I saw three or four plays in the CA95 vs BS95 game all to close to call and all went against CA. If you had not scored in the 7th that base ump would have been running to his car and not looked back until he'd reached his trailer in Lake Perris. That call against Pride...You can't call what you can't see...ump was out of position,but I'm new at this and may have it all wrong.

[almosthuman]

It is not hard to believe that there is a shortage of good umpires in So Cal. The expert level umpires are all lurking behind the backstops every weekend making great calls after the fact! Be proactive, get certified and end the madness. Save us from these evil game stealers! $40-$50 dollars a game is pretty good jack.

Art, you nailed it! When the leadership of the team and the vocal parental units keep bit**ing about the officiating, the players start to feel the game is out of their control and in many cases, mentally throw in the towel.

[NM FP Ump]

I didn't want to dive into this, since I am out of state (NM) and do not call ASA (but have general knowledge of the rules), but there's just too much on this thread that is soooo wrong.

I'm not going to address every response and complaint you guys have. That would take forever and this thread would never end. Folks, games aren't decided by an umpire's "bad strike zone" or one or two "bad calls". They are decided by the players on the field, and the coaches. The umpires are there to enforce the rules, not to make sure one team wins or one team loses. Most of the umpires don't even know which teams they are calling; it's usually the red team vs. the blue team, home vs. visitor. These calls are judgment calls, and "judgment" is constantly being refined and adjusted. Judging from your posts, you may have had some rookie umpires, but your conduct isn't helping these young officials at all! The constant whining and moaning is distracting to even the most experienced umpire. You want better umpires? Well, let these new umpires get better. The more games they call, the better they get. They are replacing the older umpires that have taken enough abuse from the coaches and parents. When you have friendly tournaments or scrimmages, call the new umpires to call the game; they need the work.

Drinking alcohol at the complex? Unbelievable!!! I won't add anything to that.

[softballjunky]

I understand what you are saying, but when you have a tournament this big don't you think
you would recruit the best umpires out there (not rookies). I understand judgement calls, but like the Pride game when the batter made a check swing and the umpire called a strike from third base...thant was absurd. Talked to a few umpires lately and the rule of thumb is a check swing call from third base is never called (bad view).