obstruction

[Iluvblue]

In surf city 18u this weekend. We steal 3rd base, third baseman jumps up to catch throw from catcher, our runner slides and third baseman falls and lands on top of our runner, ball goes out in left field. Im trying to get my runner to go home, but no way as 3rd baseman is plopped on top of her. I look at blue (in the 5-6 hole) and no arm out. So we stay put.

I let him know he needs to make this call as it is so obvious(my other coaches told me he was actually not even looking as he turned towards lf to follow the ball for some reason). After 3rd out and I am returning to 1st base dugout, home plate blue stops me to talk about the play and informs me that my runner has to make a move to go towards home before they are going to call obstruction. Huh??? So let me get this straight, Im supposed to send my runner (all the while I know no umpire has signaled obstruction as of this moment) and then I am to hope and pray like hell that as she is running to home that the umpire is now going to make the signal for obstruction?

I tried to point out how ridiculous his statement was(i didnt use those words) and what that would mean for me as a coach if that was the way it worked, and then he got pissy and said, oh never mind, im trying to help you, but since you dont want to listen , oh well.

Now, I liked this blue... and his partner. I thought they did pretty well overall (besides missing a called strike 3 down the middle and then after the batter got on, he walked out to the circle to apologize to my pitcher (in the middle of the inning) for missing that call and told her he would not miss it again. ( i like what he did, just dont do it in the middle of the inning) But if you, as an umpire are going to call a coach off to the side to explain how rules work, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE... be 100% sure you know what you are talking about.

I give him credit though, as we had him for 3 more games and we were able to move on pass the call (which was not that big of a deal) and have a good day with him and his partner the rest of the way. Many blues get all pissy after any disagreement.

[UmpSteve]

Dammit, Dammit, Damn it all to hell. I have to say it.












Corey, you are right.

[MTR]

In surf city 18u this weekend. We steal 3rd base, third baseman jumps up to catch throw from catcher, our runner slides and third baseman falls and lands on top of our runner, ball goes out in left field. Im trying to get my runner to go home, but no way as 3rd baseman is plopped on top of her. I look at blue (in the 5-6 hole) and no arm out. So we stay put.

I let him know he needs to make this call as it is so obvious(my other coaches told me he was actually not even looking as he turned towards lf to follow the ball for some reason). After 3rd out and I am returning to 1st base dugout, home plate blue stops me to talk about the play and informs me that my runner has to make a move to go towards home before they are going to call obstruction.

This umpire is an idiot. Never should have opened his mouth as this is way out of line for the umpire, not to mention wrong.

Huh??? So let me get this straight, Im supposed to send my runner (all the while I know no umpire has signaled obstruction as of this moment) and then I am to hope and pray like hell that as she is running to home that the umpire is now going to make the signal for obstruction?

I tried to point out how ridiculous his statement was(i didnt use those words) and what that would mean for me as a coach if that was the way it worked, and then he got pissy and said, oh never mind, im trying to help you, but since you dont want to listen , oh well.

Now, I liked this blue... and his partner. I thought they did pretty well overall (besides missing a called strike 3 down the middle and then after the batter got on, he walked out to the circle to apologize to my pitcher (in the middle of the inning) for missing that call and told her he would not miss it again. ( i like what he did, just dont do it in the middle of the inning) But if you, as an umpire are going to call a coach off to the side to explain how rules work, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE... be 100% sure you know what you are talking about.

Now you need to make up your mind. Doing this was no less wrong than the comments about the OBS or lack of call.

I give him credit though, as we had him for 3 more games and we were able to move on pass the call (which was not that big of a deal) and have a good day with him and his partner the rest of the way. Many blues get all pissy after any disagreement.

This is good, but neither you nor the umpire crew should ever have to look at a game(s) in that manner. A call that may not go the way one expects or desires has to be forgotten almost as quickly as it occurred for all parties concerned.

[Iluvblue]

I know what he did was wrong... I was PISSED off when I saw him walk out to my pitcher in the middle of an inning... and I was guessing at what he was doing, but I kept quiet until the inning was over and then I asked my pitcher what was said. I cant go out and bitch at the guy for this stuff, as these guys can do what they want, and I will always be the loser in any discussion.



No making up my mind... he blew an obstruction call and his explanation was ridiculous, and talking to my pitcher about a missed call in the middle of an inning should not take place, but if that is the worst I have to deal with, Im ok. Him and his partner had pretty good game management and I thought his strikezone was pretty consistent, he was verbal on his strike cals and hustled. Im ok with that.


As far as moving on, trust me, NOTHING is ever personal for me on a field, as soon as the game is over, it is over and when the next game starts, it is a fresh game. Wish I could say the same for umpires that do my games.

[HugoTafurst]

Boy, From reading your posts over the months, I imagine that California must have the lousiest umpires in the country..


PS: FWIW - on the rare occasion that I miss a pitch , I may mention it to the catcher, but I can't imagine stopping the game and going out to the pitcher.
I usually don't mention it at all the good catchers know I missed it, and they know I know I missed it and if their coach gives them a "where'd that miss?" they are usually smart enough to say "Inside (or outside or up or down), coach".

[Iluvblue]

Im not sure if we have the worst, but here is another one.

Our 16u team was plying at fields with no fences and way out in LF was a row of trees(elementary school) and another team had a bownet out there. At pregame, the umpire told the coaches that any ball that hits the trees or goes bast them is a dead ball. So a kid hits a ball down the line and it rolls into and hits the bownet.... the lf continues the play, but as soon as it hit the bownet the HP umpire raises his hands to signal dead ball. The players dont know he has done this, so runner keeps running to third and defense relays the throw to third, girl slides into third ahead of the throw. As the girl is sliding into the base, the umpire puts his hands down... and kind of slowly walks away, almost looking around to see if anyone had seen him put his arms up.

Then he is going to allow the runner to stay at third???????? So once again, I need to now go out an explain a little bit on how things work and he gets pissed at me. Then the best part, we end our "discussion" and I sit down on my bucket, he walks away at least 30 feet.... I am now not saying one word as it is over with..... then all of the suddden he turns around and comes back to me to start this discussion again...lol

Funny stuff. By the way, after a long talk with his partner, they did send the kid back to 2nd base. Sometimes i wonder where we get these guys.

[Crabby_Bob]

Im not sure if we have the worst, but here is another one.

Must be

Our 16u team was plying at fields with no fences and way out in LF was a row of trees(elementary school) and another team had a bownet out there. At pregame, the umpire told the coaches that any ball that hits the trees or goes bast them is a dead ball. So a kid hits a ball down the line and it rolls into and hits the bownet.... the lf continues the play, but as soon as it hit the bownet the HP umpire raises his hands to signal dead ball. The players dont know he has done this, so runner keeps running to third and defense relays the throw to third, girl slides into third ahead of the throw. As the girl is sliding into the base, the umpire puts his hands down... and kind of slowly walks away, almost looking around to see if anyone had seen him put his arms up.

Then he is going to allow the runner to stay at third???????? So once again, I need to now go out an explain a little bit on how things work and he gets pissed at me. Then the best part, we end our "discussion" and I sit down on my bucket, he walks away at least 30 feet.... I am now not saying one word as it is over with..... then all of the suddden he turns around and comes back to me to start this discussion again...lol

Funny stuff. By the way, after a long talk with his partner, they did send the kid back to 2nd base. Sometimes i wonder where we get these guys.

Sounds like spectator interference. The umpire awards the batter and all runners bases they would have reached had the INT not occurred.

[Iluvblue]

blah blah blah shut the hell up. The area was clearly where they said would be out of play, then he puts his hands up to kill the play and you want to change it around to say he awards bases? typical BS from someone trying to make excuses for an incompetent umpire.///// so roll your eyes at that.

You sound like all those cops that beat the hell out of Rodney King then made excuses for it... he was resisting arrest?????

[tcannizzo]

Corey, clarify something for me. Was the bownet past the treeline?

[Iluvblue]

yes it was, it was CLEARLY in the area that the guy said would be out of play if a ball got to it.