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.