When Your Partner Struggles

Last night I had a really tough game. Unfortunately the reason behind the tough game was because my partner had a bad game behind the plate. I will not mention my partner's name or even the game I worked because he was trying very hard and I refuse to through anyone under the bus.

He just struggled behind the plate with his mechanics and his confidence. The worst part about it was that I was not the only one who noticed this. Both coaches and fans on each side pick up on it and gave him grief the entire game. His tough game seemed to make my game on the bases tougher. I had 3 bang bang plays on the bases in a row and they all went against the team losing big, which did not help.

I am bringing this up today because I want to talk about and discuss what can/should an umpire do when our partner is really having a tough time. Last night I did not do a whole lot except for a couple of rule interpretations I was able to help him out on. I basically kept to myself and just stayed in my outfield position in between innings. I figured if he was going to struggle, I would try and let him work his way out of it. After the game I did try and give him some pointers on what I thought he could improve on and then we left.

What do you do when you have situations like this one? Was I acting professionally by just leaving him alone until the end of the game? How can we avoiding these type of games?

Let me know what you think!

Interesting plays in a good game

I was down at Wabash last night to officiate a varsity baseball game with Tippy Valley (Akron, IN) and Wabash. The game was actually a great experience. I worked with a state finals level official and I was able to work the plate for a pretty good game. Tippy Valley won the game 11-2. There were not many tough calls but there were a couple.

The first play was a batter that was hit by a pitch. It was a tough play because I heard it graze his shoulder but I didn't see it because I was blocked by the catcher. I was confident that it hit him because I heard a "double click" and the first "click" was not the bat. The opposing coach argued that it only hit the glove. I was pretty conifident in my ruling and I sent the batter to first base. Later on, I talked to my partner and he said I was correct in my ruling. Again, he is a state finals level official, I will take him at his word.

The other play was one I definitely missed but nobody complained or even said anything. The pitcher lost his footing while pitching the ball and the ball bounced on the ground and then hit the batter. By rule this is a hit by pitch and he should have been awarded, but I did not rule it that way. I just ruled it a ball and we played on. Nobody complained and the batter eventually was walked. It ate at me and I checked with my partner at the end of the game and it was what I suspected, it should have been a hit by pitch.

It was a great game. Both teams played hard and it was well worth the drive. Hopefully you all have had a great season so far. I have 3 more games this week. So look forward for more posts!

First Games of the Year!

I had my first two baseball games this past Saturday(3/29)! It was great to finally quit talking about the season and get out there and actually work a couple. I will not lie however, it was chilly and very windy which made it worse. I was at Bethany Christian (Goshen, IN) for a Varsity double header vs Fremont (Fremont, IN). It was a pretty simple outing. Fremont won both games. The first one 10-0 and the second one 6-5.

I had the plate for the first game and was very pleased with my performance. I had a good consistent stike zone and had no complaints from either side.

The second game was much closer and I was on the bases. I had quite a few close pick off attempts at first base. Other than that, the game was pretty standard.

I do have a question for all of you out there in baseball land. What do you do with the batter's boxes? Do you keep them as is? Do you brush them out? I ask you this because it was a topic at one of my association meeting and I'm just curious about what you all do. I brush out all but one line of the box, the back one.

Let me know! Hope your seasons have started as well as mine!