What is the proper etiquette for an umpire for moving bats while the ball is in play? Is there a written rule?
any umpires out there?
- Thread starter BuckwheatJWN
- Start date
Got a late night text and got here as fast as I could - I ended up in Mojo by accident. Damn blind umpires will click on anything.
There is no written rule that says an umpire is responsible for moving a bat. I'm assuming this was two man technique. That being said, I was taught and I teach that if you have time, move it. Remember the bat is in play.
There are times when a plate umpire has time to move a bat in anticipation of a play at the plate but many times there just isn't enough time.
These were the instances I thought of where you usually have time to move a bat or at least kick it out of the way.
Clear base hit to the outfield with a runner on 2nd allows time to move a bat, watch for a touch at 3rd and line up down 3rd base extended (Behind left hand batters box) for the play at home plate.
Triple, runner on 1st. plenty of time.
Probably not enough time
Runner on 3rd ground balls in the infield - No time to get back in to safe/out position
Runner on 3rd fly ball - Home plate has both tag and home plate responsibility so no time.
The higher the level, less time exists which means moving the bat is less likely.
College & most High School catchers will usually move a bat if they have time especially if it benefits them. Bat in front of home plate that might deflect a thrown ball, catcher will move it.
Share the story when you get a chance
Thanks a lot for replying so quickly. I've umpired for almost 50 years and seldom move the bat unless it's laying on or near the plate. Even then I just try to kick it away. My feelings is a stationary bat is better than a moving bat. I've seen catchers and umpires "wingem" and injuries result...??.I only do lower level men's and coed slow pitch softball now, usually by myself. Often see catchers standing with a bat in their hands while a throw is coming to the plate when they think it's a good idea to move the bat. LOL...??...I know I seldom see the lead runners scoop the bats up when they are scoring easily which seemed more common back in the day.....Thanks again for the help
50 years!? Well now you need to tell us your.....
Funniest story....
What made you the most angry....
Something you might have witnessed that was unbelievable....
:0074
Like all umps, I could write a book and still forget stories. The biggest difference I've seen over the past 10-15 years is players questioning rules. They may be league rules or basic rules of baseball/softball which have been around since the days of Abner Doubleday. They will ask what the rule is and then want to argue about it. Besides the obvious lack of respect people have for any authority figure these days, a lot of questioning is due to ignorance of rules because so many young adults quit playing organized baseball at younger ages and never LEARN the game.
Every Sunday there is something new. Last week I saw 2 triple plays in one game.
Every Sunday there is something new. Last week I saw 2 triple plays in one game.
I've been coaching my kids travel baseball and softball teams past 15yrs. I've noticed it's not just some of the coaches and players, the parents are worse. I'd like to thank you for what you've done and what your doing. It's not an easy thing to do nowadays.
Thanks BUCKY1. Only being around the YOUTH stuff from listening to others and watching a few games, but aren't parents a lot harder on COACHES than umpires nowadays?
I DO HAVE ONE AMAZING STAT. I'VE ONLY THROWN OUT 6 PEOPLE IN 50 YEARS
Next year will be 30 years for me.
I started as a 15 year old in '91. Was taught at a youth league park. Went on to be a bad to decent umpire for the next 10 years. In 2003, I got a little more serious about it and started calling more games. In 2005, I went to Cooperstown Dreams Park and went through the Umpire Clinic they put on. I realized how many bad habits I had developed and how much better I would have been if I had received better training as a 15 year old. With that goal in mind for the next generation, I started the Texas Hill Country Umpire Association. I have a book of 500+ umpires and we easily called more than 10000 games over the 10 year period it was open. We called T-ball through College. I was the only one that ever got a varsity college game but we took over NCBA Club ball honors for Texas State and the University of Texas and still call the TSU games today.
I'm super proud of what we accomplished and can say that we did achieve our goal of having some younger umpires go on to do bigger and better things. We started at 1 youth league and by the time we were done, we had 4 youth leagues (turned down 2 others), 2 high schools and 2 colleges that called for umpires. The Select organizers wanted my umpires and it was a battle protecting my book from them. They seemed to only care about the money and not the game and I can easily speak on BuckWheat's behalf here, He has not called for 50 years because of the money. While the money offsets our expenses, this is not a get rich hobby at the levels we call.
There was a Wednesday, circa 2014, when we had 26 fields going, 50ish games, with ~50 umpires. Weekends we would have 30 fields with nearly 200 games. When I shut it down, I had lost the goal of making young umpires better to just making games happen. I had some really shitty umpires and I had to use them to fill games. I would bounce them from park to park and field to field while knowing the phone call would be coming later. I had a few high, drunk umpire incidents where we dodged bullets but that grazing lead me to pull the plug.
I made 4 trips to CDP. In 2007, I received the highest honor of calling the plate of the Championship game. I have made 1000's of baseball friends over the years and my phone lights up every playoff season when they're is some type of rule interpretation. See runner interference, 1st base Astro's v Natty's 2019.
I umpire 8-12 series a year for Texas State NCBA nowadays. We got in 3 series before Covid killed the season this year. Those 24 - 36 games are enough for me to get my umpire fix without taking the fun out of it.
I have the same stories B-Dub has and I have started the book he has talked about. One story I enjoy telling... About 10 years ago, I am wrapping up our umpire clinic in San Marcos where we usually get mainly college kids. I'm talking to the youngen's about asking questions and throw out the line, "Some of my favorite times as an umpire have been having a beer in the parking lot talking rules." We end the clinic and a few weeks later start calling games. I would make sure to umpire a game with any umpire that had 0 umpiring experience. One of those kids was a guy named Clinton S. I shoot him a text about where to park, what color shirt we were wearing and asked if he was good taking the 2nd plate so he could watch me call the 1st. He shot back that he'd prefer to do the 1st plate and that he'd bring the beer. I lol'd, said ok, and we went and did the game. He brought a 6 pack and afterwards we sat out at the truck and went over things he did well and things to improve on. I turned him loose on any level of youth ball and went about the season.
The love interest. The park in San Marcos is owned by the city and they staff it with park rangers who help facilitate the volunteer score keepers, coaches and concession workers. One such Ranger, Jessica J, was a 25 year old woman who I became friends with. One night she tells me, "Josh, I need a man" I tell her I'm flattered but that I'm taken to which she replied "As if, I'd just go to the old folks home" We laugh and I tell her I have the perfect guy for her. I just need to check with him. I have her number and she says "If he's interested, have him call me." We part ways and I pass on the info to Clinton S. He says he'll give her a call. Time passes.
I'm out at the fields one night when she tells me that I'm the funniest person she knows. I agree with her but I'm not sure why. She couldn't believe that I would go through and have a high school student call her for a date. I pull out my phone, search my emails for Clinton's registration form and look.... The kid is 17 years old. He brought beer to our first game. Legend status confirmed.
The end of the story. Jessica and I play in the same softball league and she ends up meeting her husband shortly after. They have 3 kids and her oldest is the same age as my son and both went to the same day school. Clinton, is now a tax client and has his own small fencing business. I occasionally remind the 2 of the story and give updates on each other when I see them.
2007 CDP
http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/CDP/2007WeeklyResults/CDP2007WK5/2007WK5_Championship.html
[FONT="](left to right) Right Field Line: George Booth (West Monroe, LA); First Base: Steve Pelham (Highland, MD); Home Plate: Josh Schwartz (Kyle, TX); Second Base: Richard Sporl (San Diego, CA); Third Base: Bill Heede (Crystal Lake, IL); Left Field Line: Eddie Gray (Raleigh, NC)
[/FONT]Booth & Gray were both minor league umpires. Booth comes to me before the game and says, "Hey, As long as the first pitch isn't in the dirt or at the back stop, try to get a strike. The whole place will go nuts and no one will remember the first pitch."
The 1st pitch of the game is around the shknee. My brain said down, My mouth said Strike. The place lights up just like George said. I give him a look and he gives me the umpire clap.
I started as a 15 year old in '91. Was taught at a youth league park. Went on to be a bad to decent umpire for the next 10 years. In 2003, I got a little more serious about it and started calling more games. In 2005, I went to Cooperstown Dreams Park and went through the Umpire Clinic they put on. I realized how many bad habits I had developed and how much better I would have been if I had received better training as a 15 year old. With that goal in mind for the next generation, I started the Texas Hill Country Umpire Association. I have a book of 500+ umpires and we easily called more than 10000 games over the 10 year period it was open. We called T-ball through College. I was the only one that ever got a varsity college game but we took over NCBA Club ball honors for Texas State and the University of Texas and still call the TSU games today.
I'm super proud of what we accomplished and can say that we did achieve our goal of having some younger umpires go on to do bigger and better things. We started at 1 youth league and by the time we were done, we had 4 youth leagues (turned down 2 others), 2 high schools and 2 colleges that called for umpires. The Select organizers wanted my umpires and it was a battle protecting my book from them. They seemed to only care about the money and not the game and I can easily speak on BuckWheat's behalf here, He has not called for 50 years because of the money. While the money offsets our expenses, this is not a get rich hobby at the levels we call.
There was a Wednesday, circa 2014, when we had 26 fields going, 50ish games, with ~50 umpires. Weekends we would have 30 fields with nearly 200 games. When I shut it down, I had lost the goal of making young umpires better to just making games happen. I had some really shitty umpires and I had to use them to fill games. I would bounce them from park to park and field to field while knowing the phone call would be coming later. I had a few high, drunk umpire incidents where we dodged bullets but that grazing lead me to pull the plug.
I made 4 trips to CDP. In 2007, I received the highest honor of calling the plate of the Championship game. I have made 1000's of baseball friends over the years and my phone lights up every playoff season when they're is some type of rule interpretation. See runner interference, 1st base Astro's v Natty's 2019.
I umpire 8-12 series a year for Texas State NCBA nowadays. We got in 3 series before Covid killed the season this year. Those 24 - 36 games are enough for me to get my umpire fix without taking the fun out of it.
I have the same stories B-Dub has and I have started the book he has talked about. One story I enjoy telling... About 10 years ago, I am wrapping up our umpire clinic in San Marcos where we usually get mainly college kids. I'm talking to the youngen's about asking questions and throw out the line, "Some of my favorite times as an umpire have been having a beer in the parking lot talking rules." We end the clinic and a few weeks later start calling games. I would make sure to umpire a game with any umpire that had 0 umpiring experience. One of those kids was a guy named Clinton S. I shoot him a text about where to park, what color shirt we were wearing and asked if he was good taking the 2nd plate so he could watch me call the 1st. He shot back that he'd prefer to do the 1st plate and that he'd bring the beer. I lol'd, said ok, and we went and did the game. He brought a 6 pack and afterwards we sat out at the truck and went over things he did well and things to improve on. I turned him loose on any level of youth ball and went about the season.
The love interest. The park in San Marcos is owned by the city and they staff it with park rangers who help facilitate the volunteer score keepers, coaches and concession workers. One such Ranger, Jessica J, was a 25 year old woman who I became friends with. One night she tells me, "Josh, I need a man" I tell her I'm flattered but that I'm taken to which she replied "As if, I'd just go to the old folks home" We laugh and I tell her I have the perfect guy for her. I just need to check with him. I have her number and she says "If he's interested, have him call me." We part ways and I pass on the info to Clinton S. He says he'll give her a call. Time passes.
I'm out at the fields one night when she tells me that I'm the funniest person she knows. I agree with her but I'm not sure why. She couldn't believe that I would go through and have a high school student call her for a date. I pull out my phone, search my emails for Clinton's registration form and look.... The kid is 17 years old. He brought beer to our first game. Legend status confirmed.
The end of the story. Jessica and I play in the same softball league and she ends up meeting her husband shortly after. They have 3 kids and her oldest is the same age as my son and both went to the same day school. Clinton, is now a tax client and has his own small fencing business. I occasionally remind the 2 of the story and give updates on each other when I see them.
2007 CDP
http://www.cooperstowndreamspark.com/CDP/2007WeeklyResults/CDP2007WK5/2007WK5_Championship.html
[FONT="](left to right) Right Field Line: George Booth (West Monroe, LA); First Base: Steve Pelham (Highland, MD); Home Plate: Josh Schwartz (Kyle, TX); Second Base: Richard Sporl (San Diego, CA); Third Base: Bill Heede (Crystal Lake, IL); Left Field Line: Eddie Gray (Raleigh, NC)
[/FONT]Booth & Gray were both minor league umpires. Booth comes to me before the game and says, "Hey, As long as the first pitch isn't in the dirt or at the back stop, try to get a strike. The whole place will go nuts and no one will remember the first pitch."
The 1st pitch of the game is around the shknee. My brain said down, My mouth said Strike. The place lights up just like George said. I give him a look and he gives me the umpire clap.
- Mar 19, 2006
- 38,388
- 450
- 83
- 74
:0003
[FONT="]Computers can only definitively state whether a pitch has entered the rules book strike zone. That's it.
[/FONT]
Not quite. First base can be equipped to do away with umpires. As can second and third.
:0003 :0003
When I played Nintendo Baseball the Computer UMPS called Balls and Strike, there was never an issue....
April 3rd 2016
Tax Season 2016 - Autumn and I have a bookkeeping/tax business in San Marcos. From about Jan 15th thru April 15th we will work at least a Saturday or Sunday through the end of tax season. This weekend, Autumn worked the 2nd and I worked the 3rd. It was going to be a late night as we have a few businesses that walk in and drop off a years worth of books that need to be done. This Sunday evening I put on my head phones and listened to Wrestlemania. I stopped what I was doing and went to watch Shane McMahon, in his holy shit moment, jump off of the Hell in a Cell cage, down on to the broadcasters table. Wow - I watch the rest of the match and The Undertaker goes on to win. I remember at the end of the match he grabs Shane's lifeless body, holds his head in one hand and gives a pat of admiration on Shane's cheek that says, "Respect earned" and then Tombstones him for the pin.
April 5th 2016
Tax season and umpire season are in full swing. I hardly work any games during the week just because of the workload we have at the office. FYI - Tuesdays are varsity high school baseball and youth softball night. Remember the shitty umpires I referenced above. I had two of them on a Mustang Softball game in Manchaca 6:30pm. Mustang plays by PONY rules and these are 9-10 year old, kid pitch softball. Manchaca is in South Austin, 20 miles / 40 minutes from my office. This game pays $48 dollars. $24 & $24. About 4:30 umpire 1 drops out. Ok - So I offer umpire 2 $48 to run it solo. Crickets. About 5:30pm umpire 2 dumps the game back in my lap. I look at who we have calling at the field and I don't have a lot of choices for breaking up a field to run 2, 1-man fields. Fine, I'll go.
All umpires keep their gear and clothes in their vehicle during the season. You never know when you'll be needed. I hop in the truck and head to the furthest field we run and I'm on pace to be there 5 minutes til. I contact the commissioner and let him know that I'll be on the game but to let the coaches know that I'll be a game time arrivee. Dressing quickly, I'm tucking my shirt in with mask under my left arm as I walk towards the field. Head down I walk thru the home dugout which is vacant while they continue to warm up in the outfield. I know or know of the home coaches so I start heading towards the visiting team to see where they are from.
Skrrrrt. Confusion. There's a smoking hot 6 foot blonde with pigtails and fur boots making notes on her lineup card.
I walk up and lead with, "Well that would have been embarrassing."
She stops, locks eyes and firmly says, "What would be embarrassing?"
I look down at the boots and say, "I almost wore the same shoes."
That breaks the tension. I introduce myself and ask her to call me Josh during the game. She introduces herself as Mimi. I give her the good news that the trip from Lake Travis to Manchaca won't be a wasted trip and the bad news that they only have 1 umpire. She asks about a softball rule that involves a runner having to immediately advance or return to a base when the pitcher possesses the ball in the pitching circle. I tell her that I'm very familiar with that rule but let's talk about it at ground rules so that both coaches here it directly from my mouth. We head back to home plate and the other coach arrives. We talk about the look back rule and Mimi tells me that it was not called that way last time. We all shake hands. This is the 2nd hand shake with Mimi and there was nothing dainty about it. This was a high level athlete that knew how to convey authority with a handshake and her questions were purposeful and targeted. There were enough clues that I knew I needed to be on alert and call this game with disregard to the fact that it was just 9-10 year old little girls.
I meet the home team catcher and get her name. I ask her to call me Josh and tell her to take as many warm ups as her pitcher needs now but next inning just take 5. We move on an have an uneventful Top of the 1st. I say uneventful, but, Lake Travis did not score all of their 5 runs. Mustang Softball has a 5 run rule per half inning that changes sides so we play more than 1 inning a game.
The bottom half produces a new catcher. I say, "Hi, I'm Josh, call me Josh." She says, "I'm Maddy but you can call me Mad Dog."
"You got it Mad Dog, get as many pitches as your pitcher needs but next inning only take 5."
"Okay Josh"
I've worked the call me Josh angle for years and while a handful do, this is probably the first 10 year old softball player to do so and it is definitely the first person to tell me to call her by her nickname. I'm impressed. During the warm up, a ball gets past Mad Dog and I tell her, "I got it" and flipped her a ball. I walk to the backstop, bend over and pick up the ball and as I raise back up, I scan the faces in the bleachers. Donning a large gray sock like cap, think Rasta covering, is a man who is sprawled back on the 2nd to top top row but his feet are resting on the bottom row. He is looking out towards the field. I know this man.
"Balls in Mad Dog"
"Coming down"
Pitch 1 is a ball. Pitch 2 is a strike, Pitch 3 is hit for a single.
"Hey Mad Dog, is that the Undertaker in the stands"
"Yeah, I'm friends with his daughter. Her Mom coaches the team."
My head starts racing. I look to the dugout. That's Michelle McCool. This is a little out of the norm. LT holds Manchaca to 3 runs. That's a lot out of the norm. A full inning and we're not tied 5 to 5. Must be good umpiring. I'm not big on fanboying but because of the circumstances, tonight after the game, I'm going to ask for a picture and/or ask for an autograph on the lineup card.
There is a term called Rabbit Ears among umpires. It is usually used when an umpire hears something off of the field and then reacts to it. That umpire gets told, you need to turn off your rabbit ears. That has always meant to me, listen but don't react. I hear a few people ask for autographs and pictures during the game and Taker responds, "Thank you for asking, I really appreciate you being a fan, but tonight I'm just a Dad watching his daughter play ball so I'm not taking pictures or signing autographs." No picture request, no autograph request, thank you Rabbit Ears.
Mid game, I see Taker walking to restroom and he is moving like a guy that was in a car crash and then his helicopter went down on the starflight to the hospital. He was hurting. This is when I finally realized that he was just coming up on the 48 hour mark since his Wrestlemania match.
The game rolls along to the 4th and we're coming up against the time limit. LT brings in a new pitcher. The first pitch of the inning is mid shin or high ankle depending on which team you are rooting for. While this sounds like an easy ball call, in Mustang softball a ball that crosses the plate below eye level and doesn't bounce has a high probability of being called a strike. I don't give in and I ball it. A deep grumbling sound of disappointment reached my ear by way of my tingling spine. "I don't think the Undertaker liked my call Mad Dog." "Cool as ice she responds, "It was a little low Josh." I make note that I now know that the new pitcher is the Undertaker's daughter.
She gets out of the inning without giving up a run which was impressive because LT had battled back to tie the game up in the top half of the 4th. Time had expired. I notified the coaches and you could tell both teams thought they could win the game. Josh A., the Softball commissioner at the time was at the fields, and I asked if they still had the play 1 extra inning if tied rule at Manchaca? He replied, "Sure, there's no game after this one." Everyone cheered!!! Everyone, except the umpire. lol.
LT comes out and scores 5 runs and we switch sides. Manchaca scores 4 and Mimi brings her infield in with a runner on 3rd. The batter dinks a ball over the 1st baseman and we have ourselves a good ol fashioned Mustang Softball 5 & 5. Ball Game, Tie Game. I get in line and good game the players and shake the coaches hands one last time.
I head for the visitors dugout and the Undertaker is on the other side of the fence. He extends his fingers through the chain link offering a handshake and says, "I sure hate ties"
"You know Mark, the only thing worse is a double count out"
I shot my shot and to his credit, he did not bat an eye at being called his first name. The nerves kind of hit me because I didn't know what to say afterwards. I looked him in his eyes and patted my right cheek twice and said, "I thought that was really cool."
I got a head nod. I said,"Y'all be safe" and he replied "You too" and I walked back to my car so that I could text the 2 dumbasses that had bailed on their game that they had missed the chance to umpire in front of the Undertaker. That's the last softball game I've umpired.
I've told this story quite a few times but never written it out. This was the day I met Mimi, Mark & Mad Dog
Here's the high spot from the WM Match
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KtK8V6l9l0A?start=128" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
Tax Season 2016 - Autumn and I have a bookkeeping/tax business in San Marcos. From about Jan 15th thru April 15th we will work at least a Saturday or Sunday through the end of tax season. This weekend, Autumn worked the 2nd and I worked the 3rd. It was going to be a late night as we have a few businesses that walk in and drop off a years worth of books that need to be done. This Sunday evening I put on my head phones and listened to Wrestlemania. I stopped what I was doing and went to watch Shane McMahon, in his holy shit moment, jump off of the Hell in a Cell cage, down on to the broadcasters table. Wow - I watch the rest of the match and The Undertaker goes on to win. I remember at the end of the match he grabs Shane's lifeless body, holds his head in one hand and gives a pat of admiration on Shane's cheek that says, "Respect earned" and then Tombstones him for the pin.
April 5th 2016
Tax season and umpire season are in full swing. I hardly work any games during the week just because of the workload we have at the office. FYI - Tuesdays are varsity high school baseball and youth softball night. Remember the shitty umpires I referenced above. I had two of them on a Mustang Softball game in Manchaca 6:30pm. Mustang plays by PONY rules and these are 9-10 year old, kid pitch softball. Manchaca is in South Austin, 20 miles / 40 minutes from my office. This game pays $48 dollars. $24 & $24. About 4:30 umpire 1 drops out. Ok - So I offer umpire 2 $48 to run it solo. Crickets. About 5:30pm umpire 2 dumps the game back in my lap. I look at who we have calling at the field and I don't have a lot of choices for breaking up a field to run 2, 1-man fields. Fine, I'll go.
All umpires keep their gear and clothes in their vehicle during the season. You never know when you'll be needed. I hop in the truck and head to the furthest field we run and I'm on pace to be there 5 minutes til. I contact the commissioner and let him know that I'll be on the game but to let the coaches know that I'll be a game time arrivee. Dressing quickly, I'm tucking my shirt in with mask under my left arm as I walk towards the field. Head down I walk thru the home dugout which is vacant while they continue to warm up in the outfield. I know or know of the home coaches so I start heading towards the visiting team to see where they are from.
Skrrrrt. Confusion. There's a smoking hot 6 foot blonde with pigtails and fur boots making notes on her lineup card.
I walk up and lead with, "Well that would have been embarrassing."
She stops, locks eyes and firmly says, "What would be embarrassing?"
I look down at the boots and say, "I almost wore the same shoes."
That breaks the tension. I introduce myself and ask her to call me Josh during the game. She introduces herself as Mimi. I give her the good news that the trip from Lake Travis to Manchaca won't be a wasted trip and the bad news that they only have 1 umpire. She asks about a softball rule that involves a runner having to immediately advance or return to a base when the pitcher possesses the ball in the pitching circle. I tell her that I'm very familiar with that rule but let's talk about it at ground rules so that both coaches here it directly from my mouth. We head back to home plate and the other coach arrives. We talk about the look back rule and Mimi tells me that it was not called that way last time. We all shake hands. This is the 2nd hand shake with Mimi and there was nothing dainty about it. This was a high level athlete that knew how to convey authority with a handshake and her questions were purposeful and targeted. There were enough clues that I knew I needed to be on alert and call this game with disregard to the fact that it was just 9-10 year old little girls.
I meet the home team catcher and get her name. I ask her to call me Josh and tell her to take as many warm ups as her pitcher needs now but next inning just take 5. We move on an have an uneventful Top of the 1st. I say uneventful, but, Lake Travis did not score all of their 5 runs. Mustang Softball has a 5 run rule per half inning that changes sides so we play more than 1 inning a game.
The bottom half produces a new catcher. I say, "Hi, I'm Josh, call me Josh." She says, "I'm Maddy but you can call me Mad Dog."
"You got it Mad Dog, get as many pitches as your pitcher needs but next inning only take 5."
"Okay Josh"
I've worked the call me Josh angle for years and while a handful do, this is probably the first 10 year old softball player to do so and it is definitely the first person to tell me to call her by her nickname. I'm impressed. During the warm up, a ball gets past Mad Dog and I tell her, "I got it" and flipped her a ball. I walk to the backstop, bend over and pick up the ball and as I raise back up, I scan the faces in the bleachers. Donning a large gray sock like cap, think Rasta covering, is a man who is sprawled back on the 2nd to top top row but his feet are resting on the bottom row. He is looking out towards the field. I know this man.
"Balls in Mad Dog"
"Coming down"
Pitch 1 is a ball. Pitch 2 is a strike, Pitch 3 is hit for a single.
"Hey Mad Dog, is that the Undertaker in the stands"
"Yeah, I'm friends with his daughter. Her Mom coaches the team."
My head starts racing. I look to the dugout. That's Michelle McCool. This is a little out of the norm. LT holds Manchaca to 3 runs. That's a lot out of the norm. A full inning and we're not tied 5 to 5. Must be good umpiring. I'm not big on fanboying but because of the circumstances, tonight after the game, I'm going to ask for a picture and/or ask for an autograph on the lineup card.
There is a term called Rabbit Ears among umpires. It is usually used when an umpire hears something off of the field and then reacts to it. That umpire gets told, you need to turn off your rabbit ears. That has always meant to me, listen but don't react. I hear a few people ask for autographs and pictures during the game and Taker responds, "Thank you for asking, I really appreciate you being a fan, but tonight I'm just a Dad watching his daughter play ball so I'm not taking pictures or signing autographs." No picture request, no autograph request, thank you Rabbit Ears.
Mid game, I see Taker walking to restroom and he is moving like a guy that was in a car crash and then his helicopter went down on the starflight to the hospital. He was hurting. This is when I finally realized that he was just coming up on the 48 hour mark since his Wrestlemania match.
The game rolls along to the 4th and we're coming up against the time limit. LT brings in a new pitcher. The first pitch of the inning is mid shin or high ankle depending on which team you are rooting for. While this sounds like an easy ball call, in Mustang softball a ball that crosses the plate below eye level and doesn't bounce has a high probability of being called a strike. I don't give in and I ball it. A deep grumbling sound of disappointment reached my ear by way of my tingling spine. "I don't think the Undertaker liked my call Mad Dog." "Cool as ice she responds, "It was a little low Josh." I make note that I now know that the new pitcher is the Undertaker's daughter.
She gets out of the inning without giving up a run which was impressive because LT had battled back to tie the game up in the top half of the 4th. Time had expired. I notified the coaches and you could tell both teams thought they could win the game. Josh A., the Softball commissioner at the time was at the fields, and I asked if they still had the play 1 extra inning if tied rule at Manchaca? He replied, "Sure, there's no game after this one." Everyone cheered!!! Everyone, except the umpire. lol.
LT comes out and scores 5 runs and we switch sides. Manchaca scores 4 and Mimi brings her infield in with a runner on 3rd. The batter dinks a ball over the 1st baseman and we have ourselves a good ol fashioned Mustang Softball 5 & 5. Ball Game, Tie Game. I get in line and good game the players and shake the coaches hands one last time.
I head for the visitors dugout and the Undertaker is on the other side of the fence. He extends his fingers through the chain link offering a handshake and says, "I sure hate ties"
"You know Mark, the only thing worse is a double count out"
I shot my shot and to his credit, he did not bat an eye at being called his first name. The nerves kind of hit me because I didn't know what to say afterwards. I looked him in his eyes and patted my right cheek twice and said, "I thought that was really cool."
I got a head nod. I said,"Y'all be safe" and he replied "You too" and I walked back to my car so that I could text the 2 dumbasses that had bailed on their game that they had missed the chance to umpire in front of the Undertaker. That's the last softball game I've umpired.
I've told this story quite a few times but never written it out. This was the day I met Mimi, Mark & Mad Dog
Here's the high spot from the WM Match
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KtK8V6l9l0A?start=128" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
Last edited:
- Mar 19, 2006
- 38,388
- 450
- 83
- 74
This is the book I started writing. I'd let you read it but I discovered writing a book is harder than it sounds.
Back on topic - What you are talking about would only be feasible at the Major League level and possibly Minors. College - Maybe D1. That's as far as you can go.
There are other judgment calls that would be tough to account for.
Ejections
Obstruction
Interference
Balks
Calling Time
Infield Fly
Check swings
Like many things in life, it shouldn't be one or the other. A combination of the two is the right way to go. There is technology that could and should be implemented to help get calls right and they need to work on making it easier to integrate in to the game.
Could you imagine Earl Weaver yelling at a computer. That's horse shit.
Not saying it would ever happen (hell, maybe the strikezone....not sure) but the technology is possible. Obviously the list above couldn't be replaced....but the things that piss everybody off would be eliminated.
