DON'T SHOOT THE UMPIRE!

The Middle East is a powder keg, not unlike Baltimore, Chicago or New York.  Climate change, if you believe Al Gore (I don’t) will be the death of us all..especially our kids; two women with seriously opposing points of view may vie for president yet this blog is about the proper role of the major league baseball umpire.  Forgive me.

I once played a season of adult slowpitch softball (“D” League) in Spokane, Washington; at the same time I was  an American Softball Association (ASA) certified umpire for the same class of play.  I enjoyed both immensely. But I felt more a part of the game when I was umpiring.  When one loves the game, every play in which the umpire participates is exciting, to the honest umpire.  Umpire trainers say the umpires are not to be a part of the game.  To that I say, “You’re outta here”!  I remained professional as an umpire, albeit less experienced than most, but placed more energy into many of my calls than others did and often enjoyed the game more than the players did. That was easy for me since my motto was, “you make a bad play, you lose; I make a bad call, you lose.”

Recently I stumbled on several videos (YouTube) (“MLB Ejections Compilation” and others) of controversial and contentious ejections of players, managers, and even a fan and was unsettled at the criticism of the umpires and the sympathy the broadcasters, nearly all former baseball players, had for the players. Which one is paid $500,000 a game and which is paid $1,500 a game (my estimate)?  I have no sympathy for the higher-paid one. The game needs a few umpires (chosen in part for personality) in the broadcast booth!  These ejected players and managers were not civil as one would find in a courtroom or a tennis court; these kids were childish - think a five year-old throwing a tantrum at school.  These clowns threw their equipment, ripped up bases from the infield and tossed them around, kicked dirt over the bases and plates to cover them, tossed bags of baseballs and bats on the field, and occasionally, to my pleasure, were suspended and fined in addition to being ejected from the game.

The game needs umpires for the usual reasons.  However, they are human, they will make errors - as do the players - and they are very much a part of the game. An umpire’s bad call does not hurt that game any more than the player dropping a fly ball. Both are unfortunate and somewhat random events.  Both teams will gain and lose from bad calls and player mistakes.  Both are errors and both are human.  During umpire schooling we were encouraged to let the players play, i.e. do not eject a player for a minor skirmish (I never did toss anyone; I am sure a pitcher once addressed me with four-letter words, but I did not hear him well and could not get him to admit it or I would have tossed him).  All organized sports must enforce civility.  Civility is increasingly a lost art.  These multi-million dollar clowns often don’t mature beyond the age of five, or at least have difficulty managing anger.  I suppose the tossed player is concerned that any missed opportunity to play (having been tossed out or called out erroneously on strikes) might cost him an extra million in the next contract negotiations. It follows then that it is in his best interests to follow the rules, accept the bad calls and move on rather than getting himself ejected, further costing himself and his teammates.  Often the broadcasters in these videos commented that the playoffs or world series are too important to toss players.  I don’t think so.  Make the point that no matter the stress and tension, the players will maintain decorum.  Bad call?  Bad luck!  Get tossed and lose the game?  Your fault.  The umpires are not looking for blood. They bring order to the game.  All the while remember you players are (unfortunately in some cases) the idols of millions of youngsters.

A strict well-entrenched rule is that a player may not question the ball and strike call; no matter how bad; nor is the call subject to formal review.  A player who does object risks quick ejection.  Yet these videos show these clowns protesting the call, getting ejected and then throwing a tantrum.

Much of this behavior is intended to be theatrical, especially in front of a home crowd.  The player is outraged (sometimes legitimately); the manager and other players race to keep the player away from the umpire but arrive too late.  The player is ejected. The manager, gesturing frantically and two inches away from the umpire’s face then gets ejected, all to the the boos (or cheers if it is the opposing team) of the home crowd. There is no reason that the umpire need dodge his role in this Broadway production. One section in the video showed an umpire following a player to the dugout, arguing after having ejected him.  The sympathetic broadcasters said it was the umpire’s duty to back down.  Maybe not; we don’t know what the player said and certainly the player has a lot more to lose than the umpire.  Many years ago (see Footnote on Emmett Ashford), there was a black major league umpire who was, in my opinion, quite entertaining; he did not just call “out” or “safe” he danced around, gesturing energetically.  Often I found that much more entertaining than the game.  Not that the game should be trivialized but, again, umpires are very much a part of the game, like it or not.  Who has not watched the umpire during an extremely close call at a base or home plate?  The fielder is in position to receive the ball and tag the runner; the runner is heading for the plate/base as fast as he can….the fielder either touched the player before he gets to the base or the player gets there first.  The play is completed; the eyes are on the umpire. He decides.  What is there about this play that is not exciting to the umpire, or the crowd and if the play is close enough you can bet the losing team is going to be pissed. That does not mean the call was bad.

I am in a minority in this view but I hold tight to it.  “You play baseball; I’ll do the umpiring.”  If we see the end of umpiring as we know it, perhaps replaced by cameras and computers I will take up a sport more exciting,  perhaps tortoise racing.


FOOTNOTE: Emmett Ashford

From Wikipedia

Emmett Ashford (1914 - 1980) spent most of his professional life in baseball.  He enjoyed many years in the minor leagues, leaving the Post Office for his first full time job with baseball in 1951.  On April 11, 1966, Mr. Ashford made his debut in the American League in Washington D.C. He spent four years in the big leagues before retiring to go to work in public relations for baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn in 1971.  Before he was promoted to the big leagues, many thought his being held back was racism but some opined that, according to Wikipedia, “...his flashy style delayed his major league debut due to the general disdain for umpires to draw attention to themselves.” Mr. Ashford, was credited in “The Sporting News” that “...for the first time in history of the grand old American game, baseball fans may buy a ticket to watch an umpire perform.” He was famous for sprinting around the infield after foul balls or plays on the bases.  His dress was flashy.

Mr. Ashford died of a heart attack at age 65, Mr. Kuhn eulogizing that Mr. Ashford  in baseball was, “...the colorful, lively personality he was all his life.”  His ashes are interred in Cooperstown, NY, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.