The Umpires aren't always wrong
By Tim Peterson
I’m going to go against the grain. I’m going to buck tradition, try to swim upstream. I’m going to cheer when everybody else is booing. I’m going to defend the umpires. That’s right I’m standing up for the boys in blue. Even when they’re right they hear it. They aren’t wrong every time and it’s time the coaches and the fans, (especially the fans), learn that.
I’ve covered at least eight baseball games in the last two weeks and not once have I seen bad umpiring. Oh sure there was a close call now and then, one that could have gone either way, but the umps made the calls and stood by them. There’s no instant replay so in a split second you go with what you saw and it looked to me like they were right on. But not according to the 30 or 40 wannabe umpires in the stands. They were met with cries of “Idiot!” and “terrible!” and other names that I can’t repeat.
The home plate umpires have it the worst. Every ball or strike call is met with moans and groans by some guy in the stands who apparently wrote the book on pitch location. I’m sick of seeing fathers trying to relive their childhood through their sons and can’t accept the fact that little Johnny just struck out.
I saw one kid take three fastballs right down the middle of the plate only to have some middle aged guy behind the backstop (apparently his dad) absolutely rip the umpire for ringing the kid up. He yelled and screamed and berated the ump while telling him to learn the game. Hey here’s a thought – tell your kid to swing the bat.
At one game the first base umpire called a balk. After consulting with the third base ump, the call was reversed and the runner was told to go back to second. I’m thinking ‘wow, nice job’. They talked it over and determined that the original call was incorrect. They made sure and then got it right. But the guy sitting next to me in a lawn chair went berserk.
“C’mon blue! You can’t reverse a balk call! Read your rulebook! You can’t reverse a balk call!” How he knew this I have no idea. He didn’t have a rule book there of his own yet he was convinced he was right. He finished off his tirade with “Moron!”
Now is it just balks that can’t be reversed or other calls as well? What about check swings? Interference calls? Can they be reversed? Well the bottom line was apparently they can be because the umpires just did.
I never get involved with these belligerent knuckleheads but I came close last week. From the first pitch in the first inning to the last toss in the seventh a certain fan was on the umpire.
I confirmed later he was a father of one of the players which I suspected as soon as I heard him. High and outside pitches that were correctly called balls by the umpire brought derisive, loud criticisms from the clueless fan. Strikes from the opposing team were also met with cries from the loud mouth.
At one time or another he called the umpire a drunk, a racist, biased, blind and stupid. And that was just in the first inning. Of course he was deathly silent when his son committed an error or struck out which happened a number of times.
The funny thing was the umpire called a near perfect game. He was consistent on both sides, and didn’t seem to miss a thing.
At one point, the father even denigrated other players from his son’s team. “Let’s go son, you’ll have to do it yourself. You don’t have any defense around you!” he bellowed as several other parents turned and stared at him.
The umpires aren’t always wrong and most of the time they’re right. Who is the real idiot? The fan from last week finally found out…when he went home and looked in the mirror.
That’s my principle.
Tim can be reached at tspeterson@yahoo.com.
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