WEBVTT 00:00:14.349 --> 00:00:16.929 Welcome to Blue Crew Diaries, an umpire podcast. 00:00:17.329 --> 00:00:19.890 My name is Daryl and I will be your host as we 00:00:19.890 --> 00:00:22.670 take a look behind the mask, so to speak, sharing 00:00:22.670 --> 00:00:25.809 stories, insights, and experiences from the unique 00:00:25.809 --> 00:00:29.129 perspective of the baseball umpire. In this episode, 00:00:29.210 --> 00:00:31.989 we finish off the regular season and talk about 00:00:31.989 --> 00:00:34.350 how to deal with negative comments from players 00:00:34.350 --> 00:00:37.840 and coaches. If you have any questions, comments, 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:40.640 or ideas for future episodes, drop me a line 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:45.280 at bluecrewdiaries at gmail .com. So if you're 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:47.759 ready, grab your indicator and plate brush, and 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:55.560 let's hit the field. Alright everybody, welcome 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:57.899 back to another episode of Blue Crew Diaries 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:03.619 and Umpire Podcast. Happy Independence Day. It 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:07.469 is July 4th. The morning of that I am recording 00:01:07.469 --> 00:01:12.250 this. So happy 4th of July. If you live in the 00:01:12.250 --> 00:01:14.989 United States. If you do not live in the United 00:01:14.989 --> 00:01:18.810 States. Happy Friday. Hope you have a good weekend 00:01:18.810 --> 00:01:25.810 planned. So. As always. Check out the Little 00:01:25.810 --> 00:01:28.549 League Umpire Registry. LittleLeagueUmpire .org 00:01:28.549 --> 00:01:32.620 Get signed up for that. They've got. educational 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:36.780 stuff on there from rules challenge to mechanics 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:40.760 videos to every pretty much everything in between 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:46.420 so be sure to sign up for that if you are working 00:01:46.420 --> 00:01:51.659 your tournament games check out the california 00:01:51.659 --> 00:01:55.260 district for rules clinics on youtube they have 00:01:55.260 --> 00:02:00.640 a couple that are specific to tournament time, 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:04.099 and the road to Williamsport. So be sure to check 00:02:04.099 --> 00:02:08.639 those out. Up here in the state of Maine, we 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:12.300 are into the road to Williamsport. The first 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:18.379 week of games are complete. Obviously cut a little 00:02:18.379 --> 00:02:22.599 bit short due to the 4th of July holiday. Two 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:26.219 teams have already been eliminated from my local 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:31.599 district tournament. And, yeah, I actually got 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.960 to work one of those games, and we'll get into 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:38.340 that in a little bit. But as far as the finish 00:02:38.340 --> 00:02:42.900 of the regular season, I don't think it went 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:48.520 too awful bad. My local league had what I would 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:53.699 call a city tournament amongst the four teams 00:02:53.699 --> 00:02:59.800 in majors for the league. And, thankfully, I 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:04.379 was able to work all four games. I worked the 00:03:04.379 --> 00:03:09.599 first, I think we had four games. Do we have 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:13.060 four games? One, two, three, four. Yeah, four 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:17.099 games, I believe. Four or five. Yeah, I honestly 00:03:17.099 --> 00:03:19.860 don't remember. If I was smart, I would have 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:23.039 looked it up ahead of time. But, well, you know 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:31.379 me. uh so i got to work all of the games um i 00:03:31.379 --> 00:03:36.139 believe the first let me look here one two three 00:03:36.139 --> 00:03:40.599 four five games that's what we had so uh the 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:44.319 first four games i got to work with my favorite 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:50.740 partner darren um the that fourth game uh we 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:56.840 had a third umpire with us and then The championship 00:03:56.840 --> 00:04:01.039 game. Darren was not available. He already had 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:05.020 prior commitments. To other things. So I ended 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:09.719 up. Being asked to work that game. With three. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:16.259 Other. Main District 3 umpires. Who I had. Never 00:04:16.259 --> 00:04:21.079 worked with before. That was. Pretty interesting. 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:27.360 Considering the plate umpire. If any of you are 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:29.319 Little League umpires up here in the state of 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:34.240 Maine or have taken any training down in Bristol, 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:37.360 Connecticut, the East Region headquarters, you 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.660 may know the name Troy Richardson. Troy Richardson 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:47.199 was the played umpire for the city championship 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:53.519 game. Honestly, I never even thought I would 00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:00.199 meet. Troy Richardson let alone work a game with 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:06.019 him so that was an experience in itself Troy 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:11.480 was a great great guy good umpire he he really 00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:15.180 even during the game he saw a couple things that 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:22.040 I was doing that he thought hey maybe I can you 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:25.870 know talk to him and You know, really get him 00:05:25.870 --> 00:05:28.629 on board with what Little League is teaching 00:05:28.629 --> 00:05:32.449 now as far as mechanics and things like that. 00:05:32.970 --> 00:05:35.310 And even during the game, he came over a couple 00:05:35.310 --> 00:05:37.750 of times and said, hey, you know, I noticed you're 00:05:37.750 --> 00:05:40.449 doing this. You know, try to do it this way. 00:05:41.430 --> 00:05:44.050 One of the things was the way that I call time. 00:05:45.509 --> 00:05:51.870 I am not really a loud individual when I'm out 00:05:51.870 --> 00:05:55.209 on the field. The first year or two I was umpiring, 00:05:55.370 --> 00:05:58.350 I was actually told, dude, you need to speak 00:05:58.350 --> 00:06:02.990 up because people can't hear you. So when I call 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:09.910 time, I'm so used to hands up, up above my head, 00:06:09.970 --> 00:06:16.230 like full arm extension, time. Okay, hands a 00:06:16.230 --> 00:06:20.290 little more than shoulder width apart, and probably 00:06:20.290 --> 00:06:23.089 get my hands up about a foot above my head. to 00:06:23.089 --> 00:06:27.410 call time, make it blatantly obvious so everybody 00:06:27.410 --> 00:06:31.569 can see it even if they can't hear it. And apparently 00:06:31.569 --> 00:06:35.310 what Little League is teaching now is instead 00:06:35.310 --> 00:06:41.850 of going way out and up high, bring your hands 00:06:41.850 --> 00:06:45.290 right out in front of you like you're trying 00:06:45.290 --> 00:06:48.550 to stop a bus. That's literally the way Troy 00:06:48.550 --> 00:06:51.949 explained it to me. He said, You're trying to 00:06:51.949 --> 00:06:58.350 stop a bus. So hands out in front of you, probably 00:06:58.350 --> 00:07:01.870 about eye level, maybe a little bit lower, and 00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:05.490 about shoulder width apart, and just bang, straight 00:07:05.490 --> 00:07:09.970 out like you're trying to stop a bus. Time. That 00:07:09.970 --> 00:07:14.009 is how you do it these days. And he took time 00:07:14.009 --> 00:07:20.199 in between innings to teach me that. There were 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:24.620 a couple other things that he didn't take issue 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:27.939 with. He just thought, hey, maybe I should mention 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:32.959 to him, you know, if there's like a pickoff attempt 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:37.379 or something like that, and it's not even really 00:07:37.379 --> 00:07:42.819 a play. I was working third base, and runner 00:07:42.819 --> 00:07:46.839 comes in, slides in, and the ball isn't even 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:51.819 thrown. To third. To try to get the out. For 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:54.060 whatever reason. I would stand there. And I would 00:07:54.060 --> 00:07:56.560 still just give a real simple. Safe mechanic. 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:01.920 Well. Obviously everybody knows he's safe. Because 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:04.920 the ball was never even thrown down there. So. 00:08:06.019 --> 00:08:09.180 You don't need to signal. On that. That was one 00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:12.199 of the other things that. That Troy gave me. 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:16.160 He says just. You know. If it's blatantly obvious. 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:22.290 It's like. a foul ball that goes flying up and 00:08:22.290 --> 00:08:26.370 over the backstop and over the tower and lands 00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:29.930 half in the road, as the plate umpire, do you 00:08:29.930 --> 00:08:33.809 really need to signal foul? Everybody, I mean, 00:08:33.809 --> 00:08:37.350 Stevie Wonder could see that this ball went foul. 00:08:37.850 --> 00:08:41.950 So you really don't need to do anything with 00:08:41.950 --> 00:08:48.889 that. Let's see. So that game was interesting. 00:08:50.129 --> 00:08:54.470 The game prior to that, I did have one slight 00:08:54.470 --> 00:08:59.389 issue. This was the three umpire game with myself 00:08:59.389 --> 00:09:06.590 on third, Darren behind the plate. And I honestly 00:09:06.590 --> 00:09:09.590 now can't remember the name of the first base 00:09:09.590 --> 00:09:12.289 umpire. But he was someone I hadn't worked with 00:09:12.289 --> 00:09:16.059 yet. He did good. He did good. over at first 00:09:16.059 --> 00:09:23.100 had some good calls you know we were fine until 00:09:23.100 --> 00:09:27.080 we get into I believe it was the fifth inning 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:37.639 and I'm over in C and I don't remember exactly 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:39.519 what happened I think there was a runner on first 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:44.519 and there was a A line drive to the outfield 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:46.620 or something like that. I'm trying to remember 00:09:46.620 --> 00:09:50.919 the exact play, which I can't remember, so I 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:56.740 apologize. So the runner from first took off 00:09:56.740 --> 00:09:59.740 when he was supposed to, when the ball reached 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:02.320 the batter. He made sure it wasn't going to be 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:04.419 caught in the outfield, and he took off running. 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:12.940 He rounded second, made it into third. And the 00:10:12.940 --> 00:10:17.659 batter -runner ended up with a double. So he's 00:10:17.659 --> 00:10:22.679 now standing on second. Time is called by the 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:28.960 defensive manager. And he comes out to change 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:37.039 out his pitcher. During this time, he replaces 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:39.259 the pitcher. And then he goes over and he starts 00:10:39.259 --> 00:10:44.419 talking to Darren about... Something. I don't 00:10:44.419 --> 00:10:47.299 know what he's talking to Darren about. He's 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:49.879 talking to him about something. And I hear something 00:10:49.879 --> 00:10:53.639 about... So, it just needs to be live, right? 00:10:56.059 --> 00:10:58.179 I'm still not making the connection at this point 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:04.559 as to what the hell is going on here. So, warm 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:06.120 -up pitches for the new pitcher are completed. 00:11:07.980 --> 00:11:10.340 Darren puts the ball back in play. Everybody's 00:11:10.340 --> 00:11:13.710 in position. Ready to go. Darren calls play. 00:11:14.690 --> 00:11:17.509 And I hear the manager yell out to the pitcher, 00:11:17.750 --> 00:11:23.509 step off the rubber. I still don't know what's 00:11:23.509 --> 00:11:28.549 going on. Of course, this has been a couple of 00:11:28.549 --> 00:11:33.429 minutes delay and just standing around while 00:11:33.429 --> 00:11:35.190 the pitcher gets switched out and the warm -up 00:11:35.190 --> 00:11:40.200 pitches and everything. The manager yells to 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:42.000 the pitcher a couple of times, step off the rubber. 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:44.820 He finally steps off the rubber. He says, okay, 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:49.559 now throw to second. He throws to second. And 00:11:49.559 --> 00:11:53.440 what ended up happening was they were trying 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:57.279 to appeal that the runner, who is now on third 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:06.870 base, did not touch second when he ran by. And 00:12:06.870 --> 00:12:11.210 everybody is now looking at me on this appeal. 00:12:14.429 --> 00:12:19.149 Because technically, I should know this. I should 00:12:19.149 --> 00:12:21.929 have been looking at the touch when he came around. 00:12:23.470 --> 00:12:28.750 But again, you know, this has been like two, 00:12:28.830 --> 00:12:33.070 three minutes at this point. I honestly don't 00:12:33.070 --> 00:12:38.659 remember even looking. To see if he touched at 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:42.299 second. But that wasn't even what was going through 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:48.519 my head. The manager is yelling out to me. Did 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:53.720 he touch second? And I'm looking at him. And 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:58.039 I'm looking at second base. And I'm thinking 00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:01.659 to myself. What do you mean did he touch second? 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:07.509 He's standing on it for crying out loud. I wasn't 00:13:07.509 --> 00:13:09.610 thinking they were appealing the runner that's 00:13:09.610 --> 00:13:14.409 now at third, missing second. I, for whatever 00:13:14.409 --> 00:13:19.049 reason, probably because I'm an idiot, I'm thinking 00:13:19.049 --> 00:13:24.889 they're asking about the runner that's currently 00:13:24.889 --> 00:13:29.549 on second. Well, he's literally standing on the 00:13:29.549 --> 00:13:34.419 base. What do you mean, did he miss it? I'm completely 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:39.100 out of the loop at this point. And everybody's 00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:42.379 looking at me and Darren's trying to ask me, 00:13:42.460 --> 00:13:45.379 you know, he's trying to tell me, you know, they're 00:13:45.379 --> 00:13:47.259 appealing whether the runner missed second or 00:13:47.259 --> 00:13:53.659 not. And I'm like, I don't know. This was, you 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:56.080 know, this might as well have been forever ago. 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:07.419 Like. I don't know. I can't tell you. Luckily, 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:14.019 the umpire, and I apologize for not remembering 00:14:14.019 --> 00:14:15.720 your name, dude. If you're listening, I'm sorry. 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:24.679 That whole week is just one big blur. But luckily, 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:28.919 he had been paying attention, and he saw that 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:32.429 runner touch second when he went by. 100 % yes, 00:14:32.470 --> 00:14:37.730 he did touch. From the angle I had, he did touch. 00:14:37.809 --> 00:14:40.909 So that first base umpire kind of saved my bacon 00:14:40.909 --> 00:14:45.330 a little bit there. But I didn't really win too 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:49.629 many brownie points with that manager. And the 00:14:49.629 --> 00:14:53.009 other problem is that manager is also the board 00:14:53.009 --> 00:14:57.429 member that was kind of maybe overseeing the 00:14:57.429 --> 00:15:03.029 umpiring this year. So, yeah, I did not win any 00:15:03.029 --> 00:15:06.950 brownie points with him on that one, I don't 00:15:06.950 --> 00:15:11.289 believe. I think he was, he may have been a little 00:15:11.289 --> 00:15:18.710 ticked off at me for that one. But, you know, 00:15:18.750 --> 00:15:25.049 is what it is, I guess. So, the fourth, or the 00:15:25.049 --> 00:15:28.389 last game, the fifth game with four umpire crew. 00:15:29.839 --> 00:15:31.919 I kind of got beat up a little bit on that one 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:37.759 as well. And here's what I mean. Third inning, 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:45.000 runner coming into third on, I believe it was 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:51.460 on a pass ball. The ball is thrown to the third 00:15:51.460 --> 00:15:56.039 baseman. Third baseman comes in, leaves an open 00:15:56.039 --> 00:16:00.009 lane to the base for the runner. Gets the ball, 00:16:00.129 --> 00:16:06.350 brings the glove down. I am right on top of this 00:16:06.350 --> 00:16:10.590 ball. Right on this play. I'm literally standing 00:16:10.590 --> 00:16:15.750 there at a 45 degree angle to the bag. On the 00:16:15.750 --> 00:16:18.669 outside, I'm literally standing in foul territory. 00:16:19.970 --> 00:16:23.629 I'm at a 45 degree angle and I'm about maybe 00:16:23.629 --> 00:16:31.889 5 feet from the play. The runner comes in, slides, 00:16:32.070 --> 00:16:40.509 and the fielder's glove just barely caught the 00:16:40.509 --> 00:16:49.870 top of the lead foot as the runner slid in. I 00:16:49.870 --> 00:16:54.590 punched the runner out. Not too enthusiastically. 00:16:55.970 --> 00:17:01.519 I watched the play. The third baseman had the 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:05.319 ball, and it was voluntary release. Yes, I saw 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:13.640 the tag. I came up, hammer, he's out. The offensive 00:17:13.640 --> 00:17:18.420 manager, or coach, is standing in the third base 00:17:18.420 --> 00:17:21.259 coach's box, literally only a couple of feet 00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:28.819 away from me, to my right. The runner never argued. 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:35.859 He just stood up, ran back to the dugout. I came 00:17:35.859 --> 00:17:39.799 up. I gave the hammer. I said, he's out. And 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:44.119 the manager looks at me and says, oh, come on. 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:51.160 Really, Daryl? All pissed off. And then he says, 00:17:51.279 --> 00:18:00.250 honestly, it wasn't even that close. Well. You 00:18:00.250 --> 00:18:03.789 are literally standing only a couple of feet 00:18:03.789 --> 00:18:06.130 away from me and we're both within five to six 00:18:06.130 --> 00:18:12.630 feet of this play. Apparently, you didn't see 00:18:12.630 --> 00:18:18.970 something that I saw. Come find out after the 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:24.470 game when we were doing our post game on the 00:18:24.470 --> 00:18:30.809 parking lot. Troy Richardson. was looking, he 00:18:30.809 --> 00:18:35.789 saw the runner go on the pass ball. And once 00:18:35.789 --> 00:18:39.150 he located the ball, he looked down my way and 00:18:39.150 --> 00:18:46.369 he saw the glove just catch the top of the lead 00:18:46.369 --> 00:18:50.650 foot of the runner. He told me that. He said, 00:18:50.670 --> 00:18:53.250 you were in perfect position for that play and 00:18:53.250 --> 00:18:58.549 you nailed it. He says, You nailed the call. 00:18:58.690 --> 00:19:02.990 You saw the tag. He says, just barely tagged 00:19:02.990 --> 00:19:06.309 him. He says, but you saw the tag. Your timing 00:19:06.309 --> 00:19:09.029 was perfect. You were in the absolute perfect 00:19:09.029 --> 00:19:16.450 position to make that call. Very well done. So 00:19:16.450 --> 00:19:24.869 Troy saw the tag from over 60 feet. And yet the 00:19:24.869 --> 00:19:30.630 manager didn't see it from six. Whatever. A couple 00:19:30.630 --> 00:19:35.829 days later, a little side note, I found out that 00:19:35.829 --> 00:19:41.569 there was a photographer there that night. And 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:47.029 I don't know how he did this, but the photographer 00:19:47.029 --> 00:19:55.390 caught the exact instant that the tag was made 00:19:55.390 --> 00:20:01.279 on that play. And I actually, I downloaded that 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:05.539 picture. In case anybody had any questions, I 00:20:05.539 --> 00:20:11.400 have the picture of the tag. Pardon me. So, yes, 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:19.940 the tag was on. So, that play just kind of, you 00:20:19.940 --> 00:20:25.539 know, ended with that. It wasn't really a huge 00:20:25.539 --> 00:20:32.519 thing. I know the coach didn't like it. I don't 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:40.140 know what to tell you. Also, that coach is the 00:20:40.140 --> 00:20:47.180 league president. So, it is a little more nerve 00:20:47.180 --> 00:20:50.200 -wracking when you're making calls out there. 00:20:51.099 --> 00:20:59.579 And, excuse me, the calls. You know, the coaches 00:20:59.579 --> 00:21:02.200 and the managers are members of the board that 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:07.460 you work for. Yeah, that kind of gets me on edge 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:10.980 a little bit, but I don't let it bother me. You 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:14.700 know, I'm going to call this game as close to 00:21:14.700 --> 00:21:19.019 fair and down the middle as I possibly can. I 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:22.460 don't care who's out there. It really doesn't 00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:31.420 matter. Now we get to the sixth. Sixth inning. 00:21:34.299 --> 00:21:40.619 The home team is ahead, but the visiting team, 00:21:40.740 --> 00:21:42.740 if you want to call them that, all from the same 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:47.039 league, they were down, I believe, by three runs. 00:21:48.339 --> 00:21:51.019 And top of the sixth, they start making a comeback. 00:21:54.440 --> 00:22:04.369 Two outs. Runner on second. Pass ball. Now this 00:22:04.369 --> 00:22:07.349 is the other team from the one I just had the 00:22:07.349 --> 00:22:12.650 issue with a couple innings ago. Third base coach 00:22:12.650 --> 00:22:17.769 tells the runner, get here. Even he admitted 00:22:17.769 --> 00:22:21.150 after he should have had the runner stay at second. 00:22:21.509 --> 00:22:23.170 Because he didn't realize the catcher was going 00:22:23.170 --> 00:22:24.710 to get the ball and get it down to third as quick 00:22:24.710 --> 00:22:32.180 as he did. So a runner comes in, slides, there's 00:22:32.180 --> 00:22:41.720 a tag. Runner's out. Clearly, runner's out. This 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:46.579 one wasn't even really close. I punch the kid 00:22:46.579 --> 00:22:50.859 out. The coach, in the third base coach's box, 00:22:51.059 --> 00:22:54.920 he starts telling the player, that's on me, I 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:58.170 shouldn't have told you to run. That's my bad. 00:22:59.869 --> 00:23:03.690 As he's saying that, the runner isn't even paying 00:23:03.690 --> 00:23:06.809 attention to him. He sits up because he slid 00:23:06.809 --> 00:23:12.529 in feet first. He sits up and is sitting on the 00:23:12.529 --> 00:23:14.190 ground and he looks at me and he starts trying 00:23:14.190 --> 00:23:16.569 to tell me that the third baseman was in the 00:23:16.569 --> 00:23:22.069 base path. He was in the base path. How can I 00:23:22.069 --> 00:23:29.140 be out? Immediately I start replaying the sequence 00:23:29.140 --> 00:23:33.059 of events. And I'm thinking to myself, well, 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:42.720 if the third baseman was in your base path, you 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.819 would have taken him out when you slid into third 00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:51.220 base. And you didn't. You slid into third base 00:23:51.220 --> 00:23:55.710 and your foot made contact with the base. So 00:23:55.710 --> 00:24:01.930 therefore, he wasn't exactly in your way. You 00:24:01.930 --> 00:24:08.430 came in full tilt, like full speed, and slid 00:24:08.430 --> 00:24:13.430 normally like you'd been doing all game. So he 00:24:13.430 --> 00:24:21.390 didn't impede your progress at all. And when 00:24:21.390 --> 00:24:28.140 you came in for the slide, and he got into his 00:24:28.140 --> 00:24:33.619 final position, he had the baseball. But he still 00:24:33.619 --> 00:24:37.279 left you a clear lane to the base, evidenced 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:40.240 by the fact that even right now, your foot is 00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:46.559 touching the dang base. So, nope. I don't think 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:54.400 he was in your base path. Then came the comment 00:24:54.400 --> 00:25:03.839 and the title for this episode. I start to walk 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:09.279 away because the game is over. I start to walk 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:17.059 away and this same kid, all upset, still sitting 00:25:17.059 --> 00:25:20.500 on the ground, looks at me with tears in his 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:28.799 eyes. And in a shaky, crackling voice says, you 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:42.299 have been horrible all season. I just walked 00:25:42.299 --> 00:25:50.819 off the field. With the rest of the crew. And 00:25:50.819 --> 00:25:54.900 the second base umpire. came over to me and he 00:25:54.900 --> 00:25:59.059 says, just after we walked through the fence, 00:25:59.299 --> 00:26:06.019 he says, what was that kid's problem? I said, 00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:08.299 well, he was trying to say that the third baseman 00:26:08.299 --> 00:26:16.599 was in his base path. And this umpire says, well, 00:26:16.599 --> 00:26:18.980 no, he wasn't. Even if he was, he had the ball 00:26:18.980 --> 00:26:25.380 already. I said, well, that was my conclusion 00:26:25.380 --> 00:26:33.019 also. I said, that's why I called him out. But 00:26:33.019 --> 00:26:37.599 just that comment. You have been horrible all 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:50.329 season. That game was on June 20th, 2025. As 00:26:50.329 --> 00:26:52.690 of the recording of this episode, that was two 00:26:52.690 --> 00:27:01.950 weeks ago. Exactly. That comment still bothers 00:27:01.950 --> 00:27:11.690 me. It honestly does. And the reason it still 00:27:11.690 --> 00:27:17.970 bothers me is because if this kid is willing 00:27:17.970 --> 00:27:27.789 to say that, To my face. How many other. Players. 00:27:30.109 --> 00:27:37.269 Managers coaches. Parents. Think that I do a 00:27:37.269 --> 00:27:48.130 bad job. I still haven't gotten over that. I 00:27:48.130 --> 00:27:59.430 mean. I've taken crap. I'll be nice and use a 00:27:59.430 --> 00:28:04.509 politically correct term. I've taken crap and 00:28:04.509 --> 00:28:08.750 grumblings from coaches. I've taken it from parents. 00:28:12.009 --> 00:28:17.569 I've even heard players chirping a little bit. 00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:22.279 But this was the very first time that a player 00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:28.380 turned and looked at me right dead in the face. 00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:34.880 And told me that I was a horrible umpire. And 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:38.819 I have been horrible all season. And the fact 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:48.140 that he said all season is what gets to me. It 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:54.240 sounds to me like he has picked up that I'm falling 00:28:54.240 --> 00:29:00.000 short as an umpire. And I'm not doing a good 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.559 enough job. But he's been noticing this all year 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:11.640 long. So if he's been noticing it all year, I'm 00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:13.539 fairly certain other people have noticed it too. 00:29:15.950 --> 00:29:17.750 But he's the only one that wanted to say something. 00:29:25.509 --> 00:29:31.250 So, I don't know. I'm not really 100 % sure what 00:29:31.250 --> 00:29:49.349 I'm going to do. Part of me says... Quit. Part 00:29:49.349 --> 00:29:55.170 of me says quit. I really don't want to quit. 00:29:55.250 --> 00:30:04.349 I enjoy umpiring. But yeah. Part of me is saying 00:30:04.349 --> 00:30:08.529 quit. Because obviously. You know. He thinks 00:30:08.529 --> 00:30:12.109 you're a bad umpire. So. Other people must think 00:30:12.109 --> 00:30:18.599 you're a bad umpire. I did reach out. I sent 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:24.519 an email to the board member that was kind of 00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:27.279 overseeing the umpires this year, asking for 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:32.180 his opinion. And yeah, it's been a few days. 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:35.920 I haven't heard back yet. So I don't know if 00:30:35.920 --> 00:30:44.440 my email went to his spam folder or he just... 00:30:46.460 --> 00:30:51.099 Screw this guy. I don't even want to talk to 00:30:51.099 --> 00:31:00.000 him. Yeah, I don't know. But yeah. I did get 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.079 a phone call this past Monday. The 1st of July. 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:13.869 No, the 30th of June. From the... Maine District 00:31:13.869 --> 00:31:20.470 3 umpire -in -chief. And he said, hey, we've 00:31:20.470 --> 00:31:28.289 got Old Town's first game in the District 3 Road 00:31:28.289 --> 00:31:32.150 to Williamsport tournament. The game is being 00:31:32.150 --> 00:31:36.549 played in Old Town tomorrow night at 5 .30, July 00:31:36.549 --> 00:31:47.339 1st. And I need a base umpire. He says, so -and 00:31:47.339 --> 00:31:50.759 -so who had been assisting with the assigning 00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:57.119 for our league all season, Dennis, he gave me 00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:00.119 your number, said you've been, you know, umpiring 00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:03.680 there all year. Any chance you can help me out? 00:32:06.740 --> 00:32:09.579 So I thought about it, and I thought about it, 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.420 and I thought about it. And I went, you know 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:22.250 what? If they really don't want me there. There's 00:32:22.250 --> 00:32:25.569 only one way to find out. And that's to go do 00:32:25.569 --> 00:32:35.750 it. So I worked that game. And only had one. 00:32:36.890 --> 00:32:41.349 One call that I. I mean honestly I could have 00:32:41.349 --> 00:32:44.289 been in a lot better position for. I was over 00:32:44.289 --> 00:32:47.430 in C. Because we had a runner on third. And a 00:32:47.430 --> 00:32:51.049 runner on first. Runner on first. Decided to 00:32:51.049 --> 00:32:56.569 try to steal. They threw it down. And he slid 00:32:56.569 --> 00:33:05.410 in. I saw a tag. I punched him out. And his manager. 00:33:06.309 --> 00:33:11.809 Came out. And wanted a second opinion. And the 00:33:11.809 --> 00:33:16.329 plate umpire. Shut that down immediately. Nope, 00:33:16.410 --> 00:33:19.349 it's a judgment call. He said the runner's out, 00:33:19.390 --> 00:33:25.130 runner's out. Which I thought was kind of strange. 00:33:27.009 --> 00:33:31.309 Because all season, you know, somebody comes 00:33:31.309 --> 00:33:35.069 out and says, hey, Blue, can you, you know, go 00:33:35.069 --> 00:33:37.089 see what your partner had or get a second opinion 00:33:37.089 --> 00:33:40.349 or, you know, go get help on that play? Yeah, 00:33:40.410 --> 00:33:44.170 sure. I'll go over to get together with my partner, 00:33:44.289 --> 00:33:48.349 get the information that I need from them, and 00:33:48.349 --> 00:33:54.349 then make my final call. Yeah, that didn't happen 00:33:54.349 --> 00:33:56.630 on this one. Nope. It's a judgment call. You 00:33:56.630 --> 00:34:01.670 can't argue it. I personally don't see it as 00:34:01.670 --> 00:34:06.009 arguing. He simply is asking. He doesn't think 00:34:06.009 --> 00:34:11.110 that the tag was there before his runner. touch 00:34:11.110 --> 00:34:17.190 the base he knew that i was in a bad position 00:34:17.190 --> 00:34:23.489 from the c spot you know the c position now i 00:34:23.489 --> 00:34:26.409 did come up onto the dirt and get as close as 00:34:26.409 --> 00:34:29.429 i can to it but i'm still i was still on the 00:34:29.429 --> 00:34:33.769 wrong side i should have gone hindsight being 00:34:33.769 --> 00:34:37.610 2020 i probably should have rotated to my left 00:34:38.859 --> 00:34:42.920 around towards the, you know, kind of stayed 00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:46.360 outside, but tried to get around to the other 00:34:46.360 --> 00:34:48.460 side of the base because that's where the tag 00:34:48.460 --> 00:34:52.159 was going to be. So I was not in good position 00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:59.079 for that. If we were working a three umpire crew, 00:34:59.260 --> 00:35:02.840 then the first base umpire, you know, probably 00:35:02.840 --> 00:35:04.219 would have been all over that and it would have 00:35:04.219 --> 00:35:06.539 been a non -issue because they would have had 00:35:06.539 --> 00:35:12.519 to call. But we only had the two of us. So that 00:35:12.519 --> 00:35:15.820 caused a little bit of tension when the plate 00:35:15.820 --> 00:35:19.039 umpire is saying, no, it's his call, he called 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:25.860 him out, so he's out. And then the defensive 00:35:25.860 --> 00:35:28.820 manager, he's standing in the dugout door going, 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:31.199 no, he can't argue it, it's a judgment call. 00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:37.309 And this is the manager for... You know, my local 00:35:37.309 --> 00:35:41.869 league, the same one that had the issue during 00:35:41.869 --> 00:35:46.190 the championship game that said that the play 00:35:46.190 --> 00:35:48.289 wasn't even close. And he's just looking at me 00:35:48.289 --> 00:35:52.269 like, come on, dude, really? Same guy. He's saying, 00:35:52.389 --> 00:35:54.030 oh, no, it's a judgment call. He can't argue 00:35:54.030 --> 00:35:57.769 it. Well, you've come out and tried to argue 00:35:57.769 --> 00:36:00.570 judgment calls with me all season. Now, all of 00:36:00.570 --> 00:36:07.380 a sudden, you can't? Yeah, come on, dude. But 00:36:07.380 --> 00:36:12.079 that was the only issue. Game went fairly well. 00:36:15.139 --> 00:36:18.440 Yeah, and it was very interesting because it 00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:22.360 was the very first actual Little League tournament 00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:25.800 game that I have ever umpired in three years. 00:36:27.059 --> 00:36:31.840 So it was kind of different having, you know, 00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:34.579 walking up to the field and seeing a table set 00:36:34.579 --> 00:36:39.639 up. With a canopy and all the pitch count sheets 00:36:39.639 --> 00:36:46.360 and the clickers and everything. It was kind 00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:49.420 of weird. And then after we got done with the 00:36:49.420 --> 00:36:53.179 game, then we had to go back to that table. And 00:36:53.179 --> 00:36:56.179 the plate umpire, they had to verify the pitch 00:36:56.179 --> 00:36:59.260 counts and how many days rest each pitcher now 00:36:59.260 --> 00:37:00.820 needs. And this and that and the other thing. 00:37:00.840 --> 00:37:05.380 And then he had to sign off on it. It was different. 00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:09.639 It really was. Kind of gave it a little more 00:37:09.639 --> 00:37:14.659 of a big game feel. You know what I mean? But 00:37:14.659 --> 00:37:21.920 yeah, it wasn't too horrible. Definitely, I would 00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:24.639 definitely do a tournament game again. It was 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:35.079 kind of fun. So, that is pretty much it. Where 00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:40.960 we go from here, I'm not sure. I may have a 10U 00:37:40.960 --> 00:37:48.900 or an 810 game next week. I don't know yet. Schedule 00:37:48.900 --> 00:37:52.400 is just kind of all over the place. But it may 00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:57.960 be interesting because the 810 game is supposed 00:37:57.960 --> 00:38:03.530 to be played on Monday. On the same field at 00:38:03.530 --> 00:38:11.010 the same time as the majors game. So we'll see 00:38:11.010 --> 00:38:16.309 what happens. They may postpone one of the games 00:38:16.309 --> 00:38:18.449 or they may move one of the games to a different 00:38:18.449 --> 00:38:23.789 site. I don't know. But that brings us to our 00:38:23.789 --> 00:38:30.429 question of the month. And the question this 00:38:30.429 --> 00:38:36.289 month is the following. When is a catcher required 00:38:36.289 --> 00:38:42.489 to have their mask on? When is a catcher required 00:38:42.489 --> 00:38:48.269 to have their mask slash helmet on? Should be 00:38:48.269 --> 00:38:52.130 a pretty simple question, right? A lot of managers 00:38:52.130 --> 00:39:00.269 have no idea of the rules surrounding this. So 00:39:00.269 --> 00:39:03.630 that is going to bring this episode to a close. 00:39:03.769 --> 00:39:07.110 I apologize for my rambling as usual. I'm sure 00:39:07.110 --> 00:39:09.889 half of you have tuned out by now, but if you 00:39:09.889 --> 00:39:12.469 have not, I want to thank you very much for sticking 00:39:12.469 --> 00:39:17.889 with me. Yeah, we will, as the season comes to 00:39:17.889 --> 00:39:21.429 a close, we will, I don't know, I'm almost thinking 00:39:21.429 --> 00:39:27.190 about maybe the rest of the year, obviously. 00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:30.579 I'll probably be talking about some Little League 00:39:30.579 --> 00:39:35.739 World Series stuff once we get to that. The Junior 00:39:35.739 --> 00:39:40.679 League East Regional Tournament is going to be 00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:44.579 held right here in Maine in Bangor at Mansfield 00:39:44.579 --> 00:39:48.860 Stadium. Coming up in just a couple of weeks, 00:39:48.880 --> 00:39:53.500 I believe. So I'm hoping that I can get over 00:39:53.500 --> 00:39:56.960 there. I only live five minutes from the stadium. 00:39:57.610 --> 00:40:01.230 So I kind of hope I can get over there and catch 00:40:01.230 --> 00:40:04.789 some of those games, just spectate, watch the 00:40:04.789 --> 00:40:08.949 umpire cruise, you know, and who knows, might 00:40:08.949 --> 00:40:13.829 pick up a thing or two. So yeah, I may, throughout 00:40:13.829 --> 00:40:16.389 the rest of the year, kind of turn this almost 00:40:16.389 --> 00:40:20.409 like into a rules clinic podcast. Every episode, 00:40:20.449 --> 00:40:24.329 just pull a rule out of the rule book and just 00:40:24.329 --> 00:40:29.480 go... Real in depth with it. If you would like 00:40:29.480 --> 00:40:32.159 to see that. Let me know. Bluecrewdiaries at 00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:36.360 gmail .com This episode will also. Obviously 00:40:36.360 --> 00:40:39.199 be on YouTube. So if you see it on YouTube. You 00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:42.380 can leave a comment there. Really appreciate 00:40:42.380 --> 00:40:49.739 everybody. For listening. And hopefully. You 00:40:49.739 --> 00:40:53.659 will. Continue to do so. So again. If you are 00:40:53.659 --> 00:40:55.980 in the United States. Happy Independence Day. 00:40:56.380 --> 00:40:58.380 If you're in the rest of the world, happy Friday. 00:40:58.760 --> 00:41:01.000 Thank you so much for listening, and I will see 00:41:01.000 --> 00:41:02.440 you on the Diner.