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Umpires - Where's the Love?

11/14/2013, 11:15am EST
By Mike Mazzolla

In May 2013, the commissioner of the NJIBL wrote a league note about umpires. Considering the year we had, and the feedback we have received, I thought it was a topic worth sharing and writing my own blog about. I will take a few points from his, but as always, I wanted to give credit to Gary Shears where credit was due. Thank you for addressing the obvious, and in a manner that I think opened some eyes. Hopefully, I can replicate that view on my own.

As commissioners of an amateur baseball league, Tim and I face a number of decisions on a regular basis that have an immediate impact on the league. Whether it’s equipment, our awards selection process, how we select all-stars, or determine playoff seeding… the most popular topic is always going to be umpires. With any league, having officials present are a major component of enforcing rules of play. Two teams taking the field, with neutral officials there to call a fair game. Umpires are the only 2 individuals on the field expected to be perfect, and when they are not, things tend to get ridiculous very quickly. I wanted to write a blog about this topic, to shed some light on a hot item amongst teams/managers/players, and hopefully bring a different view to the table.

With any aspect of the New Jersey Amateur Baseball League, you can be assured we put a lot of time into all components of the structure. Umpires, by far, have taken the most time because of their importance to the game.  If I am at the field taking photos, or Tim is on the field playing, we tend to get approached a lot about "questionable calls"... and all I can say is we don't get involved with officiating during games. Neither of us will overturn a call made during the game, but if we notice something clearly wrong we will take action after the game with the assignor. We are not going to reverse a call and embarrass our officals.When we receive complaints about a certain official, we take note. If there are a number of complaints, we remove them from assignments in the league going forward. Umpires are our “eyes” on the field and when a conflict arises, we take their views very seriously as unbiased views on the incident. If we cannot trust their judgment, they simply will not be officiating our games. Knowing this, we put a lot of trust into them so you can ensure we want the best out there for our league games.

Now, they are not perfect, but isn’t human error a part of the game? Isn’t baseball a game of “fractions of an inch”, where sometimes you beat it out and sometimes you don’t, but at the end of most days, the calls always seem to even out? Umpires make mistakes, they will be the first to note they are not perfect… but if they show up, do their best, don’t they deserve some respect here? Heck, they step onto the field to ensure YOU play an officiated game. They are out there for you. When they make a bad judgment on a bang-bang play, do they deserve profane criticism for that? I don’t think so. This falls under “umpires must be perfect, or else” mindset many people have. I am writing to hopefully squash that view going forward. When a player on your team “boots” an easy grounder, or throws a ball away or drops a pop-up, do you throw a hat and start cursing at them or do you tell them “don’t worry, you will get the next one”. I think more the latter is what we see at games, because you want that player concentrating on the next play… not harping over the error he made. Umpires, they should get the same treatment. They usually think about a bad call they made and are hard on themselves for it. For the rest of the game, like that player on your team, they are trying to make up for that by doing the best they can. When you start degrading them on the field, that’s when problems start.

Umpires deserve some respect for the job they do. In most cases, they take time away from their families to enable you to go out and play the game you love. They offer that unbiased view to the game, which we need in order to get games played. I have witnessed some embarrassing moments by players & managers, yelling at officials when a  call is missed. When guys start screaming profanities at an official, chances are “you will be tossed”. Don’t act surprised when you curse at an umpire, if an ejection shortly follows. I like to think we run a league of adults, who play the game they love and accept the officiating as it is. Sure, at times we will have guys who aren’t up to par… but 99% of the umpires on the field are there cause they truly enjoy the game, and are not trying to “compromise” the integrity of it.

When Jim Joyce incorrectly called “safe” on a play at first with 2 outs in the 9th to ruin Armando Galarraga’s perfect game in 2010, what was Armando’s reaction? What was Jim’s reaction afterwards? Moments like these are what I look at when I think professionalism. I expect our players to act like Armando on the field. A historical moment of his life was just taken from him, and all he did was look at the umpire (smile in disbelief) and go back to the mound and get the last out. He was a professional about a situation that an umpire was wrong about. He did not kick and scream, mouthing profanities in disbelief of the bad call that was made. He accepted the call, and continued to play the game. The part to note about the entire thing, how apologetic Jim Joyce was about the blown call.  They make the call as they see them, and if they were afforded the opportunity for replay… more plays would be corrected. This is baseball though. Our umpires take their job seriously, and we expect our players/managers on the field, to respect them. How many times do you say “great call blue” on the field? Chances are you can count the number of times you criticize over the times you compliment.

What I can promise every player in the league, as well as umpire who does our games, is that we do not tolerate abuse on the field. Whether it is two teams taunting one another, managers taunting an umpire, or an umpire taunting a player… we will not have that in our league. When this stuff happens in our presence, understand there are consequences for that behavior because it makes the league look bad. We did hand out suspensions in 2013, for unnecessary behavior on the field. We did suspend umpires from officiating in our league. We constantly monitor quality, and when you aren’t up to par, we have to make decisions based on our judgment.

Another item that has come up, phone calls about umpires “not knowing the rules”. What everybody should know, is that umpires are not going to school to learn our rules specifically. They handle high school varsity games, local collegiate games, officiate little league games, tournaments, etc. Rules change at every level of play, and amateur leagues offer unique rules that others don’t. A copy of our rules of play is posted on our homepage, and will be something we give every team at the beginning of the year. If you disagree with a call, you have the tools at your fingertips to help possibly overturn a call or rule. We expect our managers to know our rules and have a copy with them on the field. Umpires, while we do expect to know all our rules, some “like a courtesy runner rule” may be misinterpreted. It is important to always have a copy of league rules on you.

I’ve gotten to know quite a few umpires in the league this season, from attending games every Sunday. I can assure you these guys bleed baseball, and are the right guys for our league. Many of them have complimented on the job we’ve done, and have even noted “regaining” interest in umpiring amateur baseball because of our approach to it. Occasionally they will miss a call, but they are only human. We expect you to treat them professionally, cause like you and I, they make mistakes. It’s ok to ask a question about a call you think they missed, but address them with some courtesy. When you throw a helmet against a fence, look at them and say “are you f*ing kidding me” chances are you are either getting a warning, or a quick toss. Running to Tim or myself about a quick trigger… there will be little remorse there when you disrespect the officials. They are hired to call a fair game, abuse is not part of the contract.

I have told many of you on the field and over the phone the following. “ Umpires are the only guys on the field expected to be perfect 100% of the time. When they do a great job, nobody says a word. When they miss a call, all the critics come out. It’s a thankless job, and teams should embrace the officials rather than try to embarrass them when they miss a call. “

As we enter our off-season and begin preparation for 2014, I wanted to thank all of our Umpires in 2013 for a job well done. We appreciate everything you did to help fuel our success. As a league, we received high praise for you on the field (whether you know it or not)… and even with a few conflicts that came up, we believe you all are doing an excellent job behind the dish and on the base paths… and look forward to seeing you out there for 2014.

Managers/Players… my only request for 2014, is you think before you act. Consider your actions with a player on your team who strikes out swinging at a ball over his head, or who boots a grounder… and apply that to your relationship with the officials. I guarantee, in the end, it will increase the level of baseball we all see going forward. Thank you to all 66 teams for a great start in 2013, and we look forward to building on that in 2014!

-Mazz

Tag(s): Blog