I Can Call a Better Game From the Stands!

Runner on 2nd base and I'm the field umpire over by 2nd. The pitcher throws a strike and the catcher looks down to 2nd and sees how far off the runner is from the bag. The catcher fires the ball over to the shortstop who is covering 2nd. The runner finally becomes aware of what is going on and runs back to 2nd and tries to avoid the ensuing tag by the shortstop. The shortstop is slightly out of position, so when he makes the sweep tag to tag out the runner, he misses the runner and the runner slides back safely. I call the runner safe just as the parents are celebrating their big out. From their, they freak out. "What?!?!? How can you call him safe??? You gave that inning to them!!" Of course, this quote becomes more relevant when that runner goes on the score instead of being the 3rd out of the inning.

Here's the problem with parents and coaches - they complain about calls they don't like and feel they have a better vantage point from 100 feet away than the umpire who is less than 5 feet away and has a better angle. I didn't realize that they had such a good angle on the play! My dad, who is also an umpire, decided not to put up with this. After listening to a coach complain about his strike zone for several innings, my dad went over and stood next to the coach and started the inning. The coach said, "wait, aren't you going to go behind home plate??" My dad's response: "Clearly you have a better angle than I do, so I figured I will just make the calls from here." 

If parents and coaches can call the game so much better from the stands or dugout, maybe we should just join them there. Instead of me hanging out by second base and being within 3 feet of a play, I will just join the parents in the stands and call the game while eating a hot dog and drinking a beer. Obviously they have the better angle. My point is, complain and moan all you want, but when we are within spitting distance of the play, and you are comfortably sitting in your lawn chair watching the game, I'm pretty sure we will have the better vantage point of the plays going on. If this wasn't the case, then assigners would only ask for one umpire, and he would park his fat butt behind home plate and never move any further than 2 feet in front of the plate. 

I get tired of the bitching and complaining, so a few years ago, I told a coach who for two innings complained about my strike zone in between innings, "Coach if you don't stop right now, I will eject you from the game. And I'm pretty sure you don't want to be thrown out of an eleven-year-old little league game." Not everyone will agree with our calls, and sometimes our calls may be incorrect. But let me say this - as long as we are in position to make the right call, we have a much better chance of calling it right than the parents who are lounging out behind the fences.