Conflict Mediation in High Intensity, High Emotion Competitive Situations

Umpiring’s been going well.  I’m working less than I have in years past, which is a good thing, but I’m still over 50 games for the year already.  It’s been a good balance.  With the school season over, we’re into the (generally) much lower key rec season where games matter a whole lot less to everyone, and with that the baseball definitely goes downhill a little as well. 

Anyways, I was working with a guy the other day who had just graduated from college, and was still looking for a job and umpiring in the meantime (much like I did after graduation).  He cracked me up when he said he put umpiring on his resume as “Conflict mediation in high intensity, high emotion competitive situations.”  While that’s actually a pretty accurate description, it just reeks of resume BS in a way that’s spectacular. 

Last night I worked a game where that description was more applicable than usual.  It was a 45 and up mens league game.  In the third inning Team A started complaining that Team B had an illegal player.  Apparently Team B didn’t think they were going to have enough people so they got a sub to come in, which is allowed.  But then Team B’s 9^th guy was able to make it, so now they had 10, which Team A claimed was not allowed.  Pretty soon the coaches were yelling at each other, trying to call two different league commissioners who each thought would side with them, and 20 people are standing around waiting to start playing again.  Trying to get between them was pointless.  Eventually Team A gave up and said they would play on, but protest the game afterwards, so we continued. 

Then in the 6^th inning this giant brutish asshole didn’t like that I called two strikes on him.  The first one might have been a little low, but it was a crap game so every other batter was walking and I was trying to open it up.  The second one was a beautiful curve that went from the bottom of the letters on the inside corner to belt high over the center of the plate.  Strangely, the second one pissed him off more than the first, and he started bitching, calling me terrible and asking how badly I wanted to go home.  Often people like to think all we want to do is call outs so that the game is over and we can go home, but given that we had 4 innings and 20 minutes left on the timelimit I questioned his logic in this situation. 

I warned him, and he shut up for a pitch, but when I called the next pitch a ball, (an extremely high outside pitch) he gave me a “oh I guess you have some limits look” and started to open his mouth to be an asshole again.  I should have ejected him then and there, but instead I cut him off and warned his bench that anything else and I would start throwing people out.  The next pitch he whiffed with a hilariously overdone swing for strike three, and the pitcher (who knew both strike calls were justified) just started laughing at him. 

He looked ready to charge the mound, but again I cut him off and ordered him back to the dugout.  He glared at me loathingly (again I should have tossed him) but stalked off.  He proceeded to glare at me (I think he thought he was threatening) every time he ran on and off the field the rest of the game.  I regretted not tossing him, but he didn’t give me an excuse for the rest of the game.  The rest of the team had been fine before that, but they started to get a little chatty from there out.  When they blew their lead in the bottom of the 8^th (the last inning because of the time limit) they really started to go off, but fortunately we were done and just got out of there. 

All in all I thought it was some great conflict mediation in a high intensity, high emotion competitive situation.

Rides this week 4/28/12

So I didn't make it on any rides this week.  Sunday, Monday, and Thursday rain kept me off the trail.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday baseball kept me on the field.  Since Thursday I couldn't ride, I went to the gym, and today I'm just sore from my lift.  I might try to go out a little bit later, but there's a wine festival we're going to this afternoon (from the people who put on bbbbq), so that might not happen. 

So instead, rides this week will turn into crazy baseball things that happened this week.

• In my game Tuesday, with runners on first and third (R1 and R3), the pitcher tried to fake-pick off the guy at third to then turn and throw to first (to catch the guy who was more likely stealing (you can't fake a throw to first from the mound, but once you've faked to third you can do whatever)).  He had R3 if he threw the ball, but instead he kept with his original plan and threw to first, catching R1 off the base.  There was a short  first rundown between 1st and 2nd with the fielders watching to make sure R3 didn't try to score, but before they could get R1 out, R3 took off.  They threw home, and got R3 in a second rundown between home and 3rd.  This one lasted a little while (probably 3 back and forths) but they did ultimately get R3 out.  By this time, R1 was past second, and for whatever inexplicable reason, was off the bag far enough that as soon as R3 was out, the fielders through the ball to second and caught R1 in a third rundown between 2nd and 3rd.  This time the guy did not last long, and tried to run around the fielder on his first time back to 2nd, and was tagged out.  So three rundowns between all three sets of bases that resulted in 2 outs. 
• In my game Wednesday, a kid stealing second managed to get there just in time for a close play but was safe.  He proceded to stand up off the bag to dust himself off without calling time, and was tagged out.  A couple innings later the same kid managed to get picked off of third by the catcher after a pitch.  Some people are just not good at running the bases.
• In my game last night, a batter fouled a ball off straight at one of the light poles.  It hit a light square on, shattered the glass, which proceded to rain down on the fans below.  Since it was all over the field too, we had to stop and try to shovel the pieces off the field.  I don't think anyone except the baseball was hurt, but the ball was totally shredded and had to be put down.

Oakton at Herndon

I worked a pretty good game last night - it was quick (1:34 game time), fast paced, well played by both sides, and it was a gorgeous evening.  Herndon and Oakton are both Division 6 AAA teams (the highest in Virginia) and traditionally do pretty well.  I don't think either team is quite up to their normal level this year, but Oakton was the favorite going in.  Oakton scored a run an inning for the first 3, and then Herndon got one back in the bottom of the 4th.  Herndon managed to put together a 3 run rally against Oakton's closer in the bottom of the 6th to take the lead 4-3.  In the top of the 7th, Oakton hit a double with 1-out, but didn't manage to get him in so the game was over.  Herndon's pitcher threw the complete 7, which is pretty unusual in high school, especially after he struggled some early. 

This was the game that I worked with the partner from last year.  We didn't address the back and forth from last year, but I did notice that he was not as critical as I'm used to him being.  In part it was because this was a pretty easy game to work where nothing went wrong, but I'm pretty sure he had just backed off some as well.  All in all, I enjoyed the night.

Umpiring part 2

As I mentioned last time, after every NV game the senior umpire does an evaluation of the junior umpire.  A part of this process is to do a post-game discussion between umpires after the game to give feedback on how an umpire is doing and any advice on how we can do our jobs better.  When a veteran umpire is working with a rookie, this is pretty one directional.  When two umpires that are at the same level/have the same experience work together, its much more bi-directiona, even if one is designated senior we both help each other out.

This process has two results.  The first is that we are always being evaluated and critiqued.  This is a good (or even great) thing since it means that we're always getting advice and hopefully also means that we're getting better.  Over time, every umpire that works in our association does get better, and that's a good thing for everyone - that umpire, the partner(s) he's working with, and the players/coaches/fans he's working for.  Umpires who aren't open to feedback don't tend to last very long in our association.

The second result is that we are always being driven to get better, even when we don't necessarily want to.  It's always assumed that the only reason you're working this level of baseball is because you haven't quite gotten good enough to where you can work the next level of baseball.  I got as good as I ever wanted to be during my second full high school season (2 years after college), and I call a pretty good game.  I just don't have the drive to move any higher, for a number of reasons.

Most importantly, it's just not a priority for me.  To work college baseball, you generally have to drive several hours to the games which are all over the middle atlantic for early afternoon games, which means taking time off work.  There's also just a different atmosphere of competition at higher levels that add another level of stress to working that I don't think I need.  While I enjoy the competitive varsity high school games I get in the Spring, I have the most fun working decent rec games where everyone is out there to have fun and be competive, but in a way that doesn't really matter.  I'm happy doing what I'm doing.

Last year after a 3-man playoff game where I made a couple mistakes I had it out a little bit with the crew chief.  Saying I had it out with him is a gross exaggeration of a short debate in a couple respectful emails, but it got me to actually tell someone why I'm not trying to do college ball.  The crew chief was a senior ump who has helped me a lot over the years, and he was very disappointed i wasn't putting in the extra effort to go to the next level.  He was mad I hadn't spent hours reviewing and practicing 3 man mechanics before the game.  He couldn't understand why I hadn't spent hundreds of dollars (1000+) and a week of vacation going to the 3-man college camp our assocation puts on in Florida that works with several of the colleges down there. It got down to the gritty details of that I hadn't shined my shoes prior to the game.  In the end though I think he understood where I was coming from and he backed off.

I say all this because I have another game with this umpire next week.  The previously mentioned game was one of the last games I did last year prior to getting stationed in Alabama for the rest of the summer and fall, so I haven't seen him since.  I'm sure it will go fine, but I'm interested to see what he thinks and how he rates me.  In any case, I'm sure I'll call a good game, and in the end I'll probably just keep working at the level I'm at.

Intro to Umpiring

I started umpiring when I was 13 years old.  After "graduating" out of little league, they recruited kids to umpire their younger age games.  After a single 3 hour training session they threw you on the field.  And pretty much everyone did fine since nobody expected much.  We were supposed to have 2 kids per game, but more often than not I would end up working alone because people wouldn't show up.  Games played from mid-April to mid-June.  Your first year games payed $10 a piece, 2nd year umps made a full $12 a game, and 3rd years kids made a whopping $14.  I had fun with it, it was easy, and I made a little money.  I think in my 3rd year I made like $250, and I was thrilled. 

When I turned 16 and got my driver's license, I joined Northern Virginia Baseball Umpires Association (NVBUA, or NV for short).  The association works everything played on a 90' diamond - 13 year old to 18 year old rec ball, mens leagues, american legion, high school, college, and many more.  We pretty much have a monopoly in Northern Virginia, DC, and large swaths of Maryland, and get a lot of college games throughout the middle atlantic region. New umpires have to go through a 3-month, once a week for 3 hours class room training program with a few additional on-the field training sessions added to that.   Then you do a couple practice games with trainers watching and commenting.  After that you can start working real games, but the training never really ends.

The vast majority of our games are worked in two man crews (although occasionally we'll have 3, 4, or even 6 man games).  In all cases the "senior" umpire is the crew chief, and theoretically is in charge of the game and has the final say on all decisions.  In addition, the crew chief is supposed to evaluate the "junior" umpire, and after the game provides a rating.  Over the course of the year these ratings (along with a few evaluations from official trainer/raters at other times) give an umpire a rating that ultimately decides what level baseball games that umpire gets.  In our contracts (which also decide the rates we get paid for these games) they have limits on what level umpires can umpire what level games, so as umpires get better they start working better and better baseball.

Games go from early march to mid November, and during that time if you told them you wanted to you could pretty much work every day, and get 2 games a weekday, and 4-5 games on a weekend.  Fees range from $54-$90 for most games I work, although College and a few of the higher leagues pay even more.  Add that up over the course of the year you can make some good money.  7 inning games typically go about 2 hours, 9 inning games 2.5-3, but that varies a good bit depending on the level of play and other league rules (such as time limits and slaughter rules). 

So that's what I do.  Just like when I was 13, I still have fun with it, it's relatively easy, and I make a little money.  I mean how can anyone argue with a hobby that not only keeps you active and outdoors, but gets you paid?