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The Umpire - An Editorial
by Dave
Thursday, November 10, 2005
 Now that the leaves have dropped from my trees, the air promises to fall below freezing soon, and the Halloween decorations have been stored in the basement, I've become nostalgic about the softball season most recently passed. I go back over the many games in moments when nothing else dominates my attention. No matter in which direction I look, I can find an example of a game I imagine turned on a judgment call made by an umpire. But I'm not writing today to criticize the umpire. I have not come to bury the umpire but rather to praise him or her.
Softball is a funny game of emotional momentum. If you really believe you can hit this girl, you probably will. If you and your teammates believe to your cores that you will beat this team, chances are pretty good you will. But even when you should beat a team or hit a pitcher, sometimes a bad call can undo much of that confidence and emotional momentum. Who are these umpires who sometimes rain on our parades? And whose fault is it when a bad call causes you and your team to fall to an inferior opponent?
Once you leave the lowest level of recreational softball, most umpires are trained and rated adults. These adults do not generally become umpires in the first place because of the exorbitant salaries or because they crave the attention of fans watching the sport. Sure they get paid and it ain't chicken feed. But when is the last time you heard of somebody making the list of top income earners because they umpired softball games? And a lot of umpires are young enough to play the game if they crave adulation from fans. The attention umpires do get during the course of a game usually is not the good kind. When is the last time you walked off the field of play and heard a fan or coach seriously say to an umpire, "hey great game, you called it perfectly." Most umpires are simply people who absolutely love the game. Whether they can or cannot any longer play, they love to watch and participate in the game and interact with players. Otherwise they would not go through the training process and establish a reputation in order to qualify to move up to higher and higher levels of the sport.
Umpires do make bad calls, sometimes several bad calls consecutively and some umps are better than others. But almost never does an umpire walk onto the field wanting one team to win over another. They make an honest attempt to "call'em as they see'em." But sometimes human perceptions are a little off or there is a disconnect from eyes to brain to mouth and arms. Sometimes umpires are just not in position to make a good call. They try to get into position but often the vantage point doesn't show precisely what happened. Think of the typical televised football game where the broadcasters go over and over a call to see if the refs got it right. They show at least three camera angles and often you still cannot see what really happened. Umpires don't have the TiVo advantage of replay and they have to get into the right position via their own two feet. Sometimes they just cannot get a good angle on the play.
Have you ever been an umpire? On a very few occassions I have ventured behind the plate in order to call a game. I try to avoid these types of situations but sometimes I can't. Many times when I have been out in the umpires shoes, I have seen, for example, a pitch I know caught a piece of the zone yet I watched my hands and heard my voice call it a "ball." I'm not entirely sure why that happens and I am sure that trained umpires rarely do this but sometimes humans experience what I like to think of as a "mental hiccup." Sometimes no matter what our brain or eyes tell us, we make mistakes. We frequently realize the mistake but cannot correct it lest we admit error in an embarrassing situation. Picture an ump calling a strike and then 10 seconds later exclaiming, "sorry folks, I made a mistake, that was a ball." How much faith would you have in an ump like that. Yet they are aware when they make errant calls. And this may subtly alter their judgment on subsequent calls. For example, if an ump is pinching the strike zone on one pitcher and then realizes he or she is being a little too harsh, he or she may open the zone on subsequent pitches. It isn't a conscious thing. It is subliminal.
One way to make sure an ump won't correct a slanted or errant call is to criticize him or her. Umpires are generally in their own world during the course of a game. They are lost in their own thoughts and working hard to focus and make the right calls. When they make a bad call, often they think about it only subconciously and, as I said, this may cloud their judgment back in the other direction shortly thereafter. But when you shake them out of their concentration by screaming at them, they lose the balance they would otherwise have. And you make them slanted in exactly the opposite direction you intend. They are likely to become a little belligerant towards you and your team. The last thing you want to do is step up to the plate right after a questionable call when your coach or another player has just gotten into a heated exchange with the plate ump.
Well I've opined on why I think umpires make bad calls and how I think they keep the Universe in proper balance by compensating on subsequent calls. But I don't really believe that bad calls change the outcome of many games simply based on the call itself. What I think happens is as the course of a game comes to a fevered pitch, players react to a questionable call by blaming it for changing the outcome of the game. It is an excuse. Maybe you've got bases loaded and a called third strike on 3-2, that looked like it was nearly a foot outside, killed your rally. You were down by a run and now you think you're going to lose because the ump blew it. This kills that mental edge you had building when you loaded the bases just a few moments before.
When a fielder makes an error, we tell her to "shake it off." The thinking goes something like, when you make an error, there is nothing you can do about it. And if you let it break down your confidence, you are more likely to make an error on the next play or the one after that. So shake it off and get your head back in the game. Focus on the next one. Now all I'm telling you to do is the same thing when it comes to a bad call. Before the bad call, you were concentrating on the game. After the call, you are focused on the umpire. Shake it off. Get your head back into the game.
Umpires are as necessary to the game of softball as the bases, rules, balls, bats, mitts, etc. Without the umpire, we would all be left playing basically sandlot games in which parents called balls and strikes, outs and safes. You want to see an unfair game, try that one on for size. Take a pledge to acknowledge that having decent umps is a good thing. Recognize that umps are people too and they make mistakes. Promise yourself that the next time an ump makes a bad call, you will shake it off and get your head back into the game. Recognize that if you let a bad call throw you off your game, that is more likely to cause your team to lose than the call the ump blew.
Permanent Link: The Umpire - An Editorial
 
Our Sport Is Making Some Inroads
by Dave
Monday, November 07, 2005
We are making some progress in terms of getting some publicity for the sport of softball and in terms of increasing the amount of television and other coverage for big games. The Independent Softball Association has announced all championship games of the Winter Nationals will be broadcast over Softball Central Internet Live. There will also be a two hour TV show featuring highlights of all divisions and a championship fast pitch game. According to The Ledger Online, "Highlights of the ISA's Friday night Winter National activities such as its home run derby, will be shown on Fox Sportsnet as well as game highlights and one youth fastpitch game in its entirety." And the webcast games "will also be archived, so you can listen to them at any time."
Permanent Link: Our Sport Is Making Some Inroads
Rising Stars Showcase Tournament Rescheduled
by Dave
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Rising Stars Events has announced the rescheduling of their 2005 fall college showcase to January 6, 7, and 8, 2006. The event was cancelled due to damage to the town by hurricane Wilma which devastated the infrastructure in the area. The following is the official message:
We are very happy to announce that the Rising Stars Showcase Tournament and Recruiting Camp have been rescheduled for January 6, 7, and 8, 2006.
The Rising Stars tournament games will be held starting on the afternoon of Friday, January 6, through the afternoon on Sunday, January 8. The Rising Stars Get Game Recruiting Camp will be held on Friday morning, January 6. Practice games will be held on Thursday evening, January 5 and Friday morning, January 6.
The Town of Davie and their Parks and Recreation Department have made tremendous progress in restoring services to its citizens and to its facilities. Their dedication to girl's softball and their desire to insure the success of this recruiting opportunity has been a major contributing factor in our ability to reschedule these important events.
We are very excited that the Rising Stars Showcase Tournament is back and we look forward to seeing you in January!
Permanent Link: Rising Stars Showcase Tournament Rescheduled
ISF Moves To 43 Feet
by Dave
Sunday, November 06, 2005
ISF Moves Juniors to 43 Feet
Spy Softball reports the International Softball Federation has moved the pitching distance back to 43 feet for junior women at its meeting in Taiwan. This will likely come up as an important subject in the ASA's annual meeting in about a week. We already shared with you the news that Florida high schools will move back to 43 feet this year. I suppose we should all begin to have our darling daughters work from 43 feet!
Other News
As you are probably already aware, Little League will use an age cutoff date of December 31 this year. A girl who turns 11 on January 10 will be playing 10U ball. This move was made to align Little League with the other softball organizations all of which use the December 31 date. This is likely to change the level of play at various levels within Little League organizations around the country. Many girls who have played two years at one level and thought they might be moving up next year will be stuck playing the third year at the same level. This may not be a bad thing since most of their peers will also be stuck back for a third year but with Little League's other problems, I expect to see more girls jump to PONY travel teams. Nowhere is this a bigger problem than the 12U group where Little League continues to use an 11 inch ball. Girls at this age are looking to play pick up their games in order to try out for junior high school teams. The 11 inch ball seriously hurts girls' development at all positions. Any serious pitcher is not going to want to work with an 11 inch ball. Until Little League corrects this, it has no chance of being taken seriously.Labels: pitching
Permanent Link: ISF Moves To 43 Feet
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