The FIX is IN!
So I just wanted to start a post about officiating with that title. This post really is not about a fix, nor is it about the NBA ref that fell victim to mob influence and became corrupt (thought that is a fascinating story).
Rather, this post is about our company softball league. After all, it's been way too long since I posted anything about softball.
Our team improved to 9-1 today with a lucky 11-7 win over Son of a Pitch. We managed to sweep the season series despite an uncharacteristically large number of errors on defense by escaping several jams where the other team left 2+ runners on base. The seven runs against is the second most we have given up in a game this season. We are averaging 3.8 runs against per game this season. Think about that. 3.8 runs against in slow pitch softball. That's freakin' unbelievable! The next best team in the league allows around 6 runs per game. We are 1/2 game out of first (The Swarm is 10-1) and we will have a shot to win the regular season title outright and earn the #1 seed for the playoffs if we win our last four games, including a regular season ending showdown with The Swarm on 8/16!
However, my beef is about the officiating in our game and in the Swinging Bunts game this evening. I swear that slow pitch softball umps are terrible. The guy umpiring our game tonight makes up his own softball rules half the time, and I seriously question whether or not the umpire is high half the time he calls one of our game (and he sports a ZZ Top style beard). Today, there was a play where the batter fouled a ball off his foot. Since he was still standing in the batters' box, I think the play is ruled dead and it's a foul ball. However, the ump did not call the play dead until our third baseman touched the ball in foul territory. When I asked whether or not the ball was foul when it hit his foot, he said it was not immediately foul, but if the ball had been touched in fair territory, the batter would automatically have been out. Huh? He hit the ball off his foot. How is that an automatic out? That made no sense. This was not the only rule that I think the ump has made up, but the umpire that called FlyingV's game tonight bothers me much more.
The Swinging Bunts had the umpire that is clearly there to end the game as soon as possible. Almost every pitch thrown is called a strike, and every close play is given to the fielder. Not just "ties", but close plays. As their game stretched into extra innings tonight, the umpire decided to make even more egregious calls in favor of the defense. There was one play where the shortstop bobbled the ball. He eventually grabbed that ball and while sprawled out on the ground, he tried to lunge for second base to make the force out play. The problem was that the shortstop was about one foot away from the base when Hyphen-Lady made it to second. Since it was the ninth inning and the umpire wanted to go home, he decided that this was close enough to constitute an out. Who cares if he didn't touch the bag. A huge argument broke out, since it was obvious to everyone that the fielder never touched second base. Finally, the shortstop acknowledged that he never touched the base and that Hyphen-Lady was safe. It was a very nice and honest gesture at a critical juncture of the game. Seriously, if you are in a rush to go home, don't make a mockery out of one of our softball games. Just stay home and let us pay someone else $35 to call the game.
I think the best solution is that we should simply save the $35 cost of a umpire for each game and just ump our own games (or have each of the team captains umpire league games involving other teams). I think I could do a much better job calling one of these games honestly than the idiots we pay each week. We're all honest people and could do a competent job without being in a rush to get the game over with and go home.
Rather, this post is about our company softball league. After all, it's been way too long since I posted anything about softball.
Our team improved to 9-1 today with a lucky 11-7 win over Son of a Pitch. We managed to sweep the season series despite an uncharacteristically large number of errors on defense by escaping several jams where the other team left 2+ runners on base. The seven runs against is the second most we have given up in a game this season. We are averaging 3.8 runs against per game this season. Think about that. 3.8 runs against in slow pitch softball. That's freakin' unbelievable! The next best team in the league allows around 6 runs per game. We are 1/2 game out of first (The Swarm is 10-1) and we will have a shot to win the regular season title outright and earn the #1 seed for the playoffs if we win our last four games, including a regular season ending showdown with The Swarm on 8/16!
However, my beef is about the officiating in our game and in the Swinging Bunts game this evening. I swear that slow pitch softball umps are terrible. The guy umpiring our game tonight makes up his own softball rules half the time, and I seriously question whether or not the umpire is high half the time he calls one of our game (and he sports a ZZ Top style beard). Today, there was a play where the batter fouled a ball off his foot. Since he was still standing in the batters' box, I think the play is ruled dead and it's a foul ball. However, the ump did not call the play dead until our third baseman touched the ball in foul territory. When I asked whether or not the ball was foul when it hit his foot, he said it was not immediately foul, but if the ball had been touched in fair territory, the batter would automatically have been out. Huh? He hit the ball off his foot. How is that an automatic out? That made no sense. This was not the only rule that I think the ump has made up, but the umpire that called FlyingV's game tonight bothers me much more.
The Swinging Bunts had the umpire that is clearly there to end the game as soon as possible. Almost every pitch thrown is called a strike, and every close play is given to the fielder. Not just "ties", but close plays. As their game stretched into extra innings tonight, the umpire decided to make even more egregious calls in favor of the defense. There was one play where the shortstop bobbled the ball. He eventually grabbed that ball and while sprawled out on the ground, he tried to lunge for second base to make the force out play. The problem was that the shortstop was about one foot away from the base when Hyphen-Lady made it to second. Since it was the ninth inning and the umpire wanted to go home, he decided that this was close enough to constitute an out. Who cares if he didn't touch the bag. A huge argument broke out, since it was obvious to everyone that the fielder never touched second base. Finally, the shortstop acknowledged that he never touched the base and that Hyphen-Lady was safe. It was a very nice and honest gesture at a critical juncture of the game. Seriously, if you are in a rush to go home, don't make a mockery out of one of our softball games. Just stay home and let us pay someone else $35 to call the game.
I think the best solution is that we should simply save the $35 cost of a umpire for each game and just ump our own games (or have each of the team captains umpire league games involving other teams). I think I could do a much better job calling one of these games honestly than the idiots we pay each week. We're all honest people and could do a competent job without being in a rush to get the game over with and go home.
posted by GaryGinew at 8:36 PM
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