On softball and umpiring...

Okay, so last night I was on the wrong end of what may just be the worst call in softball history. Okay, that's probably not fair, but it would rank up there with any bad call I've ever witnessed.

Now, let me lay out some background here. I play church league softball. We're in the highest division of our church league, but it's still church league, so not exactly the highest level of softball. We only have one umpire per game, and especially during the early part of the season when umpires are still needed for area high school baseball and softball, we don't always exactly get the cream of the crop in umpires. Even very good umpires miss their share of calls in a one umpire system, so missed calls are just part of the deal in church league softball. Over the course of the season, you're going to be on both ends of them on many occasions. For this reason, I'm usually very good about not getting worked up about a bad call, with the exception of perhaps an initial expression of disgust. And really, I'm over this one as well, and was before I left the field after last night's game, but it was so crazy I just had to share.

Anyhow, let me set the scene. It's the bottom of the 8th inning (we're only supposed to play 7) and we're in the field with the game still tied. I play second base. There's 1 out, runner on first base. There's a ground ball hit to my left, just between me and the base. I get to it, and don't field it quite cleanly, and I go down to pick it up. Not fielding it cleanly ruled out any shot at a double play, so with the runner bearing down on me and me still down on one knee, I decide to tag him rather than try a flip to second. I'm right in the guy's way, and he really doesn't even do much to avoid the tag, but rather just seems to be trying to run through it. He whacks into my glove, basically going over top of me, and really knocking my glove backwards. Given the force of the impact and the fact that I hadn't been able to keep my 2nd hand on the glove for stability, I'm worried that the impact might have jarred the ball loose, so I whip my head around to look towards where the glove is now. Nope, ball still securely in the glove. I'm very pleased. As I start to get up, I'm now hearing what sounds like my teammates complaining to the umpire. I get up and look at the ump, and realize he's now explaining to my complaining teammates why he called the runner SAFE! My mind is absolutely blown at this point, and the umpire explains that he didn't see the tag made. I believe he claimed to have been partially obstructed by our pitcher. Are you freaking kidding me? Noteworthy here is that the other team scored the winning run with 2 outs in that inning. Now, the winning run scored on an error, and we had numerous chances to win the game before extra innings, so I'm not one to say the ump "cost" us the game. That's not in my nature, and it's wouldn't be accurate. What would be a fair statement was that his miss of the call was a contributing factor to us losing the game at that point. The ump did make sure he was in his car by the time the post game prayer finished, though. He really didn't need to.

Anyhow, like I said, missed calls are a part of church league softball, and I've moved on. However, this particular one points out something that has been a pet peeve of mine with this umpiring association for years. First of all, if I buy that the guy didn't technically "see" the tag, given how the play went, there was still plenty of concrete evidence that the tag occurred, most predominantly the slap of leather against skin. Secondly, and my real point, I didn't really move from where the ball was hit during the whole time the play took place. Umpires start behind the plate, but once the ball is in play, it's their job to get out from behind the plate and get into position to see the play. I won't deny that this guy probably tried to do so, but the guy (like a couple other guys we see from time to time) is way too old and immobile to be umpiring in a one ump system like that. It concerns me both from a quality of umpiring standpoint, and from a safety of the umpire standpoint. We had a guy who was older and less mobile than this guy last year, and he got hit hard twice in a game by throws coming into the plate. The one throw caught him squarely in the leg, but the other took his glasses off. I was catching at the time, and these were ridiculously wild throws, but they were still throws that if you can't get out of the way of them, you shouldn't be umpiring anymore. It's that simple. I know it's hard to find umpires, but at some point the umpiring association has to step in and say "Sorry, but you're done."

When it's all said and done, I have to at least chuckle a bit at the irony of it being ruled that I missed this particular tag. I'm not sure I've made a more complete and solid tag in my entire almost 20 years playing baseball and softball.