Sorry, Sort of

Both NBC News and the New York Times had stories on a youth soccer referee in Oklahoma who’s turned the tables on abusive parents by posting video of their behavior.  I saw plenty of parents yell at umps and coaches.  I also showered my share of abuse on the men—and women—in blue.  Maybe there’s video of me floating in the cloud somewhere.

I never swore, I never laid hands on anyone.  I can’t speak for other parents, but with me it was all about the quality of the call.  Way too many umps had floating strike zones that changed batter to batter, inning to inning.  If an umpire wasn’t going to call a consistent strike zone, I had no intention of keeping quiet about it.

I was more smart ass than anything.  Once, when an ump rang Clare up on a shoulder-high pitch, I sounded off until the ump threaten to run me.  That’s when I said, “I’m just exercising my First Amendment rights.”  Blue didn’t know how to respond, and I kept my seat in the bleachers.

But there has to be a line.  What I say could goad others to act, though it never happened in the eight years I watched my daughter play softball.  Ultimately, the threat of violence together with the frustration that comes from watching too many bad calls will lead to the adoption of electronic strike zones.  It could start in travel and high school, then work its way to college and the pros.  There are just too many umpiring mistakes to ignore.

Yes, it would be nice if we could go back to the good old days when umpires acted as God.  On second thought, no, it wouldn’t.  Now that we have the means to quantify mistakes, the days of E-ump are numbered.  Baseball and softball will have their human element reduced, yes, but, absent abolishing technology, I don’t see an alternative.