Baseball and softball are legendary for conflicts between officials and managers. Despite the fact that most managers are reasonable, intelligent individuals, if you say “manager” and “umpire” in the same sentence, visions come to mind of Bill Martin and Earl Weaver blowing their tops.
Like it or not, officials and managers or coaches in any sport end up opposed to one another at least to some degree – after all, the officials are supposed to be neutral and non-partisan, while the coach or manager is anything but. It’s the manager’s job, after all, to lobby for his team. Add a little adrenaline when things aren’t going so well, and we all know where things can lead.
Yet baseball and softball are a little different. Probably the biggest reason is that, by tradition, the manager in baseball and softball is allowed to come onto the field and discuss calls with the officials. No other major sport allows the degree of freedom for the coach to stop the game and jaw with the officials that baseball and softball allow. Thus, the confrontations that result are, essentially, also enshrined in tradition.
So here are a few thoughts on the matter:
- How To Argue With An Umpire – directed at managers and coaches, some suggestions at how to improve your chances of prevailing.
- The Tension Convention – directed more at umpires, a few pointers on how to survive the inevitable confrontations.
- How To Get Along with an Umpire – a tongue-in-cheek look at some of the things that bother umpires