Whether or not anybody pays attention to this, SFLOI will go on and it will likely be something great we all look forward to one way or another. Having said that, the reason I'm writing is that SFLOI is a great game because we make course corrections and police ourselves as we go. I never realized how much work and thought guys like Havelock, Tony, Gil, Don and Ian (and many others) have put into keeping our game exactly what it is: fun to play, sometimes a pain in the ass, but always something we all look forward to.
After yesterday, I think now may be one of those times we need to think about making some course corrections.
This is not directed at any individual. It is directed at all of us who have ever umpired. Myself included. What we all agreed to, was that if there was a close play the umpire was not close to - the players near the play would be consulted. They were to do their best to help make a fair, correct judgement. The umpire needed to take this into account and although it was strictly up to him in the end, he needed to consider what the players near the play were saying. What we all agreed to was we need umpires to not make close calls for their own team.
We strayed from this several times yesterday. The fact that it helped one team win over another is not the point. It's only one game and who won or lost is not really a big deal one way or another. The point is that yesterday's games were not a fun environment to play in and we were not able to enjoy ourselves as friends and teammates.
This is something I've noticed seems to happen more and more these days. Sal wrote about it a while back and I overheard that he will not be attending our games because of a similar issue.
There are at least two other people I know of who no longer come to our games because it simply wasn't fun for them any more. They are both great players and helped raise the level of our play a great deal. The over-competitive behavior, unfairness of umpiring and the resulting arguments made the game less fun and something they could no longer see wasting their time on. We are all the poorer for their absence.
As I said before, I'm not giving myself a pass on this. I have been as guilty as anyone else. It's only natural that an umpire would want his own team to win. But that's why we discussed making sure umpires gave close calls to the other team and not make the strike zone impossibly small for pitchers. It is exactly why we said it's OK for an umpire to ask someone who is close to the play for help - and to trust that we're all going to honor each other by being honest.
SFLOI has prospered because, in my view, we have managed to maintain an almost impossible balance of competitiveness, fun and fair play. So I would ask that we try to think about how we can return to that for future games.
3 comments:
Bill, this is interesting stuff. Unfortunately (maybe), there isn't any standard procedure for umpiring in this game. Some will ask for help on close plays. Some won't. Some won't call their own guys out if they can help it. Strike zones are pretty variable, though *most* of us are consistent.
Thinking about the calls in Sunday's game, they were actually pretty legit. In the first instance, Freddy did ask for help, but from his own dugout and his third base coach. He didn't want to accept Zach's claim that he had caught the ball. I would have probably called the batter out, but I think Freddy made a reasonable decision. The second call, on Alex's catch and subsequent drop, was made (I think) by Don. That's a judgment call. I don't know how you can ask for help on that call. Was it the wrong call? Maybe-- I thought he held it long enough. Don didn't. Neither of these are egregious injustices. In fact, the bitching from the fielding team, myself included, is probably the greater offense. Then again, since Don's call led to 5 runs scoring, maybe we had the right to let off a little steam.
Now, since I've started playing, as I said when Sal wrote his critique, the competitiveness hasn't gone up. We were more or less like this in 2007. Then it was centered on a few individuals-- and we played some games that were as excruciating as watching Steve Carell act-- and now it's diffused more throughout the league, so everyone has a little of it. And two more things-- people leave for various reasons (and I have it on good authority that Sal will be returning to the league once the DC Bullets' season wraps up), and sometimes it is not the fault of the other players, or the game, it's because of their own expectations (either of their own otherworldly performance or of our gentlemanly conduct).
We have to strike a balance here with our competitiveness. If we don't try to win, the games are just meaningless exhibitions. That's why I don't believe the pitcher should just lob it in, and I don't have a problem with aggressive baserunning, within reason. I wouldn't ask Marvin or Charlie to take pitches. That's where I draw the line.
wasn't me, but I agreed with the call
I haven't noticed any change in our league. I was the pitcher victim of the two dropped? balls. While I would have given both plays to the defense, I agree that neither was egregious.
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