For all the smack we talk about baseball umpires, and it can certainly be warranted at times, it is not an easy job by any means.
And that might go double for those umpiring for youth baseball and Little League. A case in point is a video that went viral this weekend involving an umpire and, presumably, some complaining parents.
Twitter account @Trenciarte tweeted out a video from an unknown baseball game of an umpire, who approaches the unseen parents who have apparently been needling him and complaining about his calls.
“Good for the umpire. There’s a reason there’s a shortage of officials,” reads the tweet.
Good for the umpire. There’s a reason there’s a shortage of officials. pic.twitter.com/53fdZoDH10
— Trent (@Trenciarte) May 13, 2022
It’s unclear exactly what led to the exchange but it sounds like a parent started arguing with the umpire about his calls, leading to him deciding he’d had enough and calling the game rather than putting up with more verbal abuse.
“This is just a game for your kid!” said the ump. “Because you want to argue balls and strikes in a Little League game?”
“He didn’t argue balls and strikes, he walked up like a man to you,” said the unseen yelling person, who doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge that no one should be approaching the ump during the game other than the coach.
“And this guy’s a firefighter who protects your neighborhood,” said an unseen woman, injecting some unintentional humor into the video.
We’ve all been to baseball games where someone watching crosses the line and starts thinking that they know better than the ump or tries to tell the ump how to do their job. Right or wrong, it certainly doesn’t make life easy for anyone who signs up for the gig and it’s hard to blame him for just walking away rather than having to deal with that nonsense over a child’s baseball game.
The clip garnered a lot of strong reactions on social media, from those defending the ump to those crying foul to those having some fun with the firefighter line.
https://twitter.com/ScoJoHoops/status/1525717238828834817
https://twitter.com/AthleteDadx3/status/1525716522534113281
Should be in the training video for umps. Well done, blue. https://t.co/XxldfpbDo5
— Matt Schaefgen (@MattSchaefgen) May 15, 2022
https://twitter.com/BolesBrenden/status/1525673284326629378
Y’all gotta stop yelling at the umpires man. Mans out there calling 12 year olds baseball games making damn near $50 n watching your kid strike out three times just to be yelled at by some man who already hates his life 😂 https://t.co/AxBZMlXvaX
— Zach (@Zach_larch) May 15, 2022
Still trying to find out where this guy being a firefighter gives him the right to berate an official 🤔
Umpires taxes are paying for that service, not his officiating. #makeitmakesense #laughable https://t.co/IZhhd1Drx5
— Luke Posivio (@Mr_L_Posivio) May 15, 2022
