From the Publisher

We love umpires.

We love them because they have committed their lives to being an integral part of the game they love. They have grinded through a million anonymous bad youth games to become high school varsity or college umpires with little fanfare, little celebration. Thank you.

However, something is going on that needs to be better.

In watching a full slate of Div. I regional baseball games, there are just too many ejections. While basketball gives technicals, and soccer gives yellow cards, baseball goes right to the ejection. On top of it, an ejection means you can’t play in the next game either.

This is ridiculously punitive. While the intention of the rule is to deter the amount of ejections, it doesn’t seem to solve how arbitrary some of these ejections are. One thing umpires can do better is have a little feel for the moment. These games and moments are incredibly emotional for players and coaches. For some, it’s their last time playing baseball. For some coaches, their job and their livelihood are on the line. The impact for the umpire is none. The impact for the player or coach or team is huge.

So let’s give warnings first, then change the legislation so they don’t miss the next game, and let’s have
a little feel before throwing someone out.