Get together after games and discuss which coach or player mouthed at them, etc. it’s a crew that does all the weekend games and you know they stick up for each other. Let’s screw this guy or this team etc. I would imagine that goes on, they are human and flawed. Plus the home crowd might work against us. Everyone says the ump last night was consistent but it sure didn’t look that way to me. In fact I thought they had a tight strike zone against knight. We might get a real winner tonight.
There were a lot of called 3rd strikes last night against the hogs and not very many on the Poultry! Pitch to contact and play defense. The umpires can’t take a hit away from you and they sure can’t take put outs away either! The grand slam inning last night was the killer. Forget the umpires!
These NCAA umpire crews are all-star staffs, so to speak - the ones who get the best grades throughout the year. They might never work with each other again.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the base umpires had some comments for the home plate umpire last night, something along the lines of he was the reason the game went so long because he called the game too tight. The umpires want to be right and they want the games to move along at a good pace. The latter did not happen yesterday and it was because of the home plate umpire.
I sure hope we never see him again calling one of our games. Ever!
He’ll be at third base today.
What’s the “scouting report” on the strike zone of the guy who will be behind the plate tonight? It’s sad that coaches have to worry about that (at least I know they do in the big leagues).
I have a friend who has umpired on the lower collegiate level, and he has told me they talk after the game. But it’s not about “screwing” this team or coach. It’s about why the coach was so mad. Usually, they are brutally honest with each other about the strike zone or the call at second or whatever. At the D-1 level, I would suppose they might even watch a replay of the game.
Billy Haze is the home plate umpire tonight. I do not know much about him from a strike zone perspective because he stays on the West Coast for the most part. In researching him a little, he appears to be a respected presenter at umpire clinics during the off-season. This is his sixth super regional and he has worked the College World Series previously. He is the crew chief this weekend.