The CT Softball Blog

Just when you think you’ve seen everything, you learn another important life lesson.

Ah, such is life when you live it in the world of sports as much as so many of us do.

As I’m apt to do from time to time, I was at a softball game on Friday night and, if I’m being honest, the place and teams don’t matter to this story.

What does matter is the scenario (and the lesson that needs to be learned from it): A runner on third in a one-run game, in favor of the home team, in the bottom of the sixth inning.

A player strikes out and the catcher for the away team rolls the ball back to the pitching circle as she, her pitcher and the team starts to jog off the field to get ready to chase the tying run in the top of the seventh.

Suddenly, the home team’s runner on third breaks toward the plate and scores easily, pushing the lead to two with a not-so-stereotypical insurance run.

The away team looks confused. The away coach steps out on to the field and confronts the home plate umpire, who only has a couple of years of experience, according to sources who knew who was behind the plate.

The fact of the matter: There had only been one out when the strikeout occurred, but the problem here is that before that K, the home plate umpire told the away team in the field that there were two outs.

Not only did he tell that to the away team, but he did so after confirming there were two outs with his partner on the base paths.

It was a bit of a cluster, if you know what I mean.

The catcher in question admitted after the game she thought there was only one out, which is why she had specifically asked the plate umpire to confirm how many outs had occurred. After all, the scoreboard read two outs.

Maybe the home plate umpire had one out on his “clicker,” hence his checking with his partner because the scoreboard was wrong.

“Two outs,” the pitcher and catcher were told.

Insert obnoxious wrong answer button here.

One umpire trusted his partner. The players trusted the umpire.

And this is not meant as a slam at umpires.

Save for this double-error by the boys in blue that cost a team a run, the two guys in question—a less-experienced ump behind the plate, a veteran on the bases—did a decent job in the game.

Look, there were 12 errors in this game—seven by the home team, which somehow still won; three by the visiting team; and two by the umpires.

It happens. The umps are human and they make mistakes just like the players do from time to time. Coaches screw things up, too, don’t forget.

There is nobody perfect in this game. There is nobody perfect in this world.

Read this story closely. I guarantee you’ll find a typo or two.

Humans make mistakes, but this isn’t about the mistakes. This is about learning from them. And what to do when you know you’re right and umpire is wrong.

First and foremost, never trust the scoreboard. There is absolutely nothing official about the information displayed by LED lights. Scoreboards are basically there to prevent dad’s from asking what the count is 10 times an at-bat. And so grandma knows the score.

More importantly, if you think you’re right, trust yourself.

Oprah Winfrey once said, “Trust your instincts. Intuition doesn’t lie.”

What could the catcher have done? Trusted herself enough to say, “I’m sorry, sir, but can we check the official book because I still don’t think that’s right.”

That was the advice one umpire who had nothing to do with this game told me when I laid out the situation to him. But, let’s face it, most high school-aged players are apt to think umpires—people in “power positions”—aren’t going to give them the wrong information.

If two umps claim there are two outs, then they’re must be two outs, right?

Wrong.

Check with your own scorebook. If that’s still different, then demand to check the home scorebook, which is the official scorebook anyways.

In any softball game, the only thing that is “official” is the scorebook. Not the scoreboard. Not a parent doing GameChanger. Not the umpires.

Once the run scored and the away team came out to protest what had happened, the home plate umpire finally did “confirm” the situation with the home scorebook.

Too little, too late for the team that suddenly trailed by another run, however.

Since the strikeout was officially the second out, the run was allowed to count and the ball game continued.

Why?

Well, according to the Umpire Empire website, “According to NFHS softball rules, the resulting play generally stands, and the team in the field has limited or no successful recourse to nullify the run. Both teams (offense and defense) are responsible for knowing the number of outs at all times. Umpires may announce the outs, but an erroneous announcement by umpires does not automatically create a do-over or nullify plays. The defense cannot rely solely on the umpires’ verbal count if it conflicts with the actual situation.”

In other words, away team, tough cookies. It’s another group of girls learning a very hard life lesson courtesy of the world of sports.

The umpires are not always right.

But, learn this, too: Yes, it’s OK to question authority if done so in a sportsmanlike and professional manner (all of which the away team portrayed in the aftermath of the situation).

The extra run didn’t cost the away team the game. But I would have been a fun top-of-the-seventh watching a fired up team chase one run instead of an upset team who had the wind let out of it sails try to chase a pair of scores.

As I said, just when you think you’ve seen it all, something else happens.

(From The Dugout is a regular column written by CT Softball Blog Publisher John Nash)

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