Any way you look at this, it is deeply disturbing. Whether there are guys umpiring because of economic motivations or personal gratification, this keeps people from devoting their time to the craft of umpiring. If you do it primarily for the money, they don't pay enough to have your face smashed in over a perceived "bad call". If you are doing it purely for "the love of the game", well it goes without saying what a punch in the face will do for your enjoyment.
In a sense, it perpetuates the downward spiral that goes to the root of the problem as perceived by the criminals, i.e. "bad umpiring". What self-respecting, competent professional would want to work with / for scumbags like this coach? So the "good" umpires leave and these idiot coaches are left with those that remain. But I suppose logical thinking is not a hallmark of these idiots.
It just boggles my mind that folks will get so worked up over a call that they will react in this way. A CRIMINAL WAY!!
http://www.umpire.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=221
Coach Knocks Out Umpire In Teen Baseball Game
A Vallejo Babe Ruth coach will not be rejoining the league after an incident in which the man is alleged to have knocked out a state tournament umpire Sunday afternoon, the league's vice president said Monday.
Vallejo, host of this year's Northern California 13- to 15-Year-Old State Babe Ruth Tournament, was playing against Sonoma with a one-run lead on Sunday when "tempers started to flair," one witness said.
Following a call in favor of Sonoma in the seventh inning, the Vallejo team's coach reportedly approached the first-base umpire. The coach, said the grandmother of one Sonoma players, had already received a warning earlier in the game. Then the umpire said "you're out of here" to the coach, she added.
"The coach blind-sided the umpire," said the grandmother, who asked to have her name withheld for fear of retaliation. "He went out like a piece of cardboard. Then his legs started vibrating. ... it appeared that he couldn't get up for 10 minutes." Griffin declined to identity the coach. She said the team's players are suffering from the automatic game forfeiture. The grandmother said the forfeiture was a shame, because Sonoma players "didn't come away feeling like winners."
"Vallejo was in it and had a good chance of winning it ... and now, they're out of it," she said. "This was highly unusual. We were all shocked. It was just so strong in our minds and so unacceptable and unbelievable at that kind of event."
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