The title of this six-part serieestims does not really apply to the last two sections except in one sense; that is, most umpires are totally ignorant of how coaches and players perceive their actions on the field. This is a story about perception, and we have all heard that in umpiring, "Perception is reality." Until the coach explained his perceptions at a hearing, neither my partner, who was the plate umpire, nor I had any idea what was behind his outburst.

There is more to the story

In my ejection report (see Part III), I told how the home coach was ejected in the bottom of the seventh inning with his team down 4-2. What I did not tell, because it was not relevant to the ejection, was what happened in the top of the seventh. That weighed heavily on the coach's mind as he "acted up" in the bottom of the seventh. Again, neither my less experienced partner nor I had any inkling what was going on in his mind until several days later.

Continued...