Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate evaluations of umpire performance and perceptions of acceptable behavior toward umpires. Participants (310 players, 90 coaches, and 80 umpires) filled out questionnaires indicating the percentage of calls umpires should and do get correct for ball/strike first base, and tag out calls and indicating how often (never, sometimes, often, always) they should do nothing, question politely, argue heatedly, yell/swear, or physically attack an umpire who has made a bad call. As hypothesized, players and coaches believed umpires perform below acceptable standards (p<.001) on ball/strike and tag out calls (but not first base calls), and none of the groups endorsed physical hostility. There was only minimal support for the hypothesis that players and coaches would endorse verbal hostility toward umpires. High school/college coaches were more likely than their umpires (p<.001) to respond that they should sometimes argue heatedly. Unmet performance expectations for umpires, and coaches endorsement of some verbal hostility toward umpires, may help explain the conflict that occurs between umpires and players/coaches. Verf.-Referat