Abstract des Autors

The purpose of this study was to examine conflict between umpires and players/coaches in amateur baseball. Investigators observed 70 baseball games, 35 each in an adult sandlot league (SL) and a high school world series (HWS). Investigators positioned themselves between home plate and first base and recorded the number of conflicts for ball/strike, first base, tag out, balk, foul line, and "other" calls. They also recorded who was involved in each conflict and the inning, score, and number of outs at the time. Conflicts were rated as minor comments, mild disputes, or heated arguments. There was no difference in the mean number of conflicts per game between the two settings or among the teams in either setting. Most disputes were minor comments (SL=83%;HWS=85%), and there were only five heated arguments in over 5,000 at bats. However, one umpire and one team were involved in all three of the heated arguments in the SL, and one umpire was involved in both of the heated arguments in the HWS. Most disputes involved ball/strike calls (SL=56%;HWS=50%); tag out calls were the second most common focus of disputes (SL=24%;HWS=17%). The incidence of conflict was related to time of game in the SL, number of outs in the HWS, and whether a team was ahead, tied, or behind in both settings. Results suggested that serious conflict is rare in amateur baseball, but that participants may try to manipulate umpires through mild conflict. Verf.-Referat