Tmac's Teachable Moments - The Official Warning

With college baseball starting its 2020 season, Tmac's Teachable Moments visits the official warning for verbal abuse as codified in the NCAA rulebook.

In this example, Prospect League HP Umpire Andy McPherson officially warns the West Virginia Miners for bench jockeying in the 3rd inning with WVA leading the Chillicothe Paints, 6-2.

This warning proves beneficial for the crew several innings later, after West Virginia has surrendered 12 unanswered runs to put Chillicothe ahead, 14-6, and McPherson enforces the NCAA verbal abuse procedure for repeated abuse in ejecting Miners Manager Mike Syrett.

Writing a ticket (warning) on the lineup card.

For reference, two relevant rules apply. First is NCAA 2-57 in the definitions section: "An 'Official Warning' is a warning from an umpire that carries the words, 'This is your official warning. If you continue, you will leave me no option but to eject you.' Slang terms such as, but not limited to, 'knock it off;' 'that's enough;' 'don't say anything else;' or, 'I've heard enough' do not constitute an official warning."

Finally, NCAA 5-17 (Verbal Abuse [Bench Jockeying])'s penalty states, "The umpire shall warn the offending individual and the coach one time. If the verbal abuse continues after the warning, the offender shall be ejected. If the verbal abuse continues after the first ejection, the head coach shall be ejected along with any other offending personnel."

Also included in this Teachable are the following lessons: "Keep your eye everlastingly on the ball while it is in play" (shared language with OBR's General Instructions to Umpires) and to work with catchers as part of a game management strategy. This scenario—warning & ejection—occurs in part because of the catcher's bad body language and poor working relationship with the plate umpire.

Video as follows:

Alternate Link: Teachable Moment - The Official Warning (CCS)