Safe at the plate: How P.E.I. is changing the 'culture' of abuse toward umpires

Rhonda Pauls remembers the thrill of being a young umpire and making that close call at home plate: "You're out!"

She also remembers that shrinking feeling of seeing an enraged coach charge out of the dugout to tell her, among other things, that she's wrong.

"It was terrifying for me," Pauls said.

"Especially as a female on the field with, you know, large men and you have someone bearing down on you, red in the face, spitting sunflower seeds in your face, waving their arms, telling you that you're terrible and you made the wrong call and you've ruined the game for everybody.

"It doesn't make you feel very good."

Pauls stuck with it, however, and is now an accomplished umpire who officiates high level games in Canada and the U.S. 

But she doesn't want other umpires,especially young ones, to experience the kind of abuse she says wouldn't be tolerated in the grocery store, workplace or any other environment without repercussions.

As the new executive director of Baseball P.E.I., Pauls has introduced a new "no confrontation" policy that forbids coaches from U-18 teams and below from entering an umpire's space to dispute calls.

Here's how it works:

Coaches are not permitted to argue "judgment calls," such as balls and strikes, or safe and out calls on the bases.

Coaches can, however, approach an umpire to question an interpretation of a rule, provided they remain off the field of play. Even then, it is up to the umpires to decide if they want to engage. Pauls said.

"We're hoping that the coaches, by virtue of the fact that they have to stop there and have that moment to wait for the umpire to approach, that they'll be able to collect themselves and keep the conversations respectful, which is really all we're looking for."

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