It's
important to remember that most calls are based on the judgment of the umpire.
You may see it one way and the umpire may see it differently. That's baseball,
and missed calls are going to happen in every game. You want your players to be
able to put bad calls behind them and continue to play hard and focused. It
then makes little sense to argue a call in youth baseball over what the umpire
has seen. Show your team that you respect the umpire and you can move on and
focus on the next play. You'll be emulating what you're telling them and they
will learn good sportsmanship along with developing an ability to play more
consistently by focusing on things that are under their control. For example,
if an umpire calls a player out on a tag play and you think the opposing player
missed the tag, what's your argument? "Ump, you must be blind!" The
fact is you have no argument and the umpire is not going to change his mind
based on you saying "he missed the tag". It's a judgment call. You
don't have to be happy about it, but you need to accept that bad calls are
going to happen.
With that
said, the one area where a call can be changed is when the incorrect call has
been made based on the rules of the game. Most umpires know the rules inside and
out, others in the younger age groups are new to umpiring and may not be aware
of how a rule applies in a certain situation. If a rule is applied improperly,
then there is a chance that the call can be overturned. It's still important to
remember that most rules are based on the judgment of the umpire, so knowing a
rule doesn't matter if the umpire didn't see it in a way where the rule would
be applied. For example, if an umpire doesn't call an infield fly in a
situation where you believe it should be called, you may tell him that it
should have been called, but it's still a judgment call and can't be appealed.
On the other hand, if the umpire calls "infield fly, batter is out",
the ball drops in foul territory, and the umpire still states that the batter is
out, then this is the incorrect call and you would want to tell (remind) the
umpire that the infield fly rule only applies to a fair ball. By knowing the
rules, you will know when you should approach an umpire to question a call and
when you shouldn't.