That reminds me of the Little League game where one of the parents in the stands behind the plate kept giving the umpire grief about his calls. The next inning, the umpire was sitting in the stands next to that fan. When they asked him what he was doing, he told them it was, obviously, easier to call the game from back there so he would give it a shot. He called that half inning from the bleachers. He went back to the field in the next half inning and that fan was quiet the rest of the game.
The best umpire response I saw also came during a Little League game. In straightaway center field a batting cage was built into the fence with a challenging ground rule : If the ball hits the support of the batting ABOVE the homerun fence it's a homer BUT if it hits into the screen of the cage, it remains in play. I had the plate while Harvey, a postman, had the bases.....
(1) A home team batter hits a shot toward the cage
;
(2) ball hits into cage, I couldn't tell if it had hit the support or just in the cage;
(3) Harvey ruled it stayed in play, centerfielder fielded it and fired batter-runner out at 2nd;
(4) out of the home dugout came two coaches, a grandmother scorekeeper and a hunting dawg;
(5) Harvey's attention ,however, was drawn to the local priest who had been standing next to the batting cage behind the fence;
(6) the priest was yelling : "HARVEY,HARVEY..."as he ran along the fence. I assumed he had an opinion where the ball had hit;
(7) Harvey didn't go postal, but just raised his big hand and said : "WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, FATHER, OUT ON THIS FIELD I'm
GOD ".
(8) The priest spun around and headed back to his post. The two coaches, grandma and the dawg-with his tail between his legs, all headed back to the dugout.
[/SCORE ONE FOR THE UMPS b]