Judge Loses It Over Kids Baseball Game

Bad judgment, especially for a judge.

High School Baseball“You’re the liar. Bring it. Angleton, Texas. County Court #3. You suck.”

Those are the words of Brazoria County, Texas Judge Jeremy Warren. He can be heard yelling them at an umpire at a youth baseball game in the video below. In fairness, the judge felt a team he was coaching got a bum call from the ump, as ABC13 details:

Warren says he lost his cool because of a confrontation with the umpire, following a call in a game he was coaching earlier that day. A video camera also captured the call in question, when the umpire named Johnathan called Warren’s runner out.

“When I asked the umpire why the runner was out, he explained to me the runner took a malicious swing at the catcher, like he tried to hit him,” Warren said.

The call cost Warren’s select team the game and the chance to move on to the championship game.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of the call — though after reviewing video of the call, the league’s management says the umpire will no longer be calling games. But subjective calls are part of the game; failing to recognize that — and failing to teach the kids he’s coaching an acceptable way of dealing with it — shows bad judgment. No bueno, but especially bad for a judge.

The pseudo-apology Judge Warren gave also leaves something to be desired:

“I regret that I heckled him, but I regret that he threatened me and called me a liar too,” Warren said on Thursday.

But at least the kids seem to have gotten an honest apology:

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Warren says he later apologized to the parents and the team where he was heckling.

“I told the boys they should never see an adult act like that. I didn’t set a good example for them.”

Judges should know the importance of losing with grace — they determine winners and losers in court everyday. Hopefully, this is an experience he can learn from.

ONLY ON 13: BRAZORIA CO. JUDGE APOLOGIZES AFTER HECKLING UMPIRE IN BASEBALL TOURNAMENT [ABC13]


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Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).