I've decided I'm going to put together a new string of posts as a regular feature. When I was umpiring before, I thought a lot about writing a book, actually...a book about what life is like as an amateur umpire at the youth league, junior high, and high school levels. There are lots of books about major league umpires and minor league umpires, and there have been documentaries and real-life shows that have followed those guys. But there really isn't much that I've seen about amateur umpires anywhere. What little there is, is geared more toward umpires themselves and not toward fans or other "normal" folks. To those people, we're usually either idiots or evil. At best, when we do a great job, we're invisible (that's what I prefer).
I dress out just like players do...but sometimes it's in a grounds-keeping shack with no lights, like where I worked last night. Or in a room that is the original concession stand, just boarded up inside and with the appliances and plumbing ripped out. Or in the girls' volleyball coach's office. Sometimes, there's nowhere for me to dress, so I just dress in the back seat of my Bronco (hey, my back windows are tinted). I work fields that are brand-new, and I work fields that look like my Grandpa played T-ball there. I've done games with umpires who were great and fun to work with, and I've done games with guys I hope I never see again. I've had crazy ejections and screwy rules situations...I even had a kid get confused in a 9-year-old Little League game and rather than throwing the ball at a base, throw it right at me.
The baseball you see on TV is usually very clean, very "normal" from the standpoint of not having as many eventful things happen. My experiences are nothing like that; I have crazy stuff happen all the time, because you're dealing with players who are young and who are charged up and who are under pressure from the adults in their lives to "do it right" and to win. They don't have the years of experience and high-quality coaching the big-league players have, so this means they end up making mistakes and doing goofy things. And when that happens, plays get really close...a lot closer than you ever see on TV.
And occasionally, all Hell breaks loose.
As an example, let me give you a situation from many years ago, one I've never forgotten and never will. I was calling a 16-17-year-old game in an AAU tournament in Norman in about 1994 or 1995. One of the teams had lost many of its starters because of a stomach virus they had acquired that weekend, but they still had nine players to field for the game, so we went ahead and got it started. But because most of the guys they lost were their good players, they were getting pounded pretty badly. By the end of the 2nd inning, they were already down 11-12 runs. The players were very frustrated and grouchy, because they were actually a pretty good team and not used to losing in that fashion.
In the third, a shot deep to the gap in left-center had the left fielder and the center fielder on their horses, with the center fielder getting to the ball first. The left fielder, seeing his teammate was going to get there well ahead of him, let up and quit running to the ball. The shortstop saw this. The center fielder got the ball and fired it in, and the batter ended up with a two-run triple. After the play was over, the shortstop started yelling at his buddy in left field, complaining about him letting up and not hustling. The left fielder yelled back, and the two argued for a minute or two. I was on the bases, and had turned my back to them to go to my position.
Suddenly, I heard yelling from the coaches and the fans, and turned to see the shortstop sprinting out into left field, directly toward his teammate. I immediately started sprinting out myself to try to keep anything bad from happening...too late. The shortstop got out there and threw a hard right to the left fielder's mouth. The left fielder went down and stayed down. The shortstop, now satiated by what he'd just done and realizing that he was in some trouble, backed off just as I got there, with the coaches right behind me. One coach pulled the shortstop toward the dugout while the other two went to tend to the left fielder, who was still down and in serious pain. As it turned out, the shortstop's punch had knocked out two teeth.
So what did we do? Well, the left fielder was out of the game because of his injury (we sure as heck weren't going to let him stay in after that). Now, this tournament was being played according to high school rules, and high school rules say a team can continue a game with only 8 players. They just pick a spot in the line-up and take an automatic out there every time the batting order gets to that spot. BUT...the shortstop was also out, since we ejected him for fighting, so they were down to seven. That's not enough players to finish. BALL GAME.
See what I mean?
I'm going to try to put together some regular posts with that sort of thing, both from my experiences years ago and from my recent stuff. I'll add some photos in from time to time as I can do so. And it won't be just about baseball...I face the same situations and challenges, with a slightly different view, in my football work. But sports officiating isn't a job or even merely a career. It's a calling. Sometimes it really sucks, but there are lots of times where it can be incredibly rewarding. Mostly, I'm just happy to be out there. My hope is that you'll get a flavor of what it's like for those of us who do this. I hope you enjoy it.
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