That's our self-effacing motto amongst umpires...
Hi, I'm Ed, and I have created this blog as a journal of a year in the life of an amateur umpire. I officiate softball at the Little League, ASA, high school and NCAA Division II levels and baseball at the Little League, PONY and high school levels.
People who knew me years ago might find it strange that I ended up being a sports official, as I was always something of an anti-authoritarian. I was surprised as well when I discovered my passion for it not long after my oldest boy joined Little League.
Lemme tells ya about it:
My son had been playing baseball for a couple of years in Little League and I was getting tired of coaches who didn't seem to really teach him how to play the game. So I raised my hand and volunteered to coach for his team for the 1989 season. It was fun, and a great way for us to bond as father and son. So the next couple of seasons I stepped up to manage teams. That was a nightmare! Dealing with parents who knew better than I did how to do the job they didn't have the time to do, many insisting that their little Johnnie could pitch if I only gave him the chance!
Worst still, we kept losing. I found out fast that I really didn't have a clue how to teach kids the fine art of baseball. In my final year as a manager we lost every game up until the last one, when we kicked ass to the tune of 23-0! Where had all those runs been all season?
During that ill-fated season I was a terror to the poor volunteer umpires. I would berate them, feeling they were giving the game away at my expense. I was an ass. Finally the division vice president had to have a sit-down with me to rope me in. He gave me my penance: I had to work five games behind the plate as an umpire or leave the league. Yikes! I was scared to death...
From the first game, though, I found that the idea of accountability only to myself very reassuring. If I screwed up it was my fault, not a kid who didn't catch an easy fly ball or a pitcher who hit five kids in a row. This was more like it! Calling balls and strikes, reading the rules, it all made sense.
After my third game or so the league president took me aside. "Ed, we're losing our chief umpire this year and it looks like you have a talent for this. If you want to, we'll send you to Little League Umpire School and you could be our new chief."
After thinking about it for a few days I said yes and started a whole new avocation.
Coming up: Umpire School!
