I'm still dealing with that cold, but it hasn't really limited me. This is way too important to let a little congestion slow me down.
In the cages this week we started working with live hitting. We've each only been thorough the cages once with this so far. It definitely takes some getting used to after having been in a very sterile umpiring environment for most of the past month, but I was fine after a couple pitches.
On the field, I finally got my first ejection yesterday...then three more today. So I've got that off my back. The first one was actually pretty fun. The runner missed first base on his way to a double. The defense appealed and I called the runner out. One of the instructors acting as manager came out to argue the call. It happened to be one of the head instructors who is about a foot taller than me. He was yelling and in my face (or above my face. whatever). In the end, I ejected him. Then he bumped me for good measure. But I didn't back down and overall handled it very well. Today I had a manager yelling at me about an interference call, a batter drawing lines with his bat, and a manager arguing balls and strikes. So they finally started throwing things at me. And it feels good.
Still, I've had some lapses. I messed up the positioning on a few of my plays in the field involving trouble balls. Obviously, I'd like to get everything right, but that's unrealistic. As long as I don't make any mistakes that cause me to miss calls, I think I'll be okay. Now I'm working on reading plays more quickly, which is happening as I get more experience with more games. I've got a couple more days to work everything out and make my last impressions. Hopefully it all works out.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Day 29
Well today was not a great day. I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat, so I've been popping zinc all day to try to fight off the cold before it starts. It rained almost the whole day on and off, so we went out to do our field work in the morning. I wasn't scheduled in either of the morning games. We did do cage work though and I wasn't nearly as good as I need to be. I was still generally fine, but I wasn't as sharp or as loud as I'd like to be. We tried to get in a third game after lunch. I was scheduled for the plate in the top of the first and the bases in the top of the second. The rain had soaked the field pretty thoroughly by then and I had the worry of falling down throughout my plate inning. I didn't fall, but at the same time, I was so careful about it that it messed up my footwork on a couple plays. Just about everyone was having issues with the rain though, so hopefully that won't count against us too much. In my base inning, we got one play in and it started pouring rain, so I called for the tarp and we were done for the day. (I decided it would be unwise to ask if we [the umpires working at the time of the delay] had to sit in the dugout for 30 minutes till we could officially call the game off) The rain is letting up now, so hopefully the fields will dry out by tomorrow afternoon and I'll be able to get in another couple games this week to leave a better last impression before they make their final evaluations.
Last week we had rain as well. I had two games on Thursday as we crammed in 3.5 games before the rains came. Those went alright, but I find myself searching for another level of intensity while keeping a clear umpiring head. It's very difficult to make yourself go through more intense motions, just for the sake of looking like you're working harder, while still remembering all your footwork and responsibilities. At least it's very difficult for me to do that. But I'm improving on that and hopefully that will be enough to convince them that I won't get eaten alive in pro ball . Friday it rained and Saturday I didn't get in as an alternate, so Thursday was pretty much the end of my week on the field. The most entertaining part was when I was in the field for my second game on Thursday. It was a set up play where the batter was going to freak out after striking out. My partner and I knew something big was going to get thrown at us, so we discussed our "rodeo clown" strategies before the game (that's where the umpire who isn't involved in the confrontation gets between the angry player/coach/manager and the umpire who is getting yelled at). Sure enough, after a called strike three, the batter slammed his bat down and started screaming all sorts of fun things at my partner. The batter was immediately ejected, which just made him even more angry. He got right in my partner's face, so I was sprinting in from the field. But one of the other instructors, playing manager, got there first and got the batter out of there. I was really hoping that they were going to let me get between the two angry giants.
In a related note, I still haven't had an ejection. I'm starting to wonder if they don't think I can handle an angry manager or something. Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of ejecting people, but if they do something worthy of ejection, I don't hold back. As I'm watching the other guys work their games, I keep seeing times where I would eject people, but the guys working don't toss them. In any case, they'd better throw something at me this week or I might be in trouble for getting a job.
For a more positive spin on things, we turn to the classroom work. We took our written final exam on Saturday. It was 200 multiple choice and true/false questions. I missed 2 for the highest grade in the class. One I missed because I glossed over the 2-2 count which made a difference, something that I would definitely know if the play happened in real life. The other one I missed because I thought it was bases loaded, which would involve a force play on an appeal, but it was second and third, so there was no force and the run counted. In other words, if I wasn't careless, I would have gotten them all right. I wish that counted for something, but the tests barely matter.
On the non-umpiring front, a bunch of us got together and played some home run derby at a field not too far from here yesterday. It was a 300-foot fence down the lines (just a tiny bit farther than what we used to do on Stuart field), so I didn't get anything remotely close to a home run. Actually, only one of us managed to hit any over, so I technically finished in second place. A little while into our time there, we were getting kicked off the field by a coed softball team that had the field reserved for practice. We convinced them to scrimmage us instead. They weren't very good. I hadn't hit anything other than a wiffleball in a long time, so I was just hitting weak choppers to the right side. Of course, it doesn't help when they don't have a bat small enough for someone my size. Anyway, we crushed them in spite of my shortcomings and finished off the day with another round of home run derby.
Also, tonight I did my laundry and the manager of the laundromat gave me a box of candy canes.
Last week we had rain as well. I had two games on Thursday as we crammed in 3.5 games before the rains came. Those went alright, but I find myself searching for another level of intensity while keeping a clear umpiring head. It's very difficult to make yourself go through more intense motions, just for the sake of looking like you're working harder, while still remembering all your footwork and responsibilities. At least it's very difficult for me to do that. But I'm improving on that and hopefully that will be enough to convince them that I won't get eaten alive in pro ball . Friday it rained and Saturday I didn't get in as an alternate, so Thursday was pretty much the end of my week on the field. The most entertaining part was when I was in the field for my second game on Thursday. It was a set up play where the batter was going to freak out after striking out. My partner and I knew something big was going to get thrown at us, so we discussed our "rodeo clown" strategies before the game (that's where the umpire who isn't involved in the confrontation gets between the angry player/coach/manager and the umpire who is getting yelled at). Sure enough, after a called strike three, the batter slammed his bat down and started screaming all sorts of fun things at my partner. The batter was immediately ejected, which just made him even more angry. He got right in my partner's face, so I was sprinting in from the field. But one of the other instructors, playing manager, got there first and got the batter out of there. I was really hoping that they were going to let me get between the two angry giants.
In a related note, I still haven't had an ejection. I'm starting to wonder if they don't think I can handle an angry manager or something. Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of ejecting people, but if they do something worthy of ejection, I don't hold back. As I'm watching the other guys work their games, I keep seeing times where I would eject people, but the guys working don't toss them. In any case, they'd better throw something at me this week or I might be in trouble for getting a job.
For a more positive spin on things, we turn to the classroom work. We took our written final exam on Saturday. It was 200 multiple choice and true/false questions. I missed 2 for the highest grade in the class. One I missed because I glossed over the 2-2 count which made a difference, something that I would definitely know if the play happened in real life. The other one I missed because I thought it was bases loaded, which would involve a force play on an appeal, but it was second and third, so there was no force and the run counted. In other words, if I wasn't careless, I would have gotten them all right. I wish that counted for something, but the tests barely matter.
On the non-umpiring front, a bunch of us got together and played some home run derby at a field not too far from here yesterday. It was a 300-foot fence down the lines (just a tiny bit farther than what we used to do on Stuart field), so I didn't get anything remotely close to a home run. Actually, only one of us managed to hit any over, so I technically finished in second place. A little while into our time there, we were getting kicked off the field by a coed softball team that had the field reserved for practice. We convinced them to scrimmage us instead. They weren't very good. I hadn't hit anything other than a wiffleball in a long time, so I was just hitting weak choppers to the right side. Of course, it doesn't help when they don't have a bat small enough for someone my size. Anyway, we crushed them in spite of my shortcomings and finished off the day with another round of home run derby.
Also, tonight I did my laundry and the manager of the laundromat gave me a box of candy canes.
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