Day 12

This morning we had our hardest test so far. I missed one question out of 80 because I missed a word when reading the true false question which made the statement false instead of true. My group still managed the highest average test score in the class, so at least I didn't cost us there. When we're taking tests, they like to play music as a distraction of sorts, since we won't be umpiring in a sterile environment. The Livin' La Vida Loca singing and dancing gorilla was quite entertaining during the last test. This time they were playing a country album recorded by a major league umpire (Joe West). It was terrible, but that just made it easier to tune out.

The real deal starts tomorrow. Since we've covered the material faster than any class before us, our evaluations are going to start about a week earlier than they did last year. So that gives us more chances to shine (or more chances to screw up). The main part of our on-field evaluations come in the form of camp games. They give you a partner and a time slot. You spend half an inning as a plate umpire, sit out half an inning, and spend another half inning as a base umpire with you and your partner switching positions. They set up a bunch of scenarios for you as the inning goes on and you and your partner have to umpire them. The first ones will be basic and as we go along, they'll start throwing more things at us, like interference, check swings, angry coaches, and so on. Supposedly, if they're taking a serious look at you, they start to pull all sorts of tricky plays on you, so hopefully I'll have a few of those coming my way. I'm getting the hang of most of the footwork now. It's just a matter of reading plays quickly enough to get into the proper position. My plate work has been good over the last two days. I've been keeping the volume up while being well positioned and tracking the ball. My shifty eyes help a lot since you have to keep your body and head still while tracking the pitch all the way in by only moving your eyes. On the other hand, when you're looking at almost every other play on the field, they want you to move your whole head, not just your eyes. I think most of the reason for that is so that everyone, especially coaches and players, can tell from far away that you were looking at that play. If you just move your eyes, they might think you didn't see it since your head isn't pointed in the direction of the play. I don't really think about it anymore at this point. I just "keep my head on a swivel."

In closing, the most fun call I had today: "He's Out! He's Out! He's Pulling It Out!"