WEBVTT 00:00:12.040 --> 00:00:14.640 Welcome to Blue Crew Diaries, an umpire podcast. 00:00:15.259 --> 00:00:17.879 My name is Daryl and I will be your host as we 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:20.559 take a look behind the mask, so to speak, sharing 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.640 stories, insights, and experiences from the unique 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:27.300 perspective of the baseball umpire. In this episode... 00:00:27.550 --> 00:00:30.269 We're going to wrap up 2025 Little League season 00:00:30.269 --> 00:00:33.670 and start getting ready for next year. If you 00:00:33.670 --> 00:00:36.509 have any questions, comments, or ideas for future 00:00:36.509 --> 00:00:39.469 episodes, drop me a line at BlueCrewDiaries at 00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:43.770 gmail .com. So if you're ready, grab your indicator 00:00:43.770 --> 00:00:54.189 and plate brush, and let's hit the field. All 00:00:54.189 --> 00:00:56.109 right, everybody, welcome back to another episode 00:00:56.109 --> 00:00:59.929 of Blue Crew Diaries and a Fire Podcast. Yes, 00:01:00.130 --> 00:01:07.849 the Little League season for 2025 is over. What 00:01:07.849 --> 00:01:14.650 a season it has been. So before we get started, 00:01:14.909 --> 00:01:19.310 obviously, let's get into some announcements. 00:01:19.469 --> 00:01:26.560 Really not a whole lot going on. There are, let's 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:30.180 see, coming up here in just a couple of weeks 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:35.219 is the Umpire Academy at the East Region Headquarters 00:01:35.219 --> 00:01:39.519 in Bristol, Connecticut, as well as some ID camps 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:43.159 and some other Umpire Academies scattered throughout 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:45.819 the country. If you're interested in those, you 00:01:45.819 --> 00:01:48.159 can find the sign -up links and information for 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:52.099 all of those on the Little League. umpire .org 00:01:52.099 --> 00:01:56.099 website, the Little League Umpire Registry. If 00:01:56.099 --> 00:01:58.939 you are not signed up on their registry, go ahead 00:01:58.939 --> 00:02:05.400 and do that. It's a very good resource. Ah, what 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:11.159 a year. That's about all I can say. First off, 00:02:11.340 --> 00:02:17.189 congratulations to Chinese Taipei. on their 2025 00:02:17.189 --> 00:02:23.530 Little League Baseball Championship. Well done. 00:02:24.250 --> 00:02:29.629 All of the teams, from what I saw, played fantastic 00:02:29.629 --> 00:02:35.810 in the series. And, yeah, Chinese Taipei came 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:43.789 out on top. As far as the umpire and crews, everybody 00:02:43.789 --> 00:02:46.719 looked good. I mean, there were, you know, a 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:50.639 few hiccups here or there, but everybody looked 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:53.159 good. And I, I mean, I got to admit, I watched 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:59.960 the majority of the games. So, yeah, I mean, 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:03.819 there were little nitpicky things that I didn't 00:03:03.819 --> 00:03:10.520 quite like. And a lot of it was just the way 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:15.650 that the umpire did it. There were a few. I just 00:03:15.650 --> 00:03:19.889 I didn't like their their physical strike mechanic. 00:03:21.270 --> 00:03:26.289 Some of them was just weird. You know, there 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:29.090 was there was one umpire that instead of coming 00:03:29.090 --> 00:03:31.250 straight up with the hammer, he just kind of 00:03:31.250 --> 00:03:34.189 held his fist out in front of his face. Which 00:03:34.189 --> 00:03:38.370 was kind of strange. And then there was another 00:03:38.370 --> 00:03:41.389 one that did that exact same thing. But when 00:03:41.389 --> 00:03:45.219 he came up. He would stand up and bring both 00:03:45.219 --> 00:03:49.460 feet together and then do the fist in front of 00:03:49.460 --> 00:03:50.979 his face, which I thought was kind of weird. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.960 But, I mean, maybe that's the way that he does 00:03:55.960 --> 00:04:00.099 things. Obviously it is. Another thing that I 00:04:00.099 --> 00:04:04.400 didn't like seeing, and I noticed the majority 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:09.580 of umpires did this, so I don't know if this 00:04:09.580 --> 00:04:14.189 was... A Little League thing, if this is the 00:04:14.189 --> 00:04:16.230 way that they're training their umpires now. 00:04:18.029 --> 00:04:23.829 But it was the hands -on knees set for the plate 00:04:23.829 --> 00:04:28.990 umpire. I noticed the majority of the plate umpires, 00:04:29.069 --> 00:04:31.370 when they got down in their stance, they were 00:04:31.370 --> 00:04:37.490 in hands -on knees. That's great. You're in a 00:04:37.490 --> 00:04:41.160 consistent position every single time. Until, 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:43.839 and this did happen to one umpire if you watched 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:48.199 the games, you end up taking a foul ball straight 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:53.839 off the hand. If his hand was tucked in behind 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:58.660 his knees, like I like to keep mine, that ball 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:02.639 would have hit the knee portion of the shin guard, 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:04.939 and he probably wouldn't have felt anything. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:10.629 Luckily, I don't think it broke anything. But 00:05:10.629 --> 00:05:14.269 he did take a shot straight off the hand. In 00:05:14.269 --> 00:05:16.569 fact, I think that one actually missed the bat. 00:05:17.889 --> 00:05:22.129 The batter swung, missed it. It missed the glove 00:05:22.129 --> 00:05:25.629 of the catcher and took the umpire right square 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:33.370 in the hand. Ouch. And when I saw that happen, 00:05:33.430 --> 00:05:37.209 the very first thing that I said out loud was. 00:05:38.069 --> 00:05:40.550 That's why you don't stand with your hands in 00:05:40.550 --> 00:05:45.050 front of your knees. That right there is why 00:05:45.050 --> 00:05:51.490 you don't do it. Protect the hands. Now, if you're 00:05:51.490 --> 00:05:55.610 one of those umpires that likes to set your hands 00:05:55.610 --> 00:06:00.050 on your knees in the hands on knees set, don't 00:06:00.050 --> 00:06:05.910 let what I'm saying change your mind. If you 00:06:05.910 --> 00:06:10.839 decide to You know, continue with that. Well, 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:14.620 that's the way you do things. Every person is 00:06:14.620 --> 00:06:19.379 different. But that's just not something I do. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:22.040 I like to protect the hands, if at all possible. 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:29.019 So, yeah, that's pretty much my thoughts on Little 00:06:29.019 --> 00:06:31.199 League World Series. Again, all the teams look 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:35.019 great. There was a lot of very, very good baseball. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.500 Even on the softball side, there was a lot of 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:45.040 very good softball. And congratulations to Johnstown, 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:49.100 Pennsylvania, for their Little League softball 00:06:49.100 --> 00:06:52.920 World Series victory. One thing that Little League 00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:59.259 did at the end of the baseball championship game, 00:06:59.500 --> 00:07:03.759 which apparently they've never done before, they 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:06.810 also brought the softball team out. They brought 00:07:06.810 --> 00:07:08.850 softball champions and the baseball champions 00:07:08.850 --> 00:07:12.370 out on the field, had them stand side by side 00:07:12.370 --> 00:07:15.949 with their championship banners, and took pictures 00:07:15.949 --> 00:07:20.470 as the two Little League World Series champions. 00:07:22.350 --> 00:07:27.310 I thought that was very cool. Now, I don't umpire 00:07:27.310 --> 00:07:32.149 softball. I don't normally watch softball. But 00:07:32.149 --> 00:07:35.769 it was nice to see. them getting recognized as 00:07:35.769 --> 00:07:39.990 well on you know the biggest stage you're you're 00:07:39.990 --> 00:07:45.149 at lamedy stadium in williamsport you know at 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:47.730 for the championship game and on the baseball 00:07:47.730 --> 00:07:50.170 side you can't get any bigger than that in little 00:07:50.170 --> 00:07:54.089 league so it it was it was cool to see them bring 00:07:54.089 --> 00:07:58.189 the softball team bring the girls out there and 00:07:58.189 --> 00:08:01.129 the girls got to celebrate with the boys and 00:08:01.129 --> 00:08:09.879 it it was good I quite enjoyed that. So getting 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:22.759 back to my season wrap up. So if you remember 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:28.360 in the last episode, I mentioned I had a couple 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:31.060 of games that ended up rounding out my season 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:34.480 that didn't. exactly go the way I wanted them 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:43.139 to. I ended up getting assigned to, I believe 00:08:43.139 --> 00:08:48.860 it was 9 to 11 year old minors. Well, not even 00:08:48.860 --> 00:08:54.539 minors, just 9 to 11. State championship games. 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:57.600 They were holding the state championship 9 -11 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:02.940 tournament. over in the next city over from where 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:06.519 I live, which is only 20 minutes from where I 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:12.340 work and normally umpire. So, yeah, the local 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:17.460 umpire signer for kind of this area got a hold 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:20.120 of me and said, hey, I've got a couple of games 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:23.679 that I need a second umpire for. Can you work 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.759 them? And you know what? I've never worked a 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.669 state championship. tournament game before so 00:09:30.669 --> 00:09:36.570 yeah why not um first game i was behind the plate 00:09:36.570 --> 00:09:41.370 with a partner that i've never worked with before 00:09:41.370 --> 00:09:49.649 um as as far as him he was very good i didn't 00:09:49.649 --> 00:09:53.970 you know i didn't see any issues with some of 00:09:53.970 --> 00:09:56.070 the stuff that you know or with anything that 00:09:56.070 --> 00:09:59.500 he did really He's a very good umpire, very good 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:07.720 partner. I don't know exactly what he thought 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:15.639 of my work behind the plate, but yeah, I almost 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:19.059 didn't go back the next night because the two 00:10:19.059 --> 00:10:21.539 games I was working were back -to -back. It was 00:10:21.539 --> 00:10:24.779 a Tuesday night and Wednesday night. Tuesday 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:27.389 night, I... I honestly didn't want to go back 00:10:27.389 --> 00:10:34.730 again Wednesday night. Let's see what happened. 00:10:34.830 --> 00:10:38.990 A lot of stuff happened. So I was kind of kind 00:10:38.990 --> 00:10:42.409 of rushed getting there because I got out of 00:10:42.409 --> 00:10:46.250 work at 430. The game started at 530. I had a 00:10:46.250 --> 00:10:49.309 20 to 25 minute drive to get there. Plus, I had 00:10:49.309 --> 00:10:52.690 to get changed up and and into my plate gear 00:10:52.690 --> 00:10:56.740 and all that. So we ended up. Getting on the 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:05.340 field about 5 .15 and the host tournament committee 00:11:05.340 --> 00:11:08.419 kind of wanted to get going, you know, a little 00:11:08.419 --> 00:11:12.740 early if possible. So they went right into introductions, 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:19.080 national anthem, all that. So I didn't really 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:22.320 have a good, you know, amount of time to pregame 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:27.580 with my partner. Luckily, that really didn't 00:11:27.580 --> 00:11:32.639 come into play. He knew what he was doing, and 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:40.039 we both knew enough about local signals and mechanics 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:45.220 and rotations and whatnot to where we did okay 00:11:45.220 --> 00:11:53.370 with each other. I know there... There was one 00:11:53.370 --> 00:11:58.649 coach who was not happy with me. Now, granted, 00:11:58.809 --> 00:12:04.350 I don't know why, but I just defaulted back to 00:12:04.350 --> 00:12:13.029 my tight strike zone. And you know your zone 00:12:13.029 --> 00:12:16.710 is a little too tight. Let me just give you this 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:19.370 little piece of wisdom here. You know your zone 00:12:19.370 --> 00:12:29.029 is too tight. When the coach asks for time and 00:12:29.029 --> 00:12:32.350 he comes walking over to you, this is the defensive 00:12:32.350 --> 00:12:35.889 coach. He comes walking over to you and he says, 00:12:36.169 --> 00:12:40.169 and he was very, very professional and polite 00:12:40.169 --> 00:12:44.330 about it. He says, you know, I know it's difficult 00:12:44.330 --> 00:12:48.610 to see from back over in the dugout, but some 00:12:48.610 --> 00:12:52.629 of these pitches are looking pretty good. Like, 00:12:52.629 --> 00:12:58.649 where is he missing? So I told him, you know, 00:12:58.649 --> 00:13:02.509 he's a little outside, and some of the lower 00:13:02.509 --> 00:13:08.129 pitches, he's just a little low. And then the 00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:11.809 next inning, he ends up going out to talk to 00:13:11.809 --> 00:13:14.250 the pitcher, or actually change the pitcher out. 00:13:16.490 --> 00:13:20.940 Was he changing the pitcher out? It's been almost 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:23.480 a month. I've tried to completely blank this 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:26.860 out of my mind. I think he went out to talk to 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:30.259 the pitcher. This was the second pitcher he'd 00:13:30.259 --> 00:13:35.039 been on that game. And as he's walking back to 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:37.379 the dugout, he looks over at me. He says, where's 00:13:37.379 --> 00:13:42.840 he missing? So I told him where I thought he 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:48.360 was missing. So now this is the second time. 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:53.779 He's asked me about this. All right, I need to 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:59.240 open my zone up. So I open my zone up. What do 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:03.720 you think happens? His team is now on offense. 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:11.120 I have opened my zone up, and now I hear from 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:14.120 the third base coach's box, when I call a strike, 00:14:14.379 --> 00:14:18.129 I hear from the third base box, Got to call it 00:14:18.129 --> 00:14:26.529 both ways, Blue. Here we go. So now he has it 00:14:26.529 --> 00:14:31.629 in his head that I'm not calling a fair game. 00:14:32.809 --> 00:14:37.889 I am now calling pitches for one team one way 00:14:37.889 --> 00:14:44.529 and for the other team the other way. Yes, okay, 00:14:44.629 --> 00:14:46.289 that's what I was doing, but I wasn't trying 00:14:46.289 --> 00:14:50.100 to do it. I wasn't doing it intentionally. I 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:52.679 was trying to open up my zone so I don't have 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:55.440 to listen to him all game. And this is only like 00:14:55.440 --> 00:15:00.960 the third inning. Then I had a guy behind the 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:07.000 fence on the third base side blowing me up. One 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.179 of the batters came over to me from that team 00:15:11.179 --> 00:15:16.960 and he asked. I think he was a left -handed batter. 00:15:18.059 --> 00:15:23.299 He asked if he could stand on the third base 00:15:23.299 --> 00:15:25.720 side of the plate during the warm -up pitches, 00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:31.820 obviously off, out of the way, during the pitchers' 00:15:31.820 --> 00:15:35.259 warm -ups, instead of standing over on the right 00:15:35.259 --> 00:15:39.820 side of the plate, on the first base side. Well, 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:42.039 that's the first time I've ever been asked that 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:46.700 question. So I said, I honestly, I don't think 00:15:46.700 --> 00:15:50.919 it matters because I didn't see anything in the 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.980 rule book that said you can't. So I say, oh, 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:57.679 that's okay with me if you stand on your side. 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:03.899 And this guy behind the, or first the kid goes 00:16:03.899 --> 00:16:05.799 back and tells the coach, yeah, he said it doesn't 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:10.200 matter. And then all of a sudden the guy behind 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:16.110 the fence. No, he can't stand there. It's in 00:16:16.110 --> 00:16:22.730 the Little League rulebook. Okay, who are you? 00:16:24.029 --> 00:16:29.990 I mean, I didn't even acknowledge the guy, but 00:16:29.990 --> 00:16:33.309 it's like, what are you talking about? Show me 00:16:33.309 --> 00:16:36.629 in the rulebook where it is. It's not, by the 00:16:36.629 --> 00:16:41.009 way. And then the next couple of innings, this 00:16:41.009 --> 00:16:45.840 guy is just... Yeah, he's irritating the crap 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.840 out of me. And afterwards, in talking with my 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:53.899 partner, even my partner said, you know, if one 00:16:53.899 --> 00:16:56.460 more thing came out of that guy's mouth, I was 00:16:56.460 --> 00:17:02.500 going to go over and have a chat with him. But 00:17:02.500 --> 00:17:06.299 yeah, he was, there was another one, they changed 00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:14.400 pitchers. And another. Player's standing there 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:18.140 doing some warm -up swings, and while the new 00:17:18.140 --> 00:17:20.420 pitcher is doing his warm -up pitches, and he's 00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:23.640 kind of timing up the swing to the pitch, and 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:27.240 this guy behind the fence is, see, he can't be 00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:29.500 timing him up. He's not supposed to be standing 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:31.059 there, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:40.640 I found myself, if you've ever watched the Keanu 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:43.559 Reeves movie, The Replacements, with him, Gene 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:48.819 Hackman. At one point when they're having a team 00:17:48.819 --> 00:17:52.420 meeting, Keanu Reeves talks about quicksand. 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:57.940 And basically what he's talking about is you're 00:17:57.940 --> 00:18:01.000 playing and you think things are going great, 00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:04.299 and then one thing goes wrong. And then another, 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:08.420 and then another. And the more you try to fight 00:18:08.420 --> 00:18:12.279 back, the deeper you sink. It's like being in 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:16.119 quicksand. That's where I found myself in that 00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:20.279 game. I thought things were going well, and then 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:22.940 I find out, no, they're not going well. Coaches 00:18:22.940 --> 00:18:27.180 are not happy. So I try to change things, try 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:30.920 to make things better, and I just keep sinking, 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:37.160 no matter what I do. So needless to say, by the 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:42.349 end of that game, I just wanted to get out of 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:48.309 there. I just walked to the truck with my partner. 00:18:50.910 --> 00:18:55.250 And I didn't even stick around for like the handshakes 00:18:55.250 --> 00:18:59.789 and stuff like that. Third out in the last inning, 00:18:59.950 --> 00:19:04.650 I'm out of here. So I stood there, waited for 00:19:04.650 --> 00:19:07.529 my partner to come in. We left, walked out to 00:19:07.529 --> 00:19:12.440 our vehicles. Had a five -minute debrief. And 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:15.720 then I just jumped in the truck and headed home. 00:19:19.779 --> 00:19:26.400 So that brings me to Wednesday's game. I was 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.380 pretty certain I was going to be on the bases. 00:19:31.700 --> 00:19:35.240 And then about 11 in the morning, I receive a 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:41.950 text. From my partner, again, someone I've never 00:19:41.950 --> 00:19:48.470 worked with. And he said, hey, family emergency, 00:19:48.670 --> 00:19:52.410 I can't work the game tonight. Is, you know, 00:19:52.410 --> 00:19:59.990 is there anybody else that can? Crap. I really 00:19:59.990 --> 00:20:04.769 don't want to work the plate again. So all afternoon 00:20:04.769 --> 00:20:07.160 I'm sitting there. Keep looking at my phone, 00:20:07.220 --> 00:20:09.980 hoping somebody is going to pipe up and say, 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:18.500 hey, I got it. Crickets. It's 4 .30 comes, I 00:20:18.500 --> 00:20:23.299 get out of work. All right. Get my plate uniform 00:20:23.299 --> 00:20:27.799 on, my shin guards, plate shoes. I'll put the 00:20:27.799 --> 00:20:29.480 chest protector and the shirt on when I get to 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:37.970 the field. Drive all the way to the field. dreading 00:20:37.970 --> 00:20:44.609 working the plate this game. And just kind of 00:20:44.609 --> 00:20:49.609 hoping for a miracle, to be honest. Well, I got 00:20:49.609 --> 00:20:56.069 one. I pull in the parking lot, and who is standing 00:20:56.069 --> 00:20:59.829 at the base of the tower, dressed in his plate 00:20:59.829 --> 00:21:03.269 gear, receiving the game balls from the tournament? 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:13.700 My buddy, Darren Abbott. The instant I saw him, 00:21:14.299 --> 00:21:21.700 it's, I can't even describe it. And he had no 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:26.500 idea who he was working with until he saw my 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:33.480 truck. And then he's like, oh, thank God. you 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:40.779 know i got i got somebody i know and um i'm almost 00:21:40.779 --> 00:21:42.960 jumping up and down in the truck while i'm driving 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:45.640 through the parking lot like you gotta be kidding 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:49.779 me out of all the people that could have stepped 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:59.819 up to the plate it's darren like thank you So 00:21:59.819 --> 00:22:02.119 he comes walking over. I jumped out of the truck. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:07.099 I almost gave him a hug because I was so happy 00:22:07.099 --> 00:22:12.259 that he was there. And he was going to work the 00:22:12.259 --> 00:22:15.900 plate. So I very quickly switched into my base 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:24.400 uniform. I get out there, do introductions. And 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:31.880 again, not my best time. First inning. Runner 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:38.579 on first. I'm over in B. I'll say it was ground 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:41.920 ball to shortstop. I start to slide over towards 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:45.119 second. Shortstop fields it. Throws to second. 00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:58.339 Gets the runner. I call him safe. Why the hell? 00:22:58.809 --> 00:23:05.390 Did I just call him safe? Well, I called him 00:23:05.390 --> 00:23:10.210 safe because there was no tag. But it's a force 00:23:10.210 --> 00:23:12.890 play, you idiot. There doesn't need to be a tag. 00:23:14.130 --> 00:23:16.089 The ball got into the second baseman's glove 00:23:16.089 --> 00:23:18.609 with the second baseman's foot on second base 00:23:18.609 --> 00:23:21.930 before the runner's foot got there. Runner's 00:23:21.930 --> 00:23:27.589 out. Period. Why the hell did I call him safe? 00:23:28.650 --> 00:23:31.970 I still don't know. Okay, this is the second 00:23:31.970 --> 00:23:42.069 time I've screwed that up. So that was strike 00:23:42.069 --> 00:23:47.009 one. Finally, we get to the end of the game, 00:23:47.089 --> 00:23:53.869 and the home team, if I remember correctly, they 00:23:53.869 --> 00:23:56.839 were mounting a comeback. They were down. I think 00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:59.460 they were down by six runs or something like 00:23:59.460 --> 00:24:01.400 that. They were mounting a comeback. They got 00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:06.359 to within, I think, three. Ground ball to the 00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:10.279 infield. Now, I'm over in C because there was 00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:13.839 a runner on second. Ground ball to the infield 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:17.400 with two outs. They decide to go to first with 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:22.240 it. I'm trying not to impede the runner going 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:25.900 to third because he's running. And now I'm trying 00:24:25.900 --> 00:24:29.700 to get across to get as close to first as I can 00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:35.440 through the infield. Balls gets thrown to first. 00:24:37.220 --> 00:24:43.059 I had the runner out. By the tiniest of margins, 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:51.519 I had him out. I'm fairly certain if you took 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:56.440 a poll, of each and every spectator and coach 00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:01.940 there, the way that everybody reacted, if you 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:03.740 polled everyone, they'd have said the runner 00:25:03.740 --> 00:25:10.279 was safe by three steps. Because everybody, like, 00:25:10.299 --> 00:25:18.099 freaked the hell out. I call him out. The first 00:25:18.099 --> 00:25:20.480 base coach, of course, he gave the safe sign. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:24.579 They always do. Well, I'm not going to pay attention 00:25:24.579 --> 00:25:28.359 to what you think it is. I'm going to, you know, 00:25:28.359 --> 00:25:33.539 call it the way I see it. So I call him out. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:37.240 And the first base coach just kind of throws 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:41.819 his hands out. And starts to walk back over to 00:25:41.819 --> 00:25:43.779 his dugout. He was over in the third base dugout. 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:48.859 As he crosses the foul line, he looks right at 00:25:48.859 --> 00:25:53.980 me. Holds two fingers up and says, that's two, 00:25:54.140 --> 00:26:03.900 Blue. That's two. And for those of you umpires 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:08.579 that don't speak coach, that means that's the 00:26:08.579 --> 00:26:19.420 second call that you've kicked today. Great. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.559 So I start to walk off the field. I notice Darren 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:29.140 is standing over by the plate. He likes to stand 00:26:29.140 --> 00:26:32.619 there while the team shake hands. And, you know, 00:26:32.619 --> 00:26:35.099 every once in a while you'll get a player that 00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:38.359 comes over and gives you a fist bump or whatever, 00:26:38.579 --> 00:26:42.019 the coaches and whatnot. So I go over, I stand 00:26:42.019 --> 00:26:47.319 with him. And as we start walking off the field, 00:26:47.460 --> 00:26:51.000 I hear one of the fans from the losing team. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:27:00.079 Just randomly yell out. What exactly did he say? 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:05.359 Hey, Blue, I got a pair of glasses if you need 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:11.940 to borrow them. Of course, that got a reply from 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:14.299 one of the tournament directors in the tower. 00:27:14.420 --> 00:27:16.279 He just kind of looks down at me and goes, well, 00:27:16.299 --> 00:27:21.220 that's the first one, isn't it? I just kind of 00:27:21.220 --> 00:27:23.250 chuckle. I went, yeah, I've. I haven't heard 00:27:23.250 --> 00:27:30.390 that one before. So we go over to the snack shack. 00:27:31.769 --> 00:27:34.690 Darren's going to get a hot dog and a drink. 00:27:36.150 --> 00:27:39.369 We're standing there, and the lady at the snack 00:27:39.369 --> 00:27:42.250 shack, very nice lady, told us we both did a 00:27:42.250 --> 00:27:48.089 great job. I think she was just being nice. And 00:27:48.089 --> 00:27:50.609 she asked me if I wanted anything. I said, no, 00:27:50.750 --> 00:27:53.099 I'm all set. She says, well, are you sure? It's 00:27:53.099 --> 00:27:57.180 free for the umpires. Nope, I'm good. I already 00:27:57.180 --> 00:28:01.319 got my own water and whatnot. I'm all set, but 00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:05.000 thank you. As we're having this conversation, 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:13.380 that same guy walks by. And he kind of turns 00:28:13.380 --> 00:28:15.460 to throw something in the trash can that was 00:28:15.460 --> 00:28:18.980 right next to me. And as he walks by, he says, 00:28:19.420 --> 00:28:23.900 I think he needs a pair of glasses. And then 00:28:23.900 --> 00:28:34.339 scurries off. And I just stood there for a second. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:37.940 And I'm like, you know, I'm thinking to myself, 00:28:38.039 --> 00:28:39.779 well, it's awful big of you to run your mouth 00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:44.640 and then run away. So I can't say anything back. 00:28:48.170 --> 00:28:50.329 And I just looked at the lady in the snack shack 00:28:50.329 --> 00:28:54.890 and she looked at me and she says, I'm sorry, 00:28:54.990 --> 00:28:58.930 people don't know how to behave themselves. And 00:28:58.930 --> 00:29:05.569 I just stood there and I said, you know, there 00:29:05.569 --> 00:29:08.710 are some days I just, I don't know why I do this. 00:29:10.750 --> 00:29:17.349 I just, I don't know why I still do it. And I 00:29:17.349 --> 00:29:21.329 started walking to the truck. Of course, Darren, 00:29:21.549 --> 00:29:27.650 being Darren, he says, hey, he says, still got 00:29:27.650 --> 00:29:29.630 two balls in my ball bag if you want to throw 00:29:29.630 --> 00:29:35.309 one at somebody. I said, well, I'd kind of like 00:29:35.309 --> 00:29:43.230 to have a bat right now, but. So, had a debrief 00:29:43.230 --> 00:29:48.670 with Darren at the truck. Jumped in the truck, 00:29:48.730 --> 00:29:54.829 got out of there. And that was my season. I've 00:29:54.829 --> 00:30:00.130 gotten a couple of text messages since. You know, 00:30:00.150 --> 00:30:02.910 group text. Hey, we've got, you know, here's 00:30:02.910 --> 00:30:07.089 a list of fall ball games. Not all just Little 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:10.930 League, but other leagues around the area. Let 00:30:10.930 --> 00:30:16.329 me know if you're interested. You know what? 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:22.839 I think I'm good. I think I'm good for the season. 00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:32.140 It seems to me that the further along the season 00:30:32.140 --> 00:30:38.160 went, I don't know if I continually got worse 00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:44.920 the longer the season went, or just people thought 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:49.740 I was getting worse. People thought less of me 00:30:49.740 --> 00:30:54.859 as an umpire the longer the season went on. So 00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:58.440 I think I'm all set doing fall ball and stuff 00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:08.019 like that. Which brings me to next year. I don't 00:31:08.019 --> 00:31:17.009 know. I honestly don't know whether I am... going 00:31:17.009 --> 00:31:21.730 to umpire next year it's it's going to be something 00:31:21.730 --> 00:31:25.410 that i am really really going to have to think 00:31:25.410 --> 00:31:32.109 about um but speaking of getting ready for next 00:31:32.109 --> 00:31:37.109 year uh one thing that i have been doing is studying 00:31:37.109 --> 00:31:41.589 the rule book more and more um studying the rule 00:31:41.589 --> 00:31:46.710 book like i said i watched almost every little 00:31:46.710 --> 00:31:52.109 league world series game and i didn't just watch 00:31:52.109 --> 00:32:00.650 the game i watched the umpires and i was kind 00:32:00.650 --> 00:32:03.289 of confused a couple of times and it's amazing 00:32:03.289 --> 00:32:09.329 when you start watching umpires how you can learn 00:32:09.329 --> 00:32:14.750 new stuff and it and it makes you look things 00:32:14.750 --> 00:32:17.380 up Because there were a couple of times, there's 00:32:17.380 --> 00:32:23.480 a runner on third. A pass ball goes into the 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:30.319 hole where the camera is. The backstop camera. 00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:38.220 And the ball goes into the camera hole out of 00:32:38.220 --> 00:32:48.609 play. And the run trots home. OK, so he stole 00:32:48.609 --> 00:32:52.470 home. Oh, wait, no, he didn't. Because I look 00:32:52.470 --> 00:32:55.130 and the third and first base umpires are running 00:32:55.130 --> 00:32:57.109 down the line with their hands up calling time. 00:32:59.390 --> 00:33:03.890 So if they call time because the ball is out 00:33:03.890 --> 00:33:06.470 of play, why does this runner on third get to 00:33:06.470 --> 00:33:10.430 score? This doesn't make any sense. So I looked 00:33:10.430 --> 00:33:13.410 it up in the rule book. And yeah, there's a rule 00:33:13.410 --> 00:33:19.980 right there. Oh, there's the rule. Okay, I get 00:33:19.980 --> 00:33:26.960 it now. But again, a rule I didn't know. And 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:31.859 to be perfectly honest with you, I don't get 00:33:31.859 --> 00:33:35.019 into the rulebook nearly as much as I should. 00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:38.220 And that is definitely something that I am going 00:33:38.220 --> 00:33:41.079 to be working on this summer. Or this fall, I 00:33:41.079 --> 00:33:45.569 should say. It's September now. And I do apologize 00:33:45.569 --> 00:33:49.890 for this episode being a few days late. You know, 00:33:49.910 --> 00:33:53.690 school starting up and other stuff going on. 00:33:53.730 --> 00:33:57.950 Of course, my poor youngest one ends up getting 00:33:57.950 --> 00:34:01.630 sick like the day before the first day of school. 00:34:03.309 --> 00:34:09.210 So, yeah, deal with that. And then my stepdaughter 00:34:09.210 --> 00:34:13.630 starting middle school this year. Yikes. Uh, 00:34:13.829 --> 00:34:19.829 yeah, a lot going on. So, um, yeah, I will leave 00:34:19.829 --> 00:34:23.769 it at that. Um, definitely try to get my, my 00:34:23.769 --> 00:34:28.010 nose in the rule book some more. And, uh, yeah, 00:34:28.130 --> 00:34:31.090 I would suggest that you try to do the same. 00:34:31.789 --> 00:34:35.369 Um, now would probably be a good time if you 00:34:35.369 --> 00:34:41.849 have any, um, you know, broken equipment or things 00:34:41.849 --> 00:34:45.949 that you want to upgrade for next year, now would 00:34:45.949 --> 00:34:48.730 probably be a good time to buy that stuff up 00:34:48.730 --> 00:34:52.110 because I think there are some people that are 00:34:52.110 --> 00:34:55.550 having sales right now. Something to think about. 00:34:55.989 --> 00:35:01.449 So, yeah, that is going to be it from here. As 00:35:01.449 --> 00:35:04.489 always, thank you very much for listening. And 00:35:04.489 --> 00:35:09.090 I will see you, hopefully, on The Diamond. See 00:35:09.090 --> 00:35:09.210 ya.