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Pre-game Rituals


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18 hours ago, KenBAZ said:

No, jock, cup, shoes, shins, lace your belt through your ball bags then pull your pants over your shoes and shins. I also lay down my mat open my lucky Red Sox lawn chair, lay out all my gear and put my valet key into the drink holder on the chair.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
 

@KenBAZ, I have to admit, I really appreciate the insight you had on many issues.  However, when you mentioned  your "Lucky Red Sox chair", I had to deduct some cool points.

 

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BU: Fist bump partner, hustle down the line to the grass.  When we're ready for play, I walk up to the bag and give it a small adjustment kick, and walk backward to my spot giving the PU the double pistols with the biggest smile possible to indicate I'm ready.

PU: Before giving the game ball to the pitcher, I stretch with hands up to face and elbows out, look away and give the ball a quick kiss, and then toss it to the pitcher.  It looks like I'm just preparing to throw, but I sneak a little peck in as it passes my face.

And now that I feel like the Tinman without it, I get a good pre and postgame stretch in.

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On March 19, 2017 at 10:33 PM, eagle_12 said:

I've changed what I do over the years, used to drink a certain drink, eat something specific, listen to a certain song. 

 

Right now for a college game I'll eat a PB&J about 15 mins out from my arrival time which is about 1.5 hrs before first pitch. Do that because I'll usually have somewhere from 1hr-3hr drive and would have eaten before I left.  Want to have something to last duration of game.  

 

After that it's same deal for college and HS. About 45 mins out I drink a 5-hr and start drinking a bottle of water. Will get a bathroom trip in as well; 2-3 sometimes.  

I get dressed left to right (left leg, then right leg in pants etc.). This is a must, and even do it with regular clothes, not just a baseball thing. Plate gear goes on left to right; shoes, shins, chest, ball bags, in that order.  

If I'm in a locker room, I'm the last one to leave. National anthem I close my eyes at "oh say does that..." open eyes after last notes stops, put on my hat, tap my left shoe twice, and then 3 small claps, or taps on my right thigh with my right hand if I have my mask. 

Quirky enough? These are just habits/routines I've just done and stuck with over the many years of sports and now officiating. All are replaceable except the getting dressed Left to right. I've in the past accidentally done something right side first, and proceeded to take everything off and restart from scratch. 

Wow, I thought I was the only one. Except for the anthem, which I sing, and the shoe tap, almost identical. Hmmm.

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On 3/20/2017 at 9:37 AM, Aging_Arbiter said:

It could be that I just retain a lot of useless trivia...like...  Never odd or even........is spelled that same way backwards..........................or The "A" in Australia is pronounced 3 different ways 

A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!

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On 3/21/2017 at 9:29 AM, LRZ said:

I stretch, especially my Achilles tendons when I work the plate.

I'm honestly more shocked that I don't see this mentioned more often around these parts...

Stretching is probably the EASIEST thing anyone can do to improve their life. Dedicate 5 SOLID minutes to stretching out your back and legs at the start of the day and maybe once more in the middle and it makes a world of difference. 

Take those 5 minutes before a game and the results are fairly obvious. 

 

My recommendation (I work in fitness): If you really can't dedicate 5 minutes, then take this one stretch and do it for 1 WHOLE minute: 

Stand with your feet about as wide as you can spread them. Then extend your arms out, bend at the waist and put your arms between your legs with the goal of touching the ground as far behind you as you can... You probably my won't be able to get there when you first start. But keep the goal in mind and try for it.. This will give a REALLY good stretch to your hammies. If you keep doing it consistently, your will notice you can go further and lower and with that will come increased mobility and stamina in your legs...

Not bad for one minute before each game. 

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  • 2 months later...
On 3/20/2017 at 5:53 AM, Thunderheads said:

Left to right, ...no not left handed, right handed.   Someone right handed will have better balance on their right foot, thus ....left foot first ;) 

No, I don't have a "method" to get dressed ...I just do it

I do it left to right because when you march you start with the left foot, so for 40 years I've done everything left to right.

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On 3/20/2017 at 8:59 AM, kylehutson said:

I put on my protective gear bottom to top. Not because it's a ritual, but because I find it works better (shin guards fit right if I put them on after the plate shoes, etc.).

Then, when I'm all done, I verify I've protected the five N's:

Nubs (plate shoes)

(K)Nees (shin guards)

Nuts (cup)

Nips (chest protector)

Nose (mask)

Do a ritual of watch, wallet, spectacles, testicles smacking both shin guards, the cup and the chest protector with my mask while saying it out loud. I forgot to do it once this year and wound up looking at some warm up pitches without my shin guards.  Those pre game rituals are a good thing.

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5 hours ago, umpstu said:

Those pre game rituals are a good thing.

Just this last weekend, I was working a youth tournament and we were running behind schedule, so I was rushed. Got out, did the plate meeting, pitcher threw his warm-ups, I took my position behind the plate and said "Time!". Something wasn't right. And then they had to wait a couple of minutes for me to run back up and put on my chest protector.

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On 3/20/2017 at 3:48 AM, KenBAZ said:

Anyone else "lace" their plate pants with their ball bags prior to pulling them on over their shoes and shins?

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
 

YEP!!! and put my plate brush in my right back pocket.

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5 hours ago, kylehutson said:

Just this last weekend, I was working a youth tournament and we were running behind schedule, so I was rushed. Got out, did the plate meeting, pitcher threw his warm-ups, I took my position behind the plate and said "Time!". Something wasn't right. And then they had to wait a couple of minutes for me to run back up and put on my chest protector.

Last week I got to a game a little behind schedule and in the top of the second, I took a pitch off the upper thigh. It was then I realized that my shins weren't sweating because I wasn't wearing my guards. 15 more pitches and hustled off to get them. 

Had a deadline for work and wasn't thinking. 

Also, I'll second the stretching. I try to get in a couple minutes every day and my body tends to heal faster than many of the guys I work with, even though I'm older. Last night, I took a foul to the upper thigh. Arnica gel last night, no bruise today. Just started using a foam roller and my knees and hips feel great. 

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13 hours ago, kylehutson said:

Just this last weekend, I was working a youth tournament and we were running behind schedule, so I was rushed. Got out, did the plate meeting, pitcher threw his warm-ups, I took my position behind the plate and said "Time!". Something wasn't right. And then they had to wait a couple of minutes for me to run back up and put on my chest protector.

Exactly

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13 hours ago, noumpere said:

Either your shin guards are way too high, or ....

I'm getting old, so some parts of my body have shifted to a lower position. lol

 

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Prep shoes and hard gear.

Get pants out.

Dress.  

Sanity check: "Shoes, shins, cup, chest, face, brush, book, indimicator, key.  Key. KEY? There it is."

Once I left the back door of my Jeep open.   I was on the bases and could see it the whole game.   Stupid distraction. 

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  • 1 month later...

1)Sitting at desk at work, look at clock: "Dammit, I should have left work already!"

2)Hit every GD red light on my way to the freeway.

3) Get stuck in traffic on freeway because some a-hole decided to go 80 when everyone else was going 60, and rear ended someone.

4) Arrive at ballpark 20 minutes later than I wanted to, but not too worried because I still beat my partner. :rock

5a) While getting things ready at the car, get greeted by some dad walking by, saying something he thought was funny and original, the only thing is that it was not funny, nor original, the other 57 times I heard it before. Politely smile and force a chuckle, then go back to getting ready. 

5b)Rush to get dressed due to circumstances listed above. Get halfway to field before I realize I forgot (fill in the blank here), turn around and walk all the way back to the parking lot to get said item. 

6) Hit the bathroom for one last pregame. 

7) Get paid if it's a game that is paid at the field and not a RefPay game. Yes, always get paid before. Sometimes, the last place you want to be after a game, is hanging around the concession stand waiting for a the person with the checkbook. Especially when you just banged out the tying run for the home team on a close play at the plate to end the game. 

8) Grab a bottled water from the hot mommy running the concession stand. "How ya doin?" :Cool2:

9) Enter field, talk sh** with the home team players and coach for a moment. 

10) Ask for baseballs, get baseballs, tell them that's not enough baseballs, listen to coach say: "both pitchers each have one baseball as welll." Thank coach for that info then restate: "still not enough baseballs, (coach's name here." Hear coach make some comment about their skinny budget while handing you two more baseballs. Thank coach with a smile, then head to plate meeting with coach.

11) Upon arrival at plate, listen to coaches tell (lie to) each other how tough their seasons have been, and how they have no idea how they are going to make it through the rest of the season, even when both are playing above .700 baseball. 

12)  Start plate meeting. Point out to one of the coaches that he has two players with the same number. After his surprise, watch as he has to yell at one of the players several times to get his attention. Once he does, get ready for the confused look on the player's face when he is asked what his number is. The mystery is finally solved, but not until we have that player turn around so we can see what his number is.

13) Line up for anthem, hoping it's going to be the standard band rendition that lasts all of 45 seconds, but instead getting a recorded rendition of some pop star singing it at some big event in the past, that ends up going well past 2 minutes, because the dad in the press box thought it would be so awesome! 

14) Say goodbye to the partner, greet the catcher, take a look at some warm up pitches, start the game 5-10 minutes late due in large part to the Case of the Duplicate Numbers, and Daddy DJ in the press box. 

15) An hour and a half later:

BOOM! OUTTA HERE! (If we're lucky) ;)

Somewhere in there, a real pre-game was probably mixed in, provided it wasn't someone that I've worked with a hundred times before. In between balls, strikes, and puts, a couple of silly questions from coaches were answered, and several funny things were heard coming from the stands from fans who came to the game fresh out of clues.

Oh, I almost forgot! I also heard John Fogerty's "Centerfield" for the 4,357th time at some point during the game. :Horse:

 Or was it the 4,358th time?

I think that pretty much honestly sums up a day in the life of an amateur umpire in the middle of July. 

:meditation:

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