blue bomber

Gentlemen, Kerwin Danley took a shot in the mask tonight and they had to take him off the field in an ambulance. He was lying in the field for 18 minutes. I can't find video anywhere so just get a look at it on Sportscenter. His condition has not been released yet. It is quite humbling. EDIT: Here's a link to the earliest released MLB story. So far ESPN says he's in stable condition and likely has a broken jaw. It was a 94 mph fastball that went straight from the pitcher to his face without getting touching glove or bat.

Oh, and Rob Drake had to make a HUGE call at the plate tonight in the Braves/ Marlins game. The commentator had it right when he said it wasn't a bang bang play, it was a bang play. It just illustrates my crazy umpire mindset that I was more impressed with the fact that he could make the right call so quickly rather than being impressed that Yunel Escobar made such a perfect throw to Brian McCann. It made the play so much more exciting.

My hat's off to you. I'm paying for it myself and I'm getting out of it with no school debt (why do you think I got into umpiring?). Personally, I just want school to die a quick, quiet death. I have a wonderful GPA and a great degree, but I don't need the ceremony.

I went to my first pro game since becoming an umpire the other day. I have a completely different viewpoint now on what professional umpiring is. Even the pros: 1) Talk to players during the game (afraid to get busted for this by a coach) 2) Wear white on their plate shoes (saw a mandate somewhere about no white on the shoes) 3) Put their hands in their pockets (this is a leftover from the Marine Corps that I can't bring myself to do when I'm in my uniform) 4) Lift their mask to spit (Self conscious about parents judging me) 5) Walk around with their mask on (I can't walk 6 feet without taking it off) 6) Last but not least...they knock dirt off the plate with their foot...alot!:eek:

I'm graduating soon. I would totally skip the ceremony to umpire a playoff game. Is that wrong? After proving myself for 4 years graduation is more of a technicality in my book, but the family thinks it's the greatest thing ever.

Where were the umpires the first time it happened? And the second? Why was this the first he heard about this rule? It is fairly common, and it's right there in the section about coaches and conduct which is the section they should at least look at if they don't look anywhere else in the book. Unless he got really full of attitude I would have let him go the way he ended up, but if would have made a bigger deal of it...

Yeah, my partner didn't even hear it. His back was turned, and he was about 45 feet away by the time the player lost it. I absolutely would have left it between him and the player if he had any idea it had happened. As it was, I wasn't going to let the guy's pointing and yelling and mouth diarrhea go unanswered.

Now THAT is good gouge.

So I finally did it. I didn't think I would get one in before the HS season ended. There's a coach or two that probably needed to go before now, but when it finally happened it was a player. After a banger at 1st where the runner was called out he threw his helmet and started pointing and yelling at the BU while he was walking to his mid-inning spot. If the BU would have heard it I would have left it up to him, but I wasn't going to let that mess slide behind his back. The head coach told me that's what the guy needed to have happen because his temper was a problem a lot. The kid also apologized to us after the game. I thought that was pretty stand-up. Still sent in the report, though.

I wear Mizuno Wave trainers. G-something, but I'm not sure. They're the ones without the knobby soles. They're great. They are made of a stiff grain of leather that is easy to clean and doesn't need polishing. They also have a very nice insole that I wish my running shoes had. My local ma and pop sporting goods store had them on sale for 36 bucks. If you can get them on the cheap, you won't be disappointed.

Yeah, I know what you're saying. I have learned quickly though the mantra of everybody who has been around awhile...You'll live to umpire more games. The players will live to play another game. Once you've learned the lesson that there is to be learned, you gotta let it go. I don't think anticipation of a certain play is all that bad (everybody would put their money on the runner getting back), but rather prejudging a play and taking your eye off the ball to begin with. Right-center field is your call anyway. You should already be facing the ball to watch it back into the infield. You can't go to collect on your horse winning the race until the race is finished.

The Braves guys wear them. I just figured everybody did. My game was rained out and so was the Braves game so I was kinda up the creek.

Very cool...I'll have to file that one away as I have a DH almost every weekend.

Sounds a little Busch League, but so do the players, so I'm not totally against it. We have a 15 after 3 rule that takes away having to fudge other expediency rules in. The next region over to our west has a rule where sub-varsity can't start an inning after 9pm. We don't. A lot of guys that call rec ball talk about how parents yell about taking it away from thie kids, and I don't really know what that means, but it seems like that's the case with this rule. Granted, my desire to stand on the field for a three hour JV game isn't so high, but theirs probably is if it is a close game. C'est la vie. We do have the 10 run rule after 4.5/5. What's worst is when the visiting team achieves its 10 run lead in the top of the 7th.

Wow. I can usually tell how the game is going to go by watching infield, but I haven't seen any attitudes like that yet. Glad to see that those don't exist only on fields where I'm the umpire.:D