1st HS game

[carolinablue]

I don't know if I should tell this one or not, but here it goes. I am a rookie umpire so I did almost all LL this season to get some experience. I plan to do HS next season if I can work out the schedule. My son plays ball for a local HS so I know the coach and he would let me hang around batting practice and get behind the plate sometimes to work on my eye and my mechanics. It was actually a good deal.My son played Jv and varsity this season so one day they had a JV game ( it was a make-up game towards the end of the season ) and I went straight from work to see the game. Well, there was a mix up in scheduling and no umpires showed up for the game. The other team was already there and the coach, knowing I was an umpire asked if I would do the game, so I did. I had my gear in the trunk but no uniform or no jock support. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and a UVA baseball cap. I jammed the cup down in my jeans put on my gear and walked down to the field. The plate meeting consisted of this, to the visiting manager " coach, I have never done a game above LL majors, I am by myself, and my son is on the other team, if you agree to this we will play ball ". Believe it or not he did, I guess gas prices were getting the best of everybody. Actually, I done a pretty good job and the only problem I had was that as I ran my cup would try to slide down my pants leg and it drove me crazy all game. All the spectators got a pretty good laugh and of course, I waived the fee.

[Stan W.]

I think you will find that this has happended to many of us......Its not something we should do deliberately, but given the alternative to No Umpire or No game or worse dads from the stands.....I have done it as well..... and I hated it....you can not watch the game or cheer for your kid...and to be honest, I probably called a much tighter zone on my son to make sure I was being unbiased....

Ive had to do it twice...once in PONY league and once in Legion due to a mix up when no Umpires showed up.

I have also done my sons College Alumni game and intrasquad scrimmages...........but those are tune ups for me and all in fun with nothing on the line.....free umpiring for them and good level of preseason practice for me......

Edited September 11, 2008 by Stan W.

[mstaylor]

I mamaged my son's Pony team the last two years. We were playing the second place team for first and no umpires showed up so guess who got to do the game? It sucked to not be able to do anything to help your team. The funny thing was my parents gave me a fit.

[Old Nr 24]

Having spent some time in a manager/coach's uniform, as well as a long time wearing the blue, I think a man umpiring a game well in which one of his own is playing is the true test of umpire integrity. If you passed that test, the rest is easy, believe me! In fact, that's how I got into umpiring for pay. After doing volunteer work in our community for years, I was forced into calling a game in which my 12-year-old was playing. Bottom line is that he came to bat in the bottom of the last inning with a runner on second, 2 outs, and the game in the balance. With a 2-2 count I called him out on a slider that just nipped the outside corner. After the game another dad who was a member of the local umpire association approached me and said, "How about coming to a meeting? Any man who will do what you just did is our kind of umpire."