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My first game behind the plate


kylehutson
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Now that I've gotten the feel of this site, I'll relate the night of my first game behind the plate a few years ago.

 

Rec league, 13U. R2. Batter gets a fair hit to F8 who chases it down and throws hard to home where R2 is coming in. Looks like it might be a close one. R2 slides and comes up about 6" short of the plate while the ball sails past F2 and hits the fence. F2, thinking the run has already scored trots over to the ball. R2 is still 6" short of the plate with his left leg outstretched and his right foot under his left knee. F2 finally realizes the runner hasn't scored and tags him for the out. (This whole time BR is standing on 2B, not trying to advance). R2 has a look of pain on his face and says "my wrist", so I call the coach to come look at him. He rolls over and that's when everybody realizes it wasn't his wrist....it was his ankle, which is pointing much more toward his knee than an ankle ever should.

 

We had to suspend the game for nearly 20 minutes to wait for the ambulance to come and get him.

 

Your first game at the plate is always exciting, but I think mine was more exciting than most.

 

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Well your previous boss was obviously Jesus.......pretty sure he coined that.   lol

 

I hear you though.   It's just that many people are really afraid to admit errors.   I hope this place STAYS as a place where we can be perfectly honest with each other, perfectly human to admit error, and perfectly supportive of each other.

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I know where it came from, and the full reference - that's what makes it useful.

 

The guy who first taught me umpiring said it's the only job where you're expected to start perfect and just get better from there. I figure I have enough flaws that if I tried to deny them all, it would be laughable.

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When I was a coach I had a kid from Japan pitching for me.  He snapped his humerus bone in his right upper arm while pitching warm ups for fall HS league.  Sounded awful  Didn't break skin but was obviously very painful.

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After I posted this last week, last night I had, for the second time in my career, a kid taken to the hospital (not by ambulance this time, at least).

 

Pitch came in way inside (probably would have hit his chest - I was BU and couldn't tell for certain), and he swung at it. Gave the ball just enough elevation to hit him above the eye. Ewwww.

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That IS something you will never forget. I have unfortunately had to stop a game and call an ambulance on three different occasions. I remember each one distinctly. But the worst was watching my own kid laying on a HS field knocked out.

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Yes, he was on the field and couldn't be moved by amateurs. I mentioned this was a rec league - the coach was just a parent and nobody had any real training.

 

But thanks for second-guessing me.

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You had a player with a broken ankle and you stopped the game? Stopped the game until and ambulance got there? Really? Was it a compound fracture with lots of blood? You stopped the game?

What are you going to do, tell people to move him?

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It's a broken ankle.

 

It's not a head injury.

 

Get him off of the field.

 

Kyle, do you expect to post on here and think everyone is going to agree with everything you did?  I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.

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It's all right. It actually made me reflect. Now that I have a few years of experience, would I do the same thing now? Given that same situation, I think I would. If it were a high school game, probably not.

 

If I didn't have thick skin, I wouldn't have started umpiring.

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