After a week consisting entirely of three rainouts and a forfeit, baseball was bound to be played today. The sun was out for most of the day and the local weatherfolk, who nearly always forecast rain just to be on the safe side, didn’t seem to think rain was even a possibility. So, I figured that once the lunch hour came and went with no text messages alerting me to game-status updates, it was game on.
Interestingly, I was partnered with someone whose name I recognized from some of the training sessions as a fellow rookie. Until someone tells me otherwise, I’m just going to make a giant leap of assumption and figure that the early feedback on me is that I’m at least competent enough to where I don’t need to always be scheduled with a strong veteran partner who would then keep me from making a mockery of the umpiring avocation.
It’s the small victories I need to celebrate.
Turns out that my partner, while a rookie with the baseball association, is a long-time softball umpire who had dabbled in baseball last summer with a recreational league.
There goes my theory.
The weather at the site was mostly sunny and in the mid 50’s with not a threatening-looking cloud to be found. That doesn’t necessarily mean much in Seattle, but I thought it was a much better sign than the constant rain of the week prior.
As my partner had not yet worked a school game this year at the plate in a baseball game, I was going to be on the bases.
The top of the first saw the visiting team score a run in fairly standard order. It was an otherwise unremarkable inning.
The bottom of the inning was a little chaotic, however, as the home team answered with five runs of their own. The visitors’ pitcher struggled intermittently with location. When he was getting the ball over the plate, however, his problems became the fact that the hitters were pounding the ball all over the field.
One point to be made here, however, was that I noticed my partner was not giving the high strike, especially on breaking pitches that dropped into (what I perceived to be) the strike zone. I made a mental note to inquire about that after the game. With no knowledge of softball on a technical level, I don’t believe you see the same sort of breaking ball you do in baseball. I’m basing that on arm angles, so I mostly just believe this to be the case and am going with it.
Anyhow, the pitcher in question definitely threw a lot of those sorts of pitches, which wasn’t helping the inning to get finished.
Surprisingly, the second inning saw no runs scored on the same pitcher, so it wasn’t going to be one of those games.
My first big call came with a runner on second, who happened to be the same visiting pitcher who’d gotten roughed up in the first. He had just doubled in a few runs to help close the gap on the scoreboard. Before the next pitch was thrown, the pitcher wheeled around to pick him off. It wasn’t all that close for a pick-off play, though, they are usually fairly close. The kid had clearly just gotten a step too far off the bag. The throw arrived to the bag well in advance of the diving runner.
It was the third out of the inning, as well.
I went in to chat with my partner after the play. He asked me if I’d been taught to be ‘there with a runner on second.’ It turns out that I was working from the ‘B’ position when the pick-off play occurred. I had been on the wrong side of the mound!
Now, it’s not hard to remember where you’re meant to be in certain situations, but I have found myself in the wrong spot a few times so far. Usually, my partner has given me a little head tilt to prod me over into my proper position. As far as I know, this was the first time I went to the wrong spot and stayed there as play resumed.
I’m thinking there’s a certain amount of game presence I’m lacking in these situations. I need to remember to reset the game situation every time something happens on the field. I’m usually in the wrong spot after a stolen base or something of the sort. I think I’m not registering that things have changed at that point. This will change (hopefully soon)!
Another boob-up came when, with runners at the corners, the pitcher threw over to first, at which time the runner took off for second. I moved around and got set for a play at second.
That play never came.
I had stopped watching the ball, which was thrown home and then back to third as the other runner had made a move for home and then retreated.
And I missed all of it.
I had forgotten how important it was to keep in mind that you have to have a runner AND the ball to have a play. So, while all the action was going on behind me, I had a first-rate view of a runner sliding into second with absolutely nothing important happening there.
They say you learn best from mistakes. I think this one will live with me for a while.
Fortunately, the play at third was not at all close. At least, that’s what my partner told me later.
I saw nothing.
I also found that I was failing to get into position to make calls from ‘B’ and ‘C’ positions at first base. Where earlier I was not moving toward first in those situations and making the call from where I stood when the pitch was delivered, I am now moving too much and not stopping in time to get ’set.’ What’s irritating about it is that I feel it when I do it, yet made no adjustment.
My partner noted the same thing. He said I appeared ‘fidgety.’
That can’t be a good thing.
The final close play for me was a bang-bang play at first, when the visiting pitcher (again) attempted to bunt his way on to first. It was about as close a call as you can imagine, but I had him out, which was the third out of the inning.
As the visitors warmed-up in the field at the bottom of the inning, the pitcher, who’d since been moved to second base moved toward where I was standing in shallow right field.
“Mr. umpire? How close was that play at first?”
The way the kid spoke didn’t give me any thought that he was really questioning the call, so I offered only that “it couldn’t have been any closer with the same result.”
I had this feeling that it just wasn’t that kid’s day. He seemed to be on the bad end of all the close calls on the day. Sometimes you have those days.
I guess I kinda had one of those days as well. It had been a full 12 days between games, so maybe some of it was rust. I am only six games into my career as an umpire, so there’s also obviously some inexperience factoring as well.
If I’m on the bases tomorrow, I’ll hope to feel some improvement on these items…assuming it doesn’t rain.
