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Old Mon Jul 24, 2017, 02:50pm
teebob21 teebob21 is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Northeast Nebraska
Posts: 776
Thoughts, notes, and questions from Nationals

I recently returned from my national. Here's my random collection of commentary:

Thoughts:
  • Florida is a wonderful place to visit, but not somewhere I would want to work all the time. The late July rain coming off the coast was quite disruptive, and out of everyone's control. We basically got rained out of our last two days. As an out-of-town umpire, I don't mind the delays. (It is what it is.) The teams did not get everything they'd hoped for, I imagine.
  • As mentioned above, it rained a lot. This is the third year in a row I haven't worked my last assignment at a national, for various reasons. I have the worst luck.
  • My roommate was awesome. He was a local, and gifted me some beach sand and shark's teeth to take home for my kids.

Notes:
  • I am so glad I rented a car. While it ate up my entire game fee check, transportation was inconvenient for the umpires without vehicles, especially due to the changes due to rain.
  • While we might not all like the new look, the new USA uniforms are quite slimming. I sent my wife the link to the live stream of my games during a rain delay. She didn't believe it was me until she watched three or four innings. I told her the wide angle lens takes off 20 lbs. She commented positively on the "fat man panel" on the shirts. For what it's worth...we did look good.
  • The new Starter brand "moisture-wicking" Core Tee shirts currently sold at Wal-Mart are crap, unless wicking means "retaining". They were worse than a cotton tee. Even at $6 a shirt: DO NOT BUY.
  • I posted here about an incorrect INT call I made on a force at 2B last year. I had a similar play this year, and did not make the same call on the collision. Unfortunately, this year, the SS suffered a compound tibia-fibula fracture when slid into. That was not pleasant to see and hear from 12 feet away. I hope she gets well soon.

Questions:
  • What is the best course of action at a National when presented with a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" rules moment? For context, my crews twice encountered situations where we felt we needed to enforce the rules as written. The first time was a team with mixed color and style hats/visors...the TD and UIC instructed us to let it go, as the TD had told the team that headgear matching the team colors (red, white, and blue) was OK, so the players wore a bunch of different hats/visors. The other situation was a foreign substance discovered after a new pitcher had thrown for two outs + a runner in the inning.
  • What has happened to the "community" at these events? The past two years, very few umpires have gotten together after games ended for dinner or (for those who enjoy them) adult beverages? That used to be a common thing...but granted, both times I traveled to the East Coast and knew no one. That may have had something to do with it...
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Umpiring Goals: Call the knee strike accurately (getting the low pitch since 2017)/NCAA D1 postseason/ISF-WBSC Certification/Nat'l Indicator Fraternity(completed)
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