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At the risk of sounding pedantic, I am almost done with you. You asked for me to identify myself so that it would give weight to my opinions. In case you didn't notice, I've been around here a little longer than you - minus the hiatus for bad behavior. Many know me or I should say, know of me. My reputation was not good, as I challenged a few members that could also write well. I sank to some pretty low depths and earned a banishment. Since I returned, I have tried to argue the merits of my opinion. I challenge the veracity of other claims and enjoy a good debate. While I wouldn't characterize him as my nemesis, Carl has relished his role of patriarch of educated umpires and has had some great exchanges with me.
Contrary to your contention, I am not trying to be smarter than anyone here. It has been my experience that two umpires will see the same play and sometimes have opposite calls. I use proper grammar and pride myself on being able to use more than ordinary words to fill my sentences. It makes my brain feel good, akin to yoga for the mind. I'll admit that occassionally I become preachy, but you'll notice that when I dialogue with RPatrino, Tee, Sal and a few others, it is done as peers. I ask no more respect than I give. In your case, you challenged me and I came down hard.
As I've said before, you may very well be umpire of the year material - I don't care. You contend that you don't need anyone to tell you a better way to umpire and that is silly. Eddings, West, McClelland, Rapuano all learned some lessons this past post season. Maybe you are uncomfortbale admitting that I may make sense. That too, is okay. I make my crew uncomfortable sometimes because I demand perfection on the field. We've never achieved it and that's our motivation. You dismiss me as a crackpot who loves to lord his baseball smarts over the lesser umpire. That is not true; I spend many hours insuring that the next generation of umpires is better than me. It's an old business trick - hire someone who can do your job better than you. He'll work hard to prove it and never let you down. When you retire, he's ready for the job. That is why I am adamant about doing whatever is necessary to get the call right. Maybe the kid in the front row isn't saying we're blind. Maybe he has a sparkle in his eye because we are doing a great job. That is one of the biggest reasons I umpire.
There...I did not insult you and made my point. If there is something else you'd like to discuss, I'll be happy to chat. Otherwise, relax and look around. Some of the best umpires on this board aren't as upset about this as you've become. Verbal Obstruction is a very intricate call. Like the balk, we know it when we see it. That is all I've ever asked.
Enjoy your Trick or Treaters...I always keep the hose handy for the little buggers that want to show me an egg sized fastball!
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