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I'm sure we've all had our times when we've sat around with fellow umpires sharing war stories. You know the kind of stories I'm talking about. They're usually told while several of your umpiring buddies and you sit in the parking lot at the end of the day during a tournament, maybe over a few cold beers.
Then there are those Sunday association meetings when you're just not ready to head home to the Mrs. after the meeting, and opt to head with your pals to one of the local Pubs.
Some of the best I've heard were told in the evening, during a week long umpiring camp at the end of the day as we were settling in for the night.
There are those infamous "out-safes" that you called early in your career. The notorious "hard and fast" ejections. The "stupid plays" you've seen. The "dumb" calls you've made, etc....
As things are somewhat anemic on the board now, I thought this might be a good time to discuss some of our war stories with each other.
I'll relate one of those "out-safes" first.
This was during a 16U BR game. The call wasn't all that hard, but I had my head, well, you know where.....
The play was pretty straight forward. I had R3 advancing to the plate on a passed ball. F1 had come in to cover the throw. Instead of tossing the ball to F1, F2 decided he had a shot at tagging out the runner himself(the ball had taken a real good kick off the backstop and came back toward the plate.)F1 apparently thought F2 would flip him the ball, as he stood his ground at the plate. All three, the runner, the catcher, and the pitcher were at the plate at the same time. F2 applied the tag as R3 slid into the plate. F1 being in such close proximity to the plate fell when F2 dove toward the plate after being contacted by F2. He didn't obstruct R3, he just fell on top of him after he had reached the plate.
I was sure I saw the tag, but I wasn,t sure if F2 had secure possession of the ball through the tag. They were all laying in a huddled mass on the plate. I witheld the call and asked to see the ball. At that point, F1 came up with the ball and showed it to me. You guessed it. "Out" was the first thing out of my mouth when I saw the ball. It only took a few seconds before it dawned on me what I had just done. All three players rose to their feet, at which time I called "safe, ball was on the ground." The timing was good, my positioning was good, but there are those plays when you are destined to look a little out of your element.
Anyone else have a war story to tell?
Tim.
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