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Old Sat Jan 13, 2007, 02:21am
gotblue? gotblue? is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 60
Question for San Diego Steve

Previously, the meaning of a quote that you have begun using in your signature line (if that is what it is called) was questioned by GarthB, as well as me and a couple of other posters. The quote is:

"One of the really wrong theories about officiating is that a good official is one you never notice. The umpire who made that statement was probably a real poor official who tried to get his paycheck and hide behind his partners and stay out of trouble all his life. Control of the ballgame is the difference between umpires that show up for the players and the managers." - National League Umpire Bruce Froemming

The distinction between two groups of umpires that Froemming is making in the conclusory sentence is not clear or is incomplete. This has been bugging me for a couple of days. I know that maintaining control of a ballgame is extremely important for an umpire, and is more important than not being noticed. But what is/are the distinction(s) that he is trying to make? One group of umpires shows up for one thing, and another group shows up for something else. What are those two things? The quote means enough to you that you chose to use it in signing/ending your posts, and I want to see if I am missing something.
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