[aceholleran]

I didn't get the whole "rat" thing my first few years of umpiring.

I had this misguided "be a nice guy--no one will get mad at you" notion, until someone set me straight. He was a local guy who had umped about four seasons of organized ball.

He basically said what some of you have iterated: They will bend you, cajole you, suck up to you and [bleep] you at every turn.

Here's a great example: Big game, tightly contested, then things turn sour for the Weasels one inning, and their ace allows 3-4 runs.

After the inning, I (PU) am standing on the foul line, all by my lonesome. The Weasels' manager sidles up to me, all nice like.

"Jeeze," he says, "that kid [his pitcher] hasn't had that bad an inning all year. He's a nice kid."

So, like a dope, I answer him in kind. "Yeah, skip. He looked good to me the first coupla innings, and then he just seemed to lose it for a few batters."

Suddenly, Rattus changes his tone of voice. "And your lousy strike zone ain't helpin' him neither."

QED.

Ace in CT