[Gulf Coast Blue]

Peter........

As one who can probably say I have probably watched more Jon Bible called games than anyone on this board (100+) I can say that I did emulate him when I called baseball. I picked his brains after games 20+ years ago and found him to be a wonderfully helpful and cordial person.

I called Legion ball here on the Gulf Coast of TX when I was in college (summers), and much of my mechanics and knowhow of field presence I can attribute to Mr. Bible. I may have missed 1 or 2 BB games in the 5 years I lived in Austin while attending UT. Jon was a regular then, and was a well liked umpire then (as I am sure he is now), even by the "Wild Bunch". I can attest that his charachter is without question.

I do not know what kind of relationship Garth has with Mr. Bible.......but if Mr. Bible is the same sort of person he was 20+ years ago.......I can assure you that he would answer truthfully without his worrying about how he looked.

I only do softball now......but still relish the times when I did call the big diamond and had the opportunity to pick the brains of umpires like Mr. Bible and Mr. Crystal (another SWC Umpire in the 70's).

Joel

[Edited by Gulf Coast Blue on Dec 31st, 2000 at 07:42 AM]