My partner ??

[His High Holiness]

Originally posted by Macaroo
However, the other day at my (middle level) varsity game the home (losing) coach was right near me doing the hand-shake thing. Since he was just at home plate, I attempted to hand him the two game balls, and he practically slapped them out of my grip. So, no more acts of courtesy on my part in future.

Also, I work quite a bit with college guys (Legion, Men's and some HS). They roll the balls and scram.

Who said anything about handing balls to a head coach? That's an insult. That's what he has a ball boy for. You insulted his status by giving him the balls.

There is a reason that many folks do not make it into NCAA and it usually has nothing to do with their strike zone and safe/out judgement. It has everything to do with little niceties.

BTW, in the rare cases where I do men's leagues and legion ball, I dump the balls and get the he!! out of there. The NCAA crowd and some high schools are more cultured and they expect their umpires to behave the same way. I was just trying to educate those that want to move to the next level. If you love low level ball, ignore my posts.

And no, I never stay around and solicit accolades. Unless the coach says something to me, I say nothing to him and I'll bet I spend no more than 5-10 seconds handing the balls to a ball boy or putting them in the ball bucket.

Peter