Players you have umpired

[umpduck11]

Originally Posted by mbyron

Chisty Matthewson, Satchel Page, Johnny Evers.

Wow.... you're a little older than I had imagined.

[mbyron]

Oh, I didn't realize the question was restricted to this life.

[tiger49]

My list;

Tony Fernandez & George Bell...brought up a team from the Dominican to Toronto and they served as coaches.

Jesse Crain, Joey Votto, Scott Thorman, Pete Orr, Shawn Hill, Phillippe Aumont (1st Round pick of Seattle). A bunch more in the minors.

I also did a charity game between a bunch of Toronto area NHLers including Doug Gilmour, Tie Domi, Brendan Shanahan, Eric Lindros and more.

[bluezebra]

I tossed my lineup cards when the games were over. The players were just names and numbers, forgotten as soon as I tossed the cards.

I worked the plate on two home games that Jim Gilliam's son played in. He never played in the Majors, and I'm not sure if he even played pro ball at all.

But I did officiate some of John Elway's high school football games. At that time I didn't who he was, except, as with ALL players, (insert number) number in the (insert color) jersey.

Bob

[rookieblue]

tiger49, did you have to eject Domi?

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by bluezebra

I tossed my lineup cards when the games were over. The players were just names and numbers, forgotten as soon as I tossed the cards.

I worked the plate on two home games that Jim Gilliam's son played in. He never played in the Majors, and I'm not sure if he even played pro ball at all.

But I did officiate some of John Elway's high school football games. At that time I didn't who he was, except, as with ALL players, (insert number) number in the (insert color) jersey.

Bob

I don't see how it is possible not to know when any certain high school player is being heavily scouted, mentioned daily in the newspaper, or makes it to the pros. And when they are in the pros, the announcers say, "_____ played his HS ball at ______ High School" if they are homegrown talent. All you have to do is remember if you umpired that team during the period the athlete attended.

I certainly couldn't mistake having umpired Troy Glaus, for example. It seemed he either struck out, or hit a tape measure home run every time up. He was a local superstar out of Carlsbad HS in the northern part of the city.

And how could I forget working the plate for guys that were the cream of the crop pitchers in HS? Aaron Harang, Mark Prior, Barry Zito, Esteban Loiza, Sergio Mitre, Jose Silva, Benji Gil (who went on to be a shortstop in MLB), are just a few that spring to mind. Every time they pitched, the stands were full of scouts with Jugs guns.

[JJ]

Originally Posted by tiger49

My list;
I also did a charity game between a bunch of Toronto area NHLers including Doug Gilmour, Tie Domi, Brendan Shanahan, Eric Lindros and more.

I didn't realize these guys played baseball, too. (baseball forum)

JJ

[tiger49]

Originally Posted by JJ

I didn't realize these guys played baseball, too. (baseball forum)

JJ

Yeah they need something to do when the ice melts.

[tiger49]

Originally Posted by GarthB

The ice melts in Canada? Must be global warming.

Sometimes it does but never in Buffalo.

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by tiger49

Sometimes it does but never in Buffalo.

Well put. My daughter used to live there. She said Buffalo had 3 seasons: Fall, Winter and July 15th.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

Well put. My daughter used to live there. She said Buffalo had 3 seasons: Fall, Winter and July 15th.

That's one more than Minnesota (the 11th province).

[Dave Reed]

In this part of California, we have just two seasons. We are currently in the green season, but most of the year is brown season.

[Steven Tyler]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

I don't see how it is possible not to know when any certain high school player is being heavily scouted, mentioned daily in the newspaper, or makes it to the pros. And when they are in the pros, the announcers say, "_____ played his HS ball at ______ High School" if they are homegrown talent. All you have to do is remember if you umpired that team during the period the athlete attended.

I certainly couldn't mistake having umpired Troy Glaus, for example. It seemed he either struck out, or hit a tape measure home run every time up. He was a local superstar out of Carlsbad HS in the northern part of the city.

And how could I forget working the plate for guys that were the cream of the crop pitchers in HS? Aaron Harang, Mark Prior, Barry Zito, Esteban Loiza, Sergio Mitre, Jose Silva, Benji Gil (who went on to be a shortstop in MLB), are just a few that spring to mind. Every time they pitched, the stands were full of scouts with Jugs guns.

I don't recall a request...........

I don't look into the stands. I know beforehand there are special players on some teams.....sometimes. I don't get any special thrill out of umpiring these players or their teams. Just give me a good game between two good teams. Last spring worked the, I believe 17th pick in the first round. Before the game we're alone in the bathroom together (form your own opinions). I said, "This don't look good" and he let out a big laugh. We both zip up. He says, "I remember what happened last year". I say, "That wasn't me, that was my partner". Says he, "I know, I should have known better. Since this is my last year, I going to try and not let all that stupid stuff that goes on bother me". I replied, "That's all you can do. Enjoy you last year, Ace."

If I hadn't of known him for so long, I probably wouldn't have remembered this. He'll say something dumb that will make the local papers from time to time. Such is life.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Steven Tyler

I don't recall a request...........

I don't look into the stands. I know beforehand there are special players on some teams.....sometimes. I don't get any special thrill out of umpiring these players or their teams. Just give me a good game between two good teams. Last spring worked the, I believe 17th pick in the first round. Before the game we're alone in the bathroom together (form your own opinions). I said, "This don't look good" and he let out a big laugh. We both zip up. He says, "I remember what happened last year". I say, "That wasn't me, that was my partner". Says he, "I know, I should have known better. Since this is my last year, I going to try and not let all that stupid stuff that goes on bother me". I replied, "That's all you can do. Enjoy you last year, Ace."

If I hadn't of known him for so long, I probably wouldn't have remembered this. He'll say something dumb that will make the local papers from time to time. Such is life.

That's all well and good. However this thread is specifically designed to name players you've umpired. I find it fascinating to find out who has umped for whom. If you don't wish to participate, don't. But don't denegrade anyone else for playing along with the game. You can just say that you've never umpired any famous players, or just skip the thread entirely. If you don't think it is exciting playing a small role in the development of a future pro athlete, then that's fine. I happen to look back fondly on my experiences as an umpire, and being able to say, "I knew him when...." means a great deal to me. So, when I saw this thread, I thought it would be fun. Then everyone started harumphing the crap out of it, but I still managed a little participation.

Why you feel the need to single out one of my posts out of all the other possibilities available is beyond my scope of reasoning. I just think you love to bust my balls every chance you get. What, are you freakin' jealous of me or something? Please, get over yourself.

If you notice, I didn't list the entire 30-some-odd current and/or former MLB players that I have worked for. I just named a few of the pitchers, and a few position players. Trust me, there are many more that made it from this area, and I'm not too stupid to remember who they are when I've umpired for them.

I never had to look in the stands to know who the good players were either. I am a local resident and as such, I have local knowledge of who's who in San Diego baseball. I guess I'm just funny that way, but I'm a big fan of the sport.

[oyaisee]

I threw out Matt Williams from one of his kids games... does that count?