Congrats Tim C!
 

Tim C was one of two umpires selected by the commissioner of the Portland Baseball Umpires Association to work Oregon's top classification state championship game.

Congrats Tim. My only advice: Don't suck! ;)

Good for you, Tee.

Hope you have a nice 1-0, 90-minute special.

Ace

Hey,
 

Thanks Rei. I just hope I do as well as last year's plate guy.

Regards,

Congrats, Tim! You work two man for the play offs?

Congratulations, Tim! Give 'em HELL!

3 man throughout the playoffs, including the state championship game in Oregon.

Our association gets 2 of those 3 spots every year because we service about 2/3 of the top classification teams in the state.

WOW, one association puts 2 out of the 3 umpires in the top game every year! where do we sign up?

Congrats Tim... and thanks for the FED updates you give us throughout the year.

Ah good point, I just need to read it better.

Hey, we also have a guy in the next level down, and a guy on the next level down from that. So, at least 4 guys every year from our association, and about every 4th or 5th year, we send a 5th umpire! :)

In the old days, the top game circulated amongst associations throughout the state. So, we used to send a whole crew, but only did that once every 4 years or so. I like this new system where you send the number of guys based upon how many of the schools you service at that level in the state. That also means that associations that only serve lower level schools don't have an umpire slot except at the level they service. Our association is by and far the largest in the state, and we service all levels for the 75 or so high schools we service.

It is indeed a very big honor to be selected to do the top level game! Generally speaking, only umpires with collegiate experience get the top two levels now.

Of the 10 or so associations in the state, PDX gets 2 slots because of the population with the others rotating through. The associations nominate who goes. It's similar for all sports. Does take the politics out of it (sort of).

Tim, is it one crew of 3 working all classes? Salem or Portland this year?

Yes. Championship games are at Volcano Stadium in Salem/Kaiser.

By "top level" do you mean the largest schools? We have five classifications, and working the final in any of them is an equal honor. By the time you get to the finals, all teams are fairly equal in talent, and, as a matter of fact, one of the smallest schools is currently ranked 1st overall in the state.

Why require college experience in a high school game? I meet that requirement, but I have some high school partners who are very, very good (better than some of my college partners), but do not have the time to devote to college ball.

Why exclude an umpire from working a classification just because he does not work that classification during the regular season? Are the rules different?

Cool and should be lots of fun. But with playoffs, we always hope for a good game ...

What an honor!

Thanks
David