Post Script to: "I played pro ball! Did you play pro ball?"
 

After never throwing a coach out of a game, I had a major incident last week, which resulted in my joining the club and having a coach drive home early.

During what amounted to a verbal assault and a borderline physical assault, this gigantic windbag screamed at me about playing pro ball and how that somehow makes him the supreme baseball voice on the diamond that day.

"I played pro ball! Did you play pro ball?"

I'm relatively sure that virtually all of us have had some coach make similar declarations while attempting to make us cave to them.

So, I looked the guy up, because I had to get his name for my incident report. I'm going to guard the blowhard's privacy by not including his full name, but here's a copy this expert's pro experience from the minor league database:

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...untitled-8.jpg

This guy has the least distinguished record of any guy I've ever looked up following boasts of pro experience! A single in 16 at bats. Some never played after bragging about it, so at least this guy made it for a few weeks. But for crying out loud, he shouldn't be throwing that out there after flaming out in the first month of rookie ball.

Let me guess... He was argueing that the tie should go to the runner and the hands are part of the bat!

That's pretty good Kevin lol

-Josh

Your secret is safe with me, Kevin
 

I will NOT mention that he is Italian.

I will further not mention that he went to the University of the ****ands.

Joe:p

He made it further than I did I will give him that...however, I think this quote from Major League is oddly appropriate. :D

Harry Doyle: "One hit. That's all we got, one $#@^ hit?!"

No, coach, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!

Yea, ***** Giannelli wasn't that great of a pro ball player. Good grief.

On a bad team that only won one third of its games.

8 and 16. How'd we ever win 8?

It's a miracle..........

I would echo that in spades. GCL is short season rookie ball. Bombed out after the equivalent of four games? He couldn't hang with a bunch of just graduated HS/JC kids. LMAO "I played pro ball"

They hate it when I say "Yes, 1971 - 1972. So What?"

I don't tell them that it was Rookie Ball, but hell I got paid to play!

The coaches I run into that have actually played pro ball (some actually made a few games in the Bigs, others bounced around AAA, some bounced around both) are the ones I want on the field. They never say a word, the teams are well disciplined, it's a dream game.

AND they aren't usually the one's to tell you that they played pro ball.

Recently retired reliever Todd Jones volunteers with his son's high school team, which is in our area. We do not have this school's contract, but they visit several of our schools yearly. According to our guys who have had them, he is nothing but courteous, asking questions so that he can learn the differences in HS ball and The Show, and not "big-leaguing" anyone.

Exactly!

That's because he's a real pro, and not one that has to make himself out to be a pro and instead makes himself into something classless and amateurish as a result.

We have a former MLB Pitcher......
 

Jeff Parrett, who assists at Woodford County HS in one of the HS Regions I regularly work and you never hear anything other than a pleasant greeting, a laugh at something funny or a complement to a good play or hit from him. He still has a big smile on his face most of the time he is at the ballpark.

I worked a Middle school game a few weeks ago for one of the schools here at home against Woodford Middle and Parrett's kid pitched. He was amazing for an 8th grader. Very few high school pitchers have as much poise and pitch control as this kid. As you might imagine he knew how to pitch and his dad wasn't even there. The very next night I had Woodford High and had the chance to tell Parrett about how nice a job his kid did. He was humble and thanked me. A real classy guy. I hope those kids at that high school appreciate what they have.


So, not all ex-pro players are bad. Maybe it's just ex-rookie leaguers who only had a cup of coffee.

However, I did have one guy, a former Cincinnati Reds pitcher-forgot his name- who called me an ******* after a game where I ejected his kid for arguing balls and strikes. The other parents for that team apologized to me for the kid and father's behavior and then thanked me for ejecting the kid. They told me that I was the first umpire to eject him all season and he and the father had embarassed them many times over the summer

It takes all kinds I guess.

I remember Parrett when he was with the A's in the early '90s, and he was pretty well-liked by his mates and the media as well.

The real pros outnumber the wish-they-were pros exponentially, Dave. Parret's and Jones's comportment is the norm rather than the rule. My son's a JC pitcher (Chris Hickman umpired one of his games), and his pitching mentor all through school was Jeff Suppan, whose modest conduct and professional demeanor are almost beyond belief. Real pros don't impose it on us--especially when we're trying to manage a game.

But the ones that feel a need to bring it up, like it makes them some kind of all-encompassing authority, and we wouldn't be able to tell if they didn't mention it ... they really make me laugh.

All these HOF players, turned broadcasters don't know anything about the rules, so why should any former pro player impress us?

EXCELLENT point.

Look at Joe "Thanks Skycap, here's a quarter" Morgan.

Had a game in 2006 skippered by Kurt McCaskill on one team and (Black) Jack McDowell on the other. They whined and complained somewhat during the game, and were overall butts, but they knew that everyone else knew who they were, so they didn't pull the "I played pro ball card." They didn't need to. If any former pro player made an issue of their career with me, I would probably yawn in their face, as I have umpired way too many former and current big leaguers for them to impress me much.

Kevin

There is a good chance that he was drafted in the June draft (no spring training or extended spring), played in the first 10 games and was released without even finishing the season because he was so bad.

Tell him

You were a one hit wonder. You didn't even last long enough to learn "class".

or

The hitting instructor realized how horsesh!t you were, so they didn't even bother teaching you class.

Or the rule he was arguing, apparently!:p

We have one in our area who has a very poor reputation. I haven't been involved in any of the games he coached, but I have been told he liked to play the "big shot" card all the time. Poor little fella, I guess he's still sore from booting an easy grounder in the World Series 23 years ago.

I am not sure he is little
 

Bill Buckner
William Joseph Buckner (Billy Buck)
Bats: Left , Throws: Left
Height: 6' 0" , Weight: 185 lb.

6'/185 is big?:confused:

No, but I remember you. In fact, my sister's attorney has been looking for you for years! :D

I had the pleasure of umpiring a game where Al Newman was the 3rd base coach...everybody knew who he was, he didn't have to tell anybody. A class act to say the least...based upon my one experience being on the field with a legit former professional. He did his job, the players did their's, and we did ours. That's how it should be. If you have to tell somebody that you played pro ball to make your point, you've already lost.

That would be hard. Every time there is a hit to the outfield I would want to stand back and watch him windmill in the 3BB. Just like the commercial.

For those of you not in TT (Twins Territory):
To guy standing office cubes holding papers: "Hey you. Yeah. You. Com'on we gotta go, gotta go right now. Com'on! It's gonna be close!"
Guy runs and dives into elevator, papers go everywhere. Stands up brushes himself off like nothing happened. :D

Last year I had Kache Beauchamp as the Pro Tem Manager for one of the teams in the GBL before the contracted Manager was available. We had a 2 man crew for the first weekend of Indy Minor League ball in Blythe California. By the end of the game my partner and I had enough of his antics and he was tossed. He proceeded to kick dirt on my partners shoes, do the chicken walk, and throw bases. My partner and I were just laughing as his team had won. Come the end of the game as we were changing out in the fantastic umpire facilities of the parking lot, he came over and said " I was just giving a show." Why is that a show? It only "shows" how big of an idiot he is. Check out YouTube for Kache Beauchamp for a fun view of his antics.

Is this Single A that he played? Any professional experience is impressive. The odds of making it into the pros are apparently staggering.

If you're referring to the OP, it was the Gulf Coast League, a rookie league.

16 at bats is not impressive.

And he apparently felt his one week (if that) of rookie ball experience gave him license to pop off to umpires and make a jackazz of himself.


The really good coaches (and umpires) don't have to go around reciting their resumes in order to impress people.

The notion that having played pro ball automatically confers expertise about the rules is truly specious. The former MLB players I know are not sharp on rules, nor are they particularly interested in the subject—even the guy I occasionally umpire with. They usually have a passable command of the rules that directly affected their play, but with things like INT and OBS, they admit that they just used their instinct and let the umpire make the call. And for things like whether an appeal of a particular missed base results in a force out, they wouldn't even pretend to know.

A good response to "I played pro ball" might be "So did Tim McCarver."

When I umpired in Trenton, New Jersey, the response might have been "So did a dozen other guys in this park."

Isnt he MLB's rules interpreter/expert?:eek:

He and Joe Morgan share that responsibility. There are a whole bunch of rules for them to understand. I think they split them up about 50-50.

Unfortuneatley they talk about the 50% that they aren't responsible for!!:confused:

Are you kidding? High school/college kids that play in the Cape Cod league or others like it (those are the summer wood bat leagues in case anyone didn't know;)) have as much or more "pro" experience than this guy.

16 AB's in a short season rookie league with one hit. Color me impressed. NOT!!! The entire season is only 4 months long (mid-May thru mid-Sept), if it's THAT long. And he didn't last for one season.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the GCL or any other short season program.

A coach telling an umpire he has "pro" experience is a bit like a patient telling his cardiologist, "hey, I've had 5-way bypass surgery, so I know more about it than you!"

GCL's season is more like the second week of June to the end of August. Two and a half months.

Are you saying Cape Cod League is made up of high school players during the summer?

He was drafted as a 1st baseman in the 22nd round of the January 1987 draft, 564th pick overall, and the 26th 1st baseman picked that January. Aren't 1st basemen supposed to have some power? He should have gone to spring training or at least extended spring before joining the Expos affiliate in the Gulf Coast League. Wasted time for only 1 single in 16 at bats. Gulf Coast League that plays 70 games like other rookie leagues, should start by June 22th to end on August 31, although it may start a couple days earlier if there are a couple off days built into the schedule.

I stand corrected. I thought I was being a bit generous.

Unless I am again mistaken, yes there are HS kids that play in the summer wooden bat leagues. Probably Seniors that have just graduated more than anyone younger. Most of them are college kids.

So they play professional baseball while going to college or even high school?

No. The Cape Cod League is an amateur league. College players go play there and in similar summer leagues when school lets out.

However, the players in the Cape Cod League are usually solid pro prospects.

No, they play in the Cape Cod League, which is totally amateur. It is billed as "the premier amateur baseball league in the nation." It is made up mostly of top college players, but anyone with skill is welcome to try out

I just had an early 90's flashback, complete with tightrolled jeans. Please put "NOT!" back in it's coffin.:D

And haven't you guys seen Summer Catch? It tells you all about the Cape League. :p;):D

Next time tell him
"I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night"
End of subject

No. It would be like the patient saying "I went to medical school."

The doc, who wonders how well the patient did, looks up his record (let's pretend that it's possible), and finds the patient only went for a semester. Not only that, the patient flunked all but one of his classes.