Umpire as weatherman

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

i am sure I am not the only one here who has worked long enough to be an expert on our local area's weather - knowing how to read the clouds, etc. Last night was a perfect example of this, and a perfect example of how to handle storm delays.

I was at a 35+ league with a rookie partner. It was an 8 PM game, and it had been cloudy and muggy all day, with severe t-storms forecast for 9 pm or so. I took the plate, explaining to my partner how the lightning rule works for ASA as opposed to high school, and since HP at the field sort of faces west, I wanted to
have the full view of the potential storm coming. To add to the mix, the guy who runs the league was there - he's ALWAYS there - and when we get to field, he's already working on us about the game; "Lou, you got to get this game in, my schedule's very tight..blah, blah, blah." I've dealt with guy for several years now, both as an umpire and as assignor, and all he does is whine...surprise!

So we start the game. The first inning or so is uneventful, both game and weather wise, although you can the real dark clouds moving in. Then in the 2nd, it starts lightly raining - no problem there, it's been very dry lately around here and the yellow grass and the dirt are absorbing it like a sponge. Then the rain gets a little harder, still no problem. Then...in the 4th (its ALWAYS the 4th) it happens - I see lightning in the sky, and its not TOO far away. So I pull them off , reminding that we have to wait 20 minutes from each lightning event, resetting the clock each time. Well Brad (the league guy) starts with the "It's passing through fast.....I got to get this game in..." - everything. This field has a covered grandstand on the LF side (its really a football field), so one of the teams is there with me and my partner, and we start talking about the Yankee game from the night before where they waited and finished the game at 3 am. The lightning gets more frequent, and I'm looking for that one event that'll allow me to definitively end this thing - and then it happens: BOOM! BOOM! - right above our heads. I just say, thats it, walk out on the field make the 'safe' sign for the other tram, and as if I pulled a string - it starts POURING. As me and my partner and jogging back to our cars, I yell to him, "THAT'S why we make the big money!"

There is something oddly satisfying about pulling off your gear in your front seat, soaked to the gills, knowing that Brad couldn't say a WORD about me calling the game too soon, and feeling somewhat powerful knowing the storm somehow waited for ME to really break open.