Breakthrough Games--Or When I Became an Umpire
 

The baseball side has a thread called breakthrough games and it got me to thinking of the game that I broke through and "became an umpire."

It was last year in a tournament. It was a semifinal game and only the 14th of my career. The UIC put me on the plate! I was scared!!

But the game started and I zoned in and called a nice game. The game was 12-10 with plays at the plate, two fair/foul calls that were about three inches either way, and pitchers nibbling the corners.

After the game I felt great and thought to myself, "I became an umpire tonight!" The rest of my games had been time limited five after 10 and 15 after three games where the plays were all obvious and I was just trying not to screw up. That semifinal tournament game was different.

Do you remember the game where you "became an umpire?"

I don't know if I remember the game, but I remember the day. It was in the middle of July on a VERY hot Wisconsin Sunday (90-some degrees, sweat dripping everywhere). I was doing a USSSA tourney, and Saturday had been rained out. I did 9 games the following day, most of which were as a single umpire. I was so sunburnt, I was already blistering that night, but I still felt like a barrier had been broken, I guess.

I got started as an umpire at age 15 because I couldn't keep my big mouth shut. On New Year's Eve, I asked my former league's director if he needed umpires while he was enjoying drinks at my parents' house. Oops! ;)