Softball Baseball

[IRISHMAFIA]

Unlike a lot of Softball umpires, I do not pretend I umpire softball because it's better than baseball.

Well, that would depend on what level and the mentality of the participants. I quit baseball after 22 years because of the condition of the game.

Sandlot baseball is probably the purest form of the game and I would take working that over anything else. Why? Because the "prima donnas" are basically dressed down by their fellow players. There are no adult coaches/daddies living vicariously through their team/children. There are no parents from River City who honestly believe the "Think System" works and their child is the star. There are no whining wannabes thinking every at bat is their chance to win the World Series. There are no valid stars who believe they deserve millions for playing a child's game, every pitch at which they do not swing MUST be a ball, and it is always interference or obstruction on the other guy.

Of course, you have the equivilant whiners and criers in softball, but the same applies. The more childish adults you remove from the game, the better it is. That is not to be confused with good coaches who know how to coach and control their players, and in turn, the manner in which the game is played.

I LOVE baseball, always have, always will.

Me, too, until it became a business for the players and not a game.

I do it because there is a LOT more money to be made umpiring softball in our area than baseball. Money talks and bs animosity between baseball/softball walks in my mind...

Last time I heard that phrase (money talks, bull**** walks) was when they caught Joey Coyle, the South Philly putz who found some money that fell out of an armored car on Swanson Street in South Philly.

Personally, I don't buy into the animosity that does exist in many markets. In this area and others I have visited, it has ALWAYS been the baseball-only umpires looking down their noses at the softball umpires. AFAIC, if you are a sports official, you are a sports official. The game you do is irrelevant. Obviously, there is much more respect to those who strive to do it better than others, but money isn't always a motivator or sign of a better official. Will I give a baseball umpires and other sports officials some ribbing over the length of their games and sometimes the mechanics? Sure, but that is because I'm recruiting them to work softball