How to explain
 

Still living in the middle of the DR Congo. Saw something a couple days ago got me wondering.

The DR Congo is the worlds largest importer of used clothing, seriously, and I saw a guy wearing an ASA blue pullover.

What I wondered was why would an umpire give up a perfectly good shirt for charity?

Glasses got too heavy?
AAs finally got to his sanity?

Any other suggestions?

Maybe someone suffered a divorce, or worse, and his/her clothes ended up going to charity. Or maybe this guy wants to become an umpire! If so, please have him send his registration and fee to...............

Maybe that's all his rich, Nigerian uncle could really afford.

$25 million dollars my @$$!

I gave away all my medium size items. :D

Ouch, that hurts (and it was my first thought)
In my case, it was the Large items that I may soon have to give away!.

Last year I gave in and went from 36" waist to 38".
Did a game last weekend and even the 38"s were a little tight.
I'm blaming that on Christmas and New Year's feasting.

Unfortunately, since I quit smoking last year, I've gone from 205 lbs to 240 lbs. Fortunately, my pants had enough "breathing room" to still fit comfortably.

I've been able to keep from smoking (not a single cigarette since Jan 1 of last year), and my wife and I bought a home gym so that I can shed off those 35 lbs. If not, hey... Nothing wrong with gettin' strong.

Smoking was a factor when I went from 185 to 205 - but that was 1503 days, 10 hrs and 37 minutes ago (but who's counting)

Now, its snuck up to 220 and rising!

Got to get it back down

They were probably "seconds" - shirts that didn't meet the manufacturers standards for retail sale.

Look around and you may see things like "Phillies - 2009 WS Champs" and such. Things like that get made up ahead of time so they're ready if needed. The "wrong" shirts get sent to clothing banks for distribution overseas.

Which leads to the joke about there being a village where the elders pass down the story of the Buffalo Bills Dynasty of the early 90s.

Good answers all but I know I gave my uniforms to our association when I left to help out the youngsters just starting out.

I'm thinking maybe it was a new guy/gal that ruled the hands were part of the bat on their first night out and ....

Hey keep it up. I did the same thing. Quit smoking, after about a year of not smoking (4-1-08), set to losing the weight. Lost nearly 48 lbs. Gained some back during this xmas though... lol

I did about the same thing, though it was much longer time ago. Quit smoking in April of 98, packed on the pounds for the next few months, then when I was miserable enough with that, I started hitting the gym hard and heavy. Those know me can testify that for a while there, I was pretty rotund!

Yeah, I'm definitely not giving up. Wife would be pissed! ;)

Even if I don't shed the pounds, at least I'll be the stronger for it... Literally!

Go ahead, coach... Come talk to me about that call. *Puffs chest like Popeye after a whole tub of spinach*

Damn, Wade. That's a pretty precise scale you have. Was it 47.8 pounds? 47.9? ;)

Supposedly, my scale is accurate to within .2 pounds.

I'm still a bit of a fatty, though. :D

I don't think it was mentioned, but CONGRATS guys on quitting smoking! I have seen many battle it and fail, so it is definately something to be proud of. As far as working out to stay in shape or loose a few pounds, I have found routine to be the key. After getting into it, now you feel bad if you don't work out. Makes you feel great on the ball field too.

Lot's of Cubs shirts here. :D

I too quit smoking after 20 years at Christmas '99. Could have qualified for Macy's on Thanksgiving. Moved here in '04. Lost over 100lbs. Might be a bit extreme an option for most though.

Really? You lost weight in Africa? Imagine that... :D

Stevetheump didn't respond to this one, so I figured someone should.

Welcome a(board), Steve. :) ASA since 1978 looks good, how about some detail?

Is it just me or do all blues have a warped sense of humor? I know mine has served me well over the years.

I lost the weight because I live way too close to the Bakete and the Tchokwe and there's no sense tempting them unnecessarily.:eek:

This from the one worried about the local tribes in the Congo asking how an ASA shirt ended up there?

When dealing with the Bakete, are the hands part of the bat or do they come as a side dish? :eek:

:D

Let's just say "finger licken' good" takes on a whole new meaning here.

Speaking of unusual rulings. Went to the volleyball nationals a few weeks back. Play stopped at one point and a heated debate began in the stands centered around one individual. The tournament officials were consulted and the individual was banned from the court. His offense? He was clearly using his mojo one one of the teams and it was unfair to allow him to continue. Try and find that one in the rule book.:D At least they didn't require a restart from the beginning.

Eat a bug, spammer.

Reported.

Probably does for the high protein.

However, when I lost my 50+ pounds last year, there was not an extra bead of sweat shed. No workouts, no runs, no long walks, just watched what, how much and when I ate.

So, if the spammer accidently takes a dumbell to the mouth, does that make him/her a cannibal? Hmmmm.

Details..............
 

Thanks, Cecil. I was stationed at Ft. Ritchie, Maryland when I started in 1978. This was when we did 2-man mechanics, there was NO "foul ball 3rd strike" rule then, and the pitching arc was judged "3 feet from the point of release." In 1982, I was assigned to the Netherlands where I did both ASA SP & FP. In 1986, I went to Holloman AFB in New Mexico where I continued both SP & FP (the two big tournaments I spoke of in an earlier post happened in '87 & '88). In 1989, I was assigned to Lindsey AS, Wiesbaden, Germany. Here, I just did SP. When I retired in 1992, I went back to doing ASA SP at Ritchie. It closed in 1998, so I jumped to Little League. I did LL until 2005, took 2006 off, then came back to ASA SP with my current association.
I enjoy umpiring and consider myself a good umpire, always looking to improve my craft.

Stevetheump,

Are you this Stevetheump?

www.stevetheump.com

Not me.............
 

Sorry, not me, Bret. I hope I haven't violated any copyright laws. I'd hate to be doing prison softball.......:(