2011 in Review

[NCASAUmp]

Dear fellow umpires,

For many like myself, the 2011 season has come to a close. I called my last two games last night, and I've begun the task of cleaning, scrubbing, polishing and putting away all of my gear.

It was a tough road coming into the season. Fresh off of reconstructive ankle surgery, I didn't set foot onto the field until April 26, missing half of the spring season. It probably would've been longer had I not pushed my physical therapist so hard into agreeing to release me from PT. Hey, I did all of my exercises, and then some! The recovery from the surgery set off a bad case of plantar fasciitis, but with the help of modern medicine (ie., cortisone shots), I was able to finish out the year without too much more pain. The break should help calm it down.

I have a lot more gear now than I did at this time last year: a chest protector, mask, shin guards, plate shoes, and a large roller bag. I've begun a new chapter in my umpiring career, a new challenge: fast pitch. So far, I'm definitely enjoying it. I would dare say that this was long-overdue. Over the last couple of years, I had started to lose my love for the game, but calling fast pitch, even as low-level as it is, has rekindled my passion for softball and participating as its official.

I learned a lot of things this year, and felt like a rookie all over again. While 2011 had its trials in store for me, it also had its peak moments. What are some of yours?

[LIUmp]

I called my first National and was selected to do the National Semifinal for the 14U as the home plate umpire. In high school ball, due to some very odd rules, I was a varsity official for the first time and was told I would never finish in the ratings high enough to be anywhere near the playoffs. But the season ended and I was ranked number 5 overall in my county. With this came more rules, saying that first year varsity officials aren't allowed to work any playoff games. But they "bent" the rules and I was given two games, including the county semifinals in the top conference in a three umpire system and did well. I was asked to become a UIC and rules interpreter for one organization and was asked to run for the position of vice president of my local umpiring association, but turned down that opportunity for a chance to run as our association's UIC and clinician. Met some AMAZING umpires from all over the east coast from Buffalo to Rhode Island to Virginia to Florida. Was working a rising stars league at a local D1 university and was, unbeknownst to me, scouted by the head coach of said university and was approached about doing college games next year. I'm kinda still waiting on word about that. Called my last game last weekend. This year was a big year for me, and I would hope next year to be even bigger. I was told that I impressed a few people this past year and I look forward to making an even bigger impression on even more people next year.

[Skahtboi]

I missed about 85% of the season for health reasons.

[Andy]

Lots of change in my softball life this year.....

I was offered and accepted the job of Deputy UIC for AZ ASA early this year. Lots of learning new and different things. Although I still plan on umpiring games, I am starting to transition into more administrative and training duties. I'm also looking forward to learing how to be more involved in the ASA hierarchy.

I attended the ASA UIC clinic in Oklahoma City for the first time and really enjoyed that. Finally got to meet some of the board regulars and put faces with names.

The highlight of the year was easily being selected and working the ASA 18 Gold championship in San Diego. What a great week meeting other umpires from all over the country and working and learning from three great UICs.

I also just returned from the ASA National Council Meeting for the first time. Very interesting to see how things work "behind the scenes"...especially the rules and code change process and all of the debate that goes on. Also discovered a new beer...Yeungling...a Pennsylvania brew that was quite good. Can't get it here out west, so I will have to wait for my next east coast trip to have some more.

I also got back into slowpitch doing some league ball after a long hiatus. I'm looking forward to getting more involved on that side of the game to help me be a more rounded UIC.

I will probably work one more tournament Thanksgiving weekend in Las Vegas then call it quits for the year. Very eventful year for me.

[NCASAUmp]

LI and Andy - Those are some awesome achievements, guys. It's great to be recognized for all your hard work that you put forward.

Skahtboi - Hope all is well, brother, and that you're back out there with us soon!

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

LI and Andy - Those are some awesome achievements, guys. It's great to be recognized for all your hard work that you put forward.

Come on, Andy got the job because the UIC needed a body guard

I don't even know if he is from AZ! He couldn't even tell me if a cactus has roots!

And on top of that, he flies into Charlotte, NC and complains about the lack of good Mexican food! Really? You are supposed to be from Mexico Lite and you expect NC to meet your taste expectations in a food very foreign to that region?

Just kidding! But I must say Andly looked a little bit taller than he did in February. Then again, it was probably because he was standing next to all us short people.

BTW, we learned something new. A "youth" or "ute" in the metro NYC area, only to people who do not play college ball.

[Big Slick]

Originally Posted by Andy

Also discovered a new beer...Yeungling...a Pennsylvania brew that was quite good. Can't get it here out west, so I will have to wait for my next east coast trip to have some more.

And how quickly this becomes thread about beer. Andy, the beer in which you speak, is referred to as "lager" when purchasing it in PA. I get the strangest looks when I'm out of state and forget, and then order like 007: "I'll have a lager . . . Yuengling larger." And lager lite is very good too (as well as the black and tan).

Congrats to all for their accomplishments. I raise my glass (of lager, of course) for a job well done in 2011 and to all a healthy and wonderful (and maybe a bit more dry) 2012.

[BretMan]

Yuengling just became available in my area about a month ago. For all the hoopla surrounding it's introduction you'd think it was the second coming of Christ!

This season was pretty much business as usual. I worked indoor fastpitch in the winter (that just started again last week and runs through February), high school baseball and softball in the spring, ASA tournaments all summer and fall and rec league baseball and softball in the summer and fall. I was somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 total games, which is about what I've averaged for the past 6-7 years. This ran the gamut from 10U to men's fastpitch and everything in between.

I branched out a little bit and called games for a couple of new rec leagues where I hadn't worked before, did some tournaments that were a little further away (several about 60 miles from home) and even worked two NSA tournaments (on weekends where ASA didn't have anything going on).

Oh, yeah...I also worked TWO slow pitch games this year! One was a charity game between two local television stations and I got to see video of myself on the local newscast.

A handful of strange plays stick out in my mind, but I've probably already posted about those on this forum!

Two odd things about this season were the spring weather and dealing with a new ASA assigner.

I usually get in about 30 high school games (both baseball and softball) every spring. This year, due to work committments (HS games start at 5:00 and a new job I was working didn't always allow me to be there by then ) I had to cut back during the week, while picking up more double headers on the weekend. Of the 22 HS games I had scheduled, 12 were rained out! This was probably the wettest springs I can remember and I've never lost over half of my games before.

On the ASA scheduling, we had a new assigner this year. After working my butt off the past few years to "move up the ranks", our new assigner was a guy who really had never met me. He's been around forever, but we had never really had any interaction. The first month or so of the tournament season, he gave me few assignments and the ones he did give me were lower-level games. Our previous assigner had evaluated me and gave me a steady diet of upper-level games and quite a few championship games on Sundays.

I was getting kind of frustrated. It wasn't that I felt I deserved anything more than other qualified umpires in our group, but did feel that I was being passed over for many newer and less-qualified umpires (we have about 125 umpires in our association).

Not wanting to be seen as "a troublemaker" or "complainer", I cautiously approached our new assigner about this. He was honest with me and told me that he had never seen me work, and that he was giving more assignments to umpires who had had worked with or known for a long time. Instead of "demanding" more games, I expressed my desire to work more games and more challenging games. I also invited him to come out and watch me work so that I could be evaluated on my performance.

This approach must have worked. After being evaluated, he gave me as many games as I could handle and scheduled me to work several championship games.

[txump81]

I worked 162 games this year. Got invited to work the 18u Gold Ronald McDonald college showcase tournament. Got picked up for some D1 and JuCo ball for the spring. All in all a great year of umpiring.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Come on, Andy got the job because the UIC needed a body guard

I don't even know if he is from AZ! He couldn't even tell me if a cactus has roots!

And on top of that, he flies into Charlotte, NC and complains about the lack of good Mexican food! Really? You are supposed to be from Mexico Lite and you expect NC to meet your taste expectations in a food very foreign to that region?

Just kidding! But I must say Andly looked a little bit taller than he did in February. Then again, it was probably because he was standing next to all us short people.

BTW, we learned something new. A "youth" or "ute" in the metro NYC area, only to people who do not play college ball.

First of all...what the hell do I know about cacti? (that is plural for cactus). Just because there are about a milion of 'em within a 50 mile radius of me doesn't mean I know if they have roots or not....and where did that question come from, anyway....

For the record, it was NOT my decision to have the Mexican food in the airport...and I did not complain about it, just noted that maybe it wasn't the best choice....Perhaps if we hadn't been delayed FOUR times by US AIR, we wouldn't have seen all that the Charlotte airport has to offer.

And, yes, I did notice an abundance of short people everywhere.....

BTW...good to see you again, Mike!

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by Andy

Also discovered a new beer...Yeungling...a Pennsylvania brew that was quite good. Can't get it here out west, so I will have to wait for my next east coast trip to have some more.

There are tons of incredibly better beers you can get on the west coast.

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

Skahtboi - Hope all is well, brother, and that you're back out there with us soon!

Thank you, man. I think it will be. Either way, I will stay involved in umpiring in some capacity, even if it is just from the sidelines.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Skahtboi

There are tons of incredibly better beers you can get on the west coast.

Come to NC. I'll show you some good beers!

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Skahtboi

There are tons of incredibly bitter beers you can get on the west coast.

Corrected that for you.

[NCASAUmp]

Reported.

Admins, I beg of you... Please do something more about this.