"Good Days and Bad Days"
by Dave Harris
When it comes to umpiring, just as with most other things in life, there are good days and bad days. We all just hope the good ones outnumber the bad ones I guess. But for umpires, those evaluations don't necessarily have a lot to do with our performance (though sometimes that is the determining factor).Sometimes the days are either good or bad for some rather subtle reasons. This article takes a look at some good days and some bad days through the eyes and experience of just one umpire -- me. And while not all of these instances are necessarily factual, with my luck and the number of games I umpire they could be
| Good Day | Bad Day |
|---|---|
| I'm working third base in a 3-man crew on a horribly cold spring day. They game winds up 1-0, takes just under 2 hours, and I make a single "foul" call all day long | I'm working the plate, it's well over 100 degrees, and the game ends 15-13 in 12 innings |
| Both pitchers are hitting the spots. I could have taken a stool with me and anything not hit just raise my right arm. The game ends 3-1 and we're heading home in 1 hours 34 minutes. | Neither pitcher can hit the infield with his cap! I'm giving them everything possible but no dice. The game goes 10-9, mostly on walks, and takes well over 3 hours. |
| The catcher calls a pitchout but the pitcher misses it. His fastball goes low, skips past the catcher's mitt and between my legs, missing everything. | The catcher calls a pitchout but the pitcher misses it. His 85-MPH heater comes straight down the pipe and I take it right in the chops. |
| My partner in a 2-man crew "forgets" his equipment bag. I have mine, all but my cup, but work the plate anyway. I am not touched by a ball all day long. | After shining my plate shoes to a high gloss I forget them at home and work in my base shoes. In the bottom of the last inning I take a foul off my left big toe, smashing it to bits, and miss my next four games. |
| I can't miss! I'm all over every play like a cheap suit! Even the ones I don't see clearly I get no beef on any call. It's like devine guidance! | On the second pitch of the game (!) the manager yells about my call! He gets worse, I get irritated, and wind up tossing him, his assistant, two players, a coach's puppy, some kid in the stands, someone's grandmother who is visiting from Cleveland. |
| In a tie game with two out in the last inning and a runner on third a pitch gets past the catcher. The runner scores and we all go home in under 2 hours. | In a tie game with two out in the last inning and a runner on third a pitch gets by the catcher. It bounces right back to him, he tags the runner trying to score, and we go 19 innings. |
| The hitter fouls off a 90-MPH fastball which I take in the shoulder area, but the ball nicks off my protective shoulder pad, saving me from harm. | The hitter fouls off a 40-MPH changeup which I take in the shoulder area. As I raise my arms to signal foul I realize it broke my collar bone. |
| My scheduler calls 2 hours before game time with a change. I wind up working first base for an easy, simple, no bang-bang plays game. | My scheduler calls 2 hours before game time with a change. I wind up working the plate in a "bad blood" game with two teams who had a brawl 2 days before. The home team's pitcher plunks the first hitter and it goes downhill from there. |
| After a cool, rainy morning the sun comes out and I work my game that day in shirt sleeves in 70-degree temperatures. | After a gorgeous morning I begin my game that afternoon in a drizzle, get soaked through and through, but the rain stops and we go 9 innings with my wet underwear stuck to my butt. |
| Working my fifth game in four days with a sore knee I show up, get paid, only to find one team can't field a full team. I take my money and go home. | Working my fifth game in four days with a sore knee I find my partner had an auto breakdown, my scheduler forgot to take his cell phone to the mall with him, and I work the entire game alone. |
| After an all day drizzle I show up for an 8:00 p.m. game and the field is miserable, but the managers want to start because the rain stopped. The first pitch almost hits the batter because he slips in the mud trying to get out of the way, and I call the game and leave. | After an all day drizzle I show up for an 8:00 p.m. game and the field has been covered all day and is perfect! It begins to rain in the second inning and we go through five rain delays and finish up around 1:00 a.m. |
| I work the plate for a semi-pro exhibition game and the pitchers are throwing some serious heat! Not a single ball, fair or foul, wild pitch or passed ball comes near me. | I'm working the plate for a group of 10-12 year-old kids and the pitchers can hardly get it to the plate. I wind up getting hit on every part of my body which is NOT covered by equipment, including a broken and bloodied knuckle on my left hand! |
And the list goes on, and on, and on, and on...
Original submitted by Dave Harris on January 3, 1997.
Dave Harris umpires with the Anne Arundel Umpires Association of central Maryland. For more information on Dave click here.
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