On Friday night I decided to take in a game between the A.C. Reynolds Rockets and the Erwin Warriors. In a way it was to watch one of the best teams in the Mountain Athletic Conference (MAC), here in Western North Carolina, the A.C. Reynold Rockets (which also happens to be the school my children attend). Since I am ineligible to call any of their games, because my children attend the school it is considered a conflict of interest, and since I did not have a game scheduled, I figured it would be a good time to catch one of their games. And, in a way, it was to watch a couple veterans call a game.
Actually, it was a Junior Varsity/Varsity double-header, but I didn’t get there until the JV game was in the top of the 5th inning. Of the two umpires calling the game, I only knew one of them. He was behind the plate for the first game and I decided that I would mess with him a little bit between the games once he came off the field.
I wasn’t paying too close attention to what was going on between the umpires and coaches when the umpires were coming off the field. In hindsight, I kind of wish that I would have. When the one umpire came off the field I went up to him and asked, “so, how blind do you have to be to work the plate?” He was a little caught off guard, and a little short at first, but then answered “very blind, you know that.”
I guess there was some issues during the JV game that went on before I got there. Had I known, I would have never made the comment. Once I found out, or should I say realized, that there were issues I felt like an ass! I felt that I had majorly crossed a line and totally offended a fellow official. It weighed on my mind the rest of the night.
Anyways…The Varsity game was pretty good. Other than the Erwin fans being very argumentative over almost every call that was being made by the officials, that is. It didn’t matter how the plate umpire was calling the pitches, the fans were constantly getting on him. I even made mention to one of them that was standing next to me (I was standing behind the backstop), “yep, they got a better view over there of those pitches than the umpire does, don’t they?”
The spectator that I mentioned that to replied with, “oh, that’s just how we are at Erwin. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the calls are, we are still going to be like that.” And he continued to razz, and make complaints toward the umpire about the calls he was making. I will get back to that guy later…
As I said, the game was pretty good. The Rockets were taking it to the Warriors all night. The had a 7-2 lead going into the top of the 7th, leading up to an exciting finish to the game. With the Warriors coming to the plate in the top of the 7th, down by five, the Rockets just couldn’t seem to close the door. The Warriors scored a couple runs to close the gap to 7-4. Then managed to get runners on second and third, with two outs, and their best player coming to the plate.
The Warrior player, after being injured a couple innings earlier, limps up to the plate. He fouls off a couple good pitches. Then he blasts a pitch into left field for a base hit. The runner on second round third, the left fielder fires the ball into the third baseman, who, in turn, turns and fires the ball into the catcher, just in time for a bang-bang play at the plate. The catcher blocked the plate, just in time, with the ball, to make the tag for the final out. Rockets win, 7-5. That was one of the best finishes I have ever seen in a high school baseball game.
Getting back to the Erwin fan I was talking about earlier…and let this be a lesson to all other fans. As I was saying, he was constantly heckling the plate umpire. Making comments about virtually every call he made. Talking about how much he “sucked” and how bad he was calling the game. Then, when the Warriors were making a pitching change, the plate umpire was looking back in our general direction. This guy held his arms out making a “what?” kind of gesture. When the umpire saw that he made a bee line over to us and kicked the guy out telling him that he “had heard enough of his mouth!”
That’s right folks, whether you believe it or not, the officials are in complete control of the game, and all aspects of it, including the fans, once the game begins. If you, as a fan, are being obnoxious and cross a line with an umpire, we are within our rights to send you packing just like the coaches and players.
Now, back to the comment that I had made to the umpire between games. After I had gotten home, and after the family and I watched a movie, that the family was waiting ever so patiently for me to return to watch with them, I sent him a quick email to apologize for the untimely attempt at a humorous joke. The next day I received a reply from him telling me that he was going to email me to apologize for being “short and snippy” with me. He informed me that he was not offended by the comment, and for me to feel free to “come out and watch the old farts” call a game anytime.
In receiving, and reading that email, it put my mind at ease quite a bit. Unless you are in that type of situation yourself, you don’t know how disturbing it is to think that you may have offended, or crossed a line, with a fellow official. Especially when you are a first year official.
As of right now, weather permitting (it is currently raining, and the weather service is calling for snow over the next couple days), I have my first JV game on Tuesday. Honestly, I did not think that I would be assigned to anything other than middle school games until at least the mid-point of the season.
Well, beginning tomorrow I have to take an officiating exam (I have until Friday to complete it). I must have a passing score to continue to be eligible to call games this year. I am sure that I will do fine, and hopefully I can “Ace” the exam, but still, wish me luck on it.
