What not to do

I'm heading out to ump three games tonight at Cap Hill in a bit, but last night I was on the other side of things as a player in a softball game. My team, the Smiling Potatoes of Death, took on the oh-so-cleverly named Sea-Men, the team in our league (Seattle P&R softball, Ballard division) that nobody likes. To be fair, their rep is from years past and it seems like they've had some turnover and are perhaps not so annoying anymore, but still. Anyway, we held our own and had, in Deep Space Niner terms, a manufactured triumph by playing an entire seven-inning game without being mercy-ruled into an early finish.

So not bad. Fun. Ish.

The game was marred not by the team with the not-as-clever-as-they-think-it-is name, but by the umpire. As a fellow umpire, I had trouble keeping my opinions to myself on the subject but did refrain from making any comments directly to the ump working our game. I did not say to him, for example, "home plate is 17 inches wide, you can't only count ten inches of it," or "you are interpreting that rule wrong," or "that call may or may not have been technically within the bounds of the rulebook, but it violates the spirit of the rules and is just petty." The missed calls on the bases I wouldn't have complained about anyway, those will happen with anyone on occasion, and even if they're the norm with this guy that's a can of worms you don't want to open.

When I'm umping in the league I work in, there will sometimes be occasion to ask players why they're not coming back the next season or why they returned after an absence or something like that. It's pretty expensive, I get why teams might look for alternatives. But aside from the considerably lesser fees, no one yet has voiced a positive opinion on the Seattle Parks & Rec league when comparing. The rules are different and inferior, for one thing; SPR doesn't have a say in some of them because they contract with USA softball for umpires and they have certain mandates, but not one of the special rules is favored. But the main reason I hear from players returning to my work league is the officials. We're independent, not subject to anyone else's rule mandates, and even the worst of us is a better umpire than the best one you'll see at an SP&R game.

So, last night being an especially egregious example of how a bad umpire can taint everyone's enjoyment of a game and threaten to ruin a good time is something of an object lesson for me. Nothing I didn't already know, but an effective reminder that it pays to know what you're doing, it pays to acknowledge and own up to mistakes, and it pays to be clear and communicative. (Also, it reminds me once more that my employer league's best asset is its field staff and they really ought to step up when it comes to how they treat us; or, more accurately, take better care not to be insulting/reductive when dealing with us. But that's another topic.)

Oh, I went 1-for-3 (lineout, infield single, fielder's choice) and pitched six frames, giving up 17 runs; I'm guessing six earned, but I've yet to compile the numbers. Walked two, both umpire-aided and one was awarded on ball three because see above. Struck out one.

My three games tonight are a welcome return to a fuller shift after having a few one-gamers the last couple of weeks. Those hardly seem worth the trouble of going out there, especially in the age of $6 gasoline. Next week I've got two on Sunday, three Monday, two Thursday, and two Friday. That's a pretty decent week.