Best Game of the Year...So Far...

It's pretty sad that the best game I have seen this summer was a 12 year old rec game. Both teams were held scoreless in this 6 inning battle royal through the 3rd inning. The pitching duel kept the parents and coaches mesmerized during this city league semi-final game - the winner advancing the the city championship.

I have to mention first that I got another great opportunity to umpire with a Lump (see earlier post.) He was a nice guy and understood the rules (not that there were any controversies), but he never seemed to be in good position to make a call. One reason is that he really didn't move much to put himself in position to make a good call. There was only one close call, and that was at first base in the final inning with the home team down one run. The other reason though is the insistence by the league's officials to have the field umpires stand behind the players, instead of in front of them, which you are supposed to do for high school games. Their reasoning - the fields are small and we don't want the umps to get hurt. Last I checked, this wasn't a softball game and being practically out in center field doesn't help you make a good call at 3rd base. If I was out there, I would have said screw them and put myself in proper position in the infield.

The game, surprisingly, had very good pitching from both teams, and most defensive plays were made. I was quite impressed, especially when the 16 year-olds cannot seem to manage a lot of these fundamentals. The game ended in a 2-1 win for the visiting team on what seemed to be the 15th strikeout of the evening. Game time - 1 hour and 20 minutes, a very nice, short game.

The only downside though was that the umps were only paid $25. I don't care what age they are, and especially when I am driving 50 miles round trip to work this game, I want $40. Last time I do a game on the "little fields" out there...it's not enough money for my time and gas expenses. All in all though, it was nice seeing the kids enjoying the game, playing well and not having to see a bunch of fat "husky" kids who are too big for their age.