2 takes on umpires

So I umpired last night and then I felt I should update my whatever this is so I thought I would present my two viewpoints on it: 1. as an umpire and 2. as fan or coach.

1. As an umpire (at least in little league) I try to have a liberal strike zone because no one benefits from an 80 walk game. However, it is hard to stay consistent so I find myself tightening the zone a bit from what I initially thought I would have. I have to keep some things in mind and just be the umpire because I want to do the following:
Coach - tell the catcher he is too far back (this not only causes more pass balls but makes it harder for me to call accurate balls and strikes), tell the batter to move off the plate or closer to the plate as I see issues there. Then, I want to call strikes no matter where the ball is when there is a batter that ducks on pitches an inch inside or backs out on every pitch (I have these same kids on my team as well) to teach them to stay in and try and hit. However I resist these temptations and relish when it actually is a strike.
Be a Jerk - Not to the kid and this is what saves me but, when a coach is doing the passive aggressive arguing I want to call everything against him.
Also, the league we umpire which is farm, umpires our games so I have seen coaches that umpired our game and did horrible and I want to return the favor. But, again, I don't. Like last night, one of the assistant coaches was an umpire for one of our games and some of the aggregious things he did were to stand 5 feet behind the catcher as he called balls and strikes - he said I don't have a cup on so I want to stay safe. Unbelievable! The second would be to make calls before the play or pitch was over. Calling strikes before they crossed the plate etc. Oh, and, on a ground ball on the foul line he called it foul as the ball was still rolling and not picked up. It was close to the line and the field had a wierd baseline that was lower than the grass surrounding it so it could have gone back fair. It didn't but came within an inch of being on the line.
1A. Now umpiring is not easy and in baseball there are so many rules and in little league they add more so knowing everything is impossible. I have a respect for umpires that you can tell give an honest hard effort. I just don't like the guy with the "Hey I'm just a volunteer" attitude. We are all volunteers buddy. Still do the most you can.

2. Coach - As long as they are consistent I am fine. If I hardly remember the umpire: Great Job! But, I have on occasion not really liked an ump as I felt the kids were shorted opportunities to learn and progress because of the effort put in.
3. Fan - I am way harder on officials as a fan. If an umpire will consult with his comrades or even admit to a blown call that's way better than the guy with the I am the official and my word is law.

So, in summary - If I never had to umpire again, I would be fine with that. I know and try to remind myself and players that the official doesn't make or break a game (with a few exceptions Tim Donague (sp)). Even with bad calls I can usually pick out a ton of errors the team made the if not made would have added to our score or taken from their score. If you ever wondered what I think now you know. But you didn't and you still know.

See what happens!

So I finally check blogs and wow, everyone still exists. I have to comment on Garrett's and can't just put this in the comments field. 1st - Get your own blog and make it all manly with pictures of meat, guns, and sweaty athletes...."I am a man I'm 40!!" quotes would work -- reference to the Oklahoma State Coach...anyone? Bueller?

2. Predictions--
Garrett's Zack's

NL West
1) Los Angeles Dodgers SAME
2) Arizona Diamondbacks (wildcard)
3) Colorado Rockies
4) San Diego Padres
5) San Fransisco [little] Giants

NL Central
1) Chicago Cubs 1)Brewers
2) Milwaukee Brewers 2)Cards
3) St Louis Cardinals 3)Reds
4) Cincinnati Reds 4)Cubs
5) Pittsburgh 5)Pirates

Comments:
Brewers have Sheets and a decent cast behind him. The central is still weak and they will rise to the top of it. I think the Cards are nice, not because of drunky the skipper, with the Rick Ankiel Story. The Reds have some good young pitchers and I think would be a division winner but they are young and will probabl fizzle toward the end. Cubs suck! Every year is the year. Already Soriano is hurt and more will follow and they will decend like a rock in water. They should thank their lucky stars the Pirates aren't good. Although, I like a lot of the players on the Pirate roster.

NL East
1) Atlanta Braves Same but won't be suprised if the Phillies win
2) Philadelphia Phillies either. Oh Marlins will be #3 Mets #4 Nats #5.
3) New York Mets
4) Washington Nationals
5) Florida Marlins

Comments: Mets (see cubs!). Marlins are going to continue to shock folks but just won't have enough. other than that, the east is the Braves to lose to the Phillies.

Not so different from Garrett's but liked his idea and stole it!!

Shelly (sister) tagged, even though I didn't feel anything, me with this book tag. The instructions are below and my book to follow.

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog.
5. Tag 5 people.

The book I picked up was The Age of Speed by Vince Poscente (Learning to thrive in a MORE-FASTER-NOW WORLD. Book I got from work

"So Lafley de-emphasized the traditional role of R&D within the organization and set a goal of acquiring 50% of new product ideas from outside the company."

I am not TAGGING anyone, just thought it would be fun.

Long time

Wow so it's been a month again. Here I was thinking that I would be able to write summaries of all the games - HA! - I am having a hard enough time even looking at the blog let alone writing in it. So, Ty is doing well, the team is getting better and we are having fun. Need a bit more info, see the website or ask.

More Nerdery
Ty and I went to the Dodger game on Wednesday April 15 (YES, we got a dodger fleece blanket!) and I rediscovered an activity I had put tothe past. A long time ago I remember getting a program at the Dodger game and I would look at the articles etc. but, once game time rolled around it was right to the middle! What's in the middle you ask? (you didn't but this was added to entice drama...is it working??) No, not a centerfold of Russell Martin or Joe Torre but, and I warn you of the nerdiness of this, the scorecard!

That's right, I wanted to show Ty how to keep score. I did and he kept the Dodger's and I did the Pirates. It was a blast! Knowing that in 20 years I can tell everyone exactly what happened at any point in the game: Priceless! So since I like to do this, at least this once, why did I ever get away from it? One answer is little children. They won't let you hold paper and "draw" on it without getting a chance themselves. Or, maybe I just felt like it was a chore. Anyway, I have rediscovered it and when I go to games I think I will keep score. I have my own scorebook so I don't even have to shell out $5.00 for the program. I also own a pencil/pen so I am set for the geek / nerd / dork to explode out at baseball games.

GO DODGERS!

Games 2&3

I realize that if I had 1 dream job it would be coaching. However, that dream is just that, as I have a goal of a strong, close, and loving family. Coaching would take me away too much, in my opinion, to accomplish this goal. So, I take solace in the coaching I get to do with Ty and, if possible; will continue with it and if the girls are in sports and they need a coach and I can, I will. (what a garbled wierd sentence I don't want to fix) I take an immense satisfaction seeing these boys succeed at different levels. A boy that struggles hitting getting his first hit is a joy. A boy that is good having a great game is rewarding. Seeing boys I had last year doing better this year is great. So I will take this until they come up with a season of something that takes place between 7am and 6pm M-F. :-)

Game 2: 9 - 1
Not a lot of hitting but we took advantage of our walks and our aggressive base running to win. We have good pitching that throws strikes and fielders that are doing a good job. Still, much improvement is needed

Ty was 0-2 with a walk and 2k's and scored a run. He is an excellent catcher and threw 2 runners out at 3rd.

Game 3: 11-6
Much better hitting and some boys that haven't hit this year, so far, got some hits. Our pitching was excellent. The other team had 1 hitter that hit the ball over the left fielder's head 2 times collecting 5 RBI in the process. Other than that, great job!

Ty was 1-2 with a walk and 2 runs scored. He caught all 5 innings (there is scheduled 6 but time limit gets us before that) and has caught 13 of the 15 innings we have played. Saturday (March 15) I will have him play other positions and give our 2 other catchers some work.

Blue Jays Game 1

Game 1 is in the books (more of a pre-season game) and it's fun to see the team play. The quality from Farm to Minor is a big jump. We go from teaching the most basic of fundamentals to improving those and teaching others. The final score was Blue Jays 7 and Diamond Backs 7. Ty caught 4 innings and pitched 1. His 2 at bat he hit a long line drive to right center that would have been an easy double but the coach at 1st bast held the runner there until it was too late. Ty was so excited and running hard he almost ended up at 2nd base with the other runner. He had to turn around and go back to 1st. Ty ended the day 1-2 with a single, RBI, walk, 2 runs scored and on base 3 times. He did a good job at catcher and pitched a good 5th inning. We are excited to have the season begin. The picture above is the hit (with a brand new Miken Burn bat) to right center. Below is the uniform and father son number combo's.

Baseball Season Starter!!

If you go to www.eteamz.active.com/coachbird , you will see the teams and schedule for our Blue Jays. 1st game is tonight so we will get a look at them and see how they have taken to my subpar coaching. Wish us luck!