"Kill the Ump ! "

 

   Home Plate: " a 17-inch square ...with two of the corners removed so the one edge is   17 inches long,   two adjacent sides are 8 1/2 inches each and the remaining two sides are 12 e=inches each and set at an angle to make a point"   an internet definition of dimensions of Major League home plate.

  

 Angel is behaving like his usual non-Angelic self.

Or so many professional baseball players and their fans are proclaiming loudly.  Angel Hernandez, a major league baseball umpire,  has long been   reviled as perhaps the worst umpire ever.  The season has barely begun and already he has made several controversial calls.  (If you find this an interesting topic, check YouTube's many entries for him.)

   Whatever the accuracies or inaccuracies of his calls, Hernandez joins a long list of 'men in blue' disliked by players and fans alike.  "Kill the ump!" is not considered a literal call for homicide, although in the early years of the sport, umpiring was considered so dangerous that some apparently carried weapons. Years ago, an elderly man told me that he and his brother regularly attended local minor league games primarily to heckle the officials.  Leo Durocher, one of the all-time leading umpire antagonists, claimed that he had "never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.".

   Calling balls and strikes should be easy, right? But standing behind the catcher, judging the trajectory of a sphere traveling at a rapid rate of speed can be challenging at times.  And, the exact location of the strike zone frequently becomes a matter of  opinion. Bill Klem, a legendary umpire who was posthumously inducted in Baseball's Hall of Fame, claimed, "It ain't nothin' til I call it".  On another  occasion after he was shown a photograph of a blown call, he retorted, "Gentlemen, he was out  because I said he was out".

   From  my own basebal'career', I recall only once when I believed that I had received a 'bad call'.  Having missed the coach's 'steal' sign on the first pitch, I then missed that he had removed it and took off for second base.  Clearly safe,   I was furious that the local citizen drafted to call bases proclaimed me 'out'.

   In the 1970's, I often umpired high school age Recreation League games, receiving the hefty  pay (for the time) of $25 for a Saturday afternoon double header.  In an earlier post from  August 2018 ("Rabbit Ears"), I told of a spectator who regularly questioned the legitimacy of my birth until one day when I shamed  him into a subsequent apology.      

  Rather than tallying the count on my fingers or relying on memory, I carried a small clicker device that I would update with every pitch. However, during one game, I 'messed up' and said, "Strike Three" to which the young man protested that he had but two strikes.  "You're out", I said, and he quietly took his seat.  Reflecting later, I realized that he was correct.  Many years afterwards, I saw his name on the outside bulletin board as the Minister of a large United Methodist Church.  I wrote an email reminding him of the incident (which he had forgotten) and my long overdue  apology. 

  Then there was the game in which John hit a home run but failed to touch home plate. That is an  appeal call and the umpire can rule only if it is protested.  It was and I called him out.  Four or five years thereafter , he was a student in a Freshman History course that  I taught at the local college.

    One beautiful Saturday afternoon, after a break in the play, I looked up to see the pitcher ( a large boy) throw the ball full force into the heckling opponent's dugout. I promptly ejected him from the game.  When his coach asked if I might have been a bit severe, I noted that had the ball stuck someone in the head, the outcome could have been tragic.  Quite coincidentally, I was umpiring a game for the same team the following week.  When  I called  this same player out on strikes, he walked away about 10 feet before turning around to tell me "You are crazy !".  I replied, "I might be but you are out of this game."

   In recent years, we have attended local games of young athletes whom we know and with whom we have connection.  'Sportsmanship' or its absence, especially with the rancor expressed for the umpires, seems to have reached great depths.  Maybe it is part of the 'tradition' to 'rag the umpire' but civility and being role models for the kids have been severely wounded.  Last year I saw a sign with this message posted at a youth league field:

        "  REMINDERS FROM YOUR CHILD: 

.I'm a KID

.It's  just a GAME

.My Coach is a VOLUNTEER

.The Officials are HUMANS

.NO COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS WILL BE HANDED OUT TODAY.

    Thank you and have fun "

  I thank my cousin, Tom, who was once a professional pitcher for this timely reminder :

In the meantime, be another kind of 'angel' and don't 

'Kill the Ump !'

     

      Satchel