My season and my career has ended... Baseball not riding. 
I umpired my last high school baseball game last Thursday afternoon. My knees have gotten so bad I can't do it any longer. I was hoping the last game I had scheduled wouldn't be as bad as the others this season but the pain seems to have gotten worse. Here it is, Monday afternoon and I'm still having problems getting from a seating position to standing up. I've been eating pain killers like candy this season and the only hope I see of continuing with baseball would be knee replacements and I'm too young for that since I can still get around after I finally get over the pains from a game. The pain is also there after riding my KTM but I can back off on the speed and keep the pain down to a minimum. I haven't had any problems with riding the Tiger so again, I too dang young for the replacements. If I had the surgery I would be out of the game for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years and don't know if I made it that long I would want to go back into it.
Prior to the game I was approached by an umpire from another league, asking if I would come call games for them. I thanked him for the offer and told him I would think about it, but I knew the chances of me continuing would not be very high. Between the first and second inning as he was leaving to go call his game, the other umpire called out to me so I eased over to the backstop to get a drink and hear what he had to say. He told me they could really use an umpire like me and he would like to have me work on his crew. As he was leaving I was thinking I'm not hurting that bad right now so maybe I will take him up on his offer but now I realize that isn't going to happen.
On the plus side, the game I decided was going to be my last was one I was looking forward to all season after I scheduled it. I knew going into the season there was a good chance this was going to be my last so I picked this game because of the schools, the teams, the coaches and the fans. The game was everything I had hoped for, I had the plate and both teams came out to play and I saw some really good pitching. While the visitors struggled to get it in gear for the first two innings, they were still able to keep the home team within reach and a middle innings surge by the visitors really made it a good game going into the top of the final inning tied. Each team had spectacular infield plays to get their pitchers out of trouble with runners in scoring position several times during the game. Each team's hoss came thru with great pitches with few mistakes. We had two home runs, one from each team that were no doubters, with or with out the wind they would have both cleared the fence. Going into the game, the district schedule/results had not been posted yet so we didn't know what was at stake in this game but found out when the game was over that the home team needed the win to clinch the district championship and the team they were facing was the team they were only a 1/2 a game ahead of. This even added to the excitement of the fans for both sides which really gave the game a play-off atmosphere, glad we didn't know this going into the game. Knowing the standings would not have changed the way I worked the game or changed any of my calls but there was no self inflected pressure to make sure I had my calls right.
The game came down to the final batter in the top half of the 7th inning with the home team up one run. The visitors were down by one having scored one run to cut the lead to one run. The home team had scored two runs to break the tie in the bottom of the 6th inning. With runners on 2nd and third, one out a count of 0 balls & 2 strikes the third pitch was in the dirt and got away from the catcher. The runner on third was coming down the line hard when the catcher finally grabbed the ball and tossed it to the pitcher covering the plate. I watched as the runner made a perfect slide to avoid the tag of the pitcher, only the toe of his left foot was anywhere near the plate when the pitcher dropped his glove just in time to tag and deflect the runners toe away from the plate for out 2. The runner on 2nd broke for third as the runner on 3rd headed home but there was no time to try a play on the runner as he reached 3rd before the pitcher could recover and make the throw. So back to the batter, count now 1 & 2. The next five pitches were fouled off, each of them would have been called a ball but the batter wouldn't take the chance on letting one of them get by for a called third strike. The 6th pitch following the wild pitch was a fast ball down the middle, belt high for a called third strike. Most people in the stands along with the players know when I make a called third strike, there ain't no doubt what I called, but this time the track teams out on the track/football field and the softball game underway back behind us probably know what the call was.
From a game earlier this year at the Kingwood High School Sophomore Tournament. I haven't been able to find any photos of me behind the plate.
I umpired my last high school baseball game last Thursday afternoon. My knees have gotten so bad I can't do it any longer. I was hoping the last game I had scheduled wouldn't be as bad as the others this season but the pain seems to have gotten worse. Here it is, Monday afternoon and I'm still having problems getting from a seating position to standing up. I've been eating pain killers like candy this season and the only hope I see of continuing with baseball would be knee replacements and I'm too young for that since I can still get around after I finally get over the pains from a game. The pain is also there after riding my KTM but I can back off on the speed and keep the pain down to a minimum. I haven't had any problems with riding the Tiger so again, I too dang young for the replacements. If I had the surgery I would be out of the game for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years and don't know if I made it that long I would want to go back into it.
Prior to the game I was approached by an umpire from another league, asking if I would come call games for them. I thanked him for the offer and told him I would think about it, but I knew the chances of me continuing would not be very high. Between the first and second inning as he was leaving to go call his game, the other umpire called out to me so I eased over to the backstop to get a drink and hear what he had to say. He told me they could really use an umpire like me and he would like to have me work on his crew. As he was leaving I was thinking I'm not hurting that bad right now so maybe I will take him up on his offer but now I realize that isn't going to happen.
On the plus side, the game I decided was going to be my last was one I was looking forward to all season after I scheduled it. I knew going into the season there was a good chance this was going to be my last so I picked this game because of the schools, the teams, the coaches and the fans. The game was everything I had hoped for, I had the plate and both teams came out to play and I saw some really good pitching. While the visitors struggled to get it in gear for the first two innings, they were still able to keep the home team within reach and a middle innings surge by the visitors really made it a good game going into the top of the final inning tied. Each team had spectacular infield plays to get their pitchers out of trouble with runners in scoring position several times during the game. Each team's hoss came thru with great pitches with few mistakes. We had two home runs, one from each team that were no doubters, with or with out the wind they would have both cleared the fence. Going into the game, the district schedule/results had not been posted yet so we didn't know what was at stake in this game but found out when the game was over that the home team needed the win to clinch the district championship and the team they were facing was the team they were only a 1/2 a game ahead of. This even added to the excitement of the fans for both sides which really gave the game a play-off atmosphere, glad we didn't know this going into the game. Knowing the standings would not have changed the way I worked the game or changed any of my calls but there was no self inflected pressure to make sure I had my calls right.
The game came down to the final batter in the top half of the 7th inning with the home team up one run. The visitors were down by one having scored one run to cut the lead to one run. The home team had scored two runs to break the tie in the bottom of the 6th inning. With runners on 2nd and third, one out a count of 0 balls & 2 strikes the third pitch was in the dirt and got away from the catcher. The runner on third was coming down the line hard when the catcher finally grabbed the ball and tossed it to the pitcher covering the plate. I watched as the runner made a perfect slide to avoid the tag of the pitcher, only the toe of his left foot was anywhere near the plate when the pitcher dropped his glove just in time to tag and deflect the runners toe away from the plate for out 2. The runner on 2nd broke for third as the runner on 3rd headed home but there was no time to try a play on the runner as he reached 3rd before the pitcher could recover and make the throw. So back to the batter, count now 1 & 2. The next five pitches were fouled off, each of them would have been called a ball but the batter wouldn't take the chance on letting one of them get by for a called third strike. The 6th pitch following the wild pitch was a fast ball down the middle, belt high for a called third strike. Most people in the stands along with the players know when I make a called third strike, there ain't no doubt what I called, but this time the track teams out on the track/football field and the softball game underway back behind us probably know what the call was.
From a game earlier this year at the Kingwood High School Sophomore Tournament. I haven't been able to find any photos of me behind the plate.
