Calling it as I see it
By Karlsie
Last night my son and I started our season by going to a game in Pawtucket. On our way in I said, "Gee, I have never seen the PawSox win one, you think they might tonight?" He was hopeful and we settled down in our seats to catch the game.
Nothing had changed (in fact I kept expecting to hear Bizet playing through the PA system because it looked like the early games in the "Bad News Bears"), but once the sun went down it got cold enough to see our breath. It was really too cold to keep score, but as I was teaching my Pi guy, I had to find a way to move that pencil across the page. When I found out that I couldn't go out to the car to get my blanket and come back in, I stopped at the souvenir shop and picked up a huge one made out of sweatshirt material. The two of us hunkered down under it, afraid to move and risk exposure to the night air.
The game was made even worse by the reality the minor league umpires are on strike, so college and high school umpires are filling in. At one point I muttered, "Blue must be a liberal - the strike zone is definitely on a sliding scale."
Then came the call that riled up the couple of thousand fans left by the fifth inning. Andres Torres of the Rochester Red Wings (the Minnesota AAA team) hit one down the third base line that went foul before reaching the bag with the bases loaded. Willson made a stab at it, but it was foul so it went off towards left field. The home plate ump called fair ball and a run scored. As the PawSox and crowded roared in protest, a second run scored.
Immediately the manager was out of the dugout explaining the rule to the ump - and rather nicely. No angry voices or arguing, but the ump held to the ruling instead of sending players back.
At this point I did not stop my son from yelling at the ump - something I normally forbid because it's a hard, hard job. I didn't stop him in part because I was yelling too at such an egregious call. After a couple of more 1-2-3 innings we did something we never do, we left a game early. It was clear that any fun had been sucked out of the game by someone who hadn't bothered to learn the rules well enough to call a professional game.
The PawSox apparently gave up at least one more run after we left because their website listed a score of 6-0 as the final.
I have to admit that I'm rethinking our plan of visiting minor league parks this summer. Unless this strike is settled, I have to wonder if this is what we'll have to look forward to - a group of umps who just don't know even the most basic of rules and can't shake off the crowd noise and intimidation of players and coaches whose nature is to challenge what you see.
I already have my tickets to the Fishercats and Spinners games this year. I suppose I'll order up some Sea Dog tickets as well hoping the strike will settle soon. If not, it might be enough for me to study a rule book, don a blue uniform and step out onto the field myself because, even though I don't know much, I do know this: a good ump is worth their weight in platinum and a bad ump should never, ever, ever be tolerated.
