Here’s a touching story from
an American magazine. Makes you think…….
“I’m
an UMP, I try hard but can’t do a perfect job”
Donald Jenson was struck on the
head by a thrown bat while umpiring a Little League Baseball game in
Terre Haute, Indiana. He shook off the blow and finished working the
game, but that night he went to a hospital with head pains. While
being kept overnight for observation, the umpire wrote the following
letter to Little Leaguers everywhere:
“I’m an umpire. I don’t do
it for a living, but on weekends for fun!”
I’ve played baseball; I’ve
coached it, and watched it. But somehow nothing takes the place of
umpiring.
Maybe I feel deep down that I am
providing a fair chance for all kids to play the game without
disagreements or arguments. But, there is one thing that bothers me
about my job. Some of you folks do not understand why I’m there.
Some of you feel I’m there to
exert authority over your son. For that reason you often yell at me or
encourage your son to yell when I make a mistake. How many of you
really understand that I try to be perfect? I try not to make a
mistake. I don’t want your son to feel he got a bad deal from an
umpire.
Yet, no matter how hard I try, I
can’t be perfect.
I counted the number of calls I
made during a six innings game today. The total number of decisions on
balls, strikes, or safes and outs was 146.
I tried my best to get them all
right, but I’m sure I missed some. I could have missed 8 calls today
and still got about 95% right. In most occupations that percentage
would be considered excellent.
Let me tell you more about my
game today. There was one close call that ended the game. A runner for
the home team was trying to steal the plate on a passed ball. The
catcher chased the ball down and threw to the pitcher covering the
plate. The pitcher made the tag and I called the runner out.
As I was getting my equipment to
leave, I overheard one of the parents comment, “it’s too bad the
kids have lost the game because of rotten umpires. That was one of the
lousiest calls I’ve seen!”
Later at the concession stand, a
couple of kids were telling their friends, “ Boy, the umpires were
lousy today. They lost the game for us.” Well, I heard that and felt
terrible. Those kids had made a lot of mistakes that had cost them
runs.
A parent or adult leader who
lets a child blame his failures on an umpire is doing the worst kind
of injustice to that youngster. That irresponsibility is bound to
carry over to future years.
As I sit here writing this
letter, I am no longer as upset as I was this afternoon. At one point
I wanted to quit umpiring behind the plate fro a pitcher that
pantomimed his displeasure at any close call.
One could sense that he wanted
the crowd to realise that he was a talented player who was doing his
best to get along, and that I was the black-hearted villain who was
working against him. This kid continued for two innings at the same
time yelling at his own players’ mistakes.
For two innings his
manager watched this. When the kid returned to the dugout to bat in
the top of the third, the manager called him aside. In a voice that I
was able to hear, he said, “ listen, Son, it is time you made a
decision. You can be an umpire, an actor, or a pitcher. But you can
only be one at a time when you are playing for me.” “Right now it
is your job to pitch and basically you are doing a lousy job. Leave
the acting to the actor, the umpiring to the umpire, or you won’t do
any pitching here!”
Needless to say, the kid chose
the pitching route, and went on to win the game.
When the game was over
the kid followed me to the car. Fighting to keep back the tears, he
apologised for his actions and thanked me for umpiring the game.
He said that he learned a
lesson that he would never forget.
“I can’t help but wonder how
many more young men are missing out on the opportunity to develop into
outstanding ball players because their parents encourage them to spend
time umpiring, rather than working harder to play the game.”
The following morning Donald Jensen, part time
umpire, died of a brain concussion,
resulting from the blow from the thrown bat
