The Bible says: "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Without being blasphemous, as far as baseball is concerned, fear of the umpire is the beginning of wisdom. Coaches would be wise to heed that admonition, and I am working on another series along those lines. On a baseball field, we are god, so this is more apropos than one might infer at first glance.

Peter was burned out

Back at the end of 1995, my career was stuck. I was not having fun, and my games were chaotic. I had great games one week, but I sucked the next. The participants and fans yelled at me one day and were quiet the next.

Note: Some coaches and fans don't yell at umpires if they are even half competent. Many people have common decency, and fans will often mimic the behavior of the coaches, especially in recreational baseball. In umpire writings, we tend to concentrate on the cretins because they make the best war stories.

Continued...