Arrival & pregame
riday afternoon found me wheeling up the west side of Phoenix en route to a northern edge high school. Two o’clock double header, I get the first plate. First impression: Very nice looking ball field with a well manicured infield, full fencing, generous dugouts, scoreboard. Not a pro park by any means, but far more impressive than any of the local fields I’d seen in Appleton the past few summers.
My partner arrived just a few minutes behind, and after a moment or two of "nice to meet you" we actually got down to a good pregame conversation. As we all know, the majority of this is confirmation. Coverages really don’t vary too much any more. So I’ll focus attention only on the things I did not really expect.
- With the extreme heat (about 103 at game time) the base umpire does not go out unless he really needs to. I wondered briefly if "really needs to" is like "a little pregnant," but decided only to assure my partner I’d be at second if he decided to go.
Continued...
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