n this night, I was on third base, set to steal money with a quiet evening of baseball, relaxing in the rocking chair. As you can deduce (why else would I be writing about it), it wasn't all that quiet. This ugly game ended with the home team winning 10-5 in three long hours. This long game was a combination of both bad baseball and my partner, who helped prolong our agony.

Think strikes

It's been said before, but I will repeat it: As a plate umpire, strikes are your friend. At clinics and on the field, I urge all of the umpires in our association to be liberal with their strike zones. That doesn't mean they need to have an Eric Gregg-type zone. But if we are going to make a mistake, let's call a "ball" a "strike," not vise versa.

Continued...