HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-06-17, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1987.
Sports
A plea to parents from
a minor league umpire
Lori Appleby gets Madill
top female athlete award
The following article was
brought to The Citizen by an area
umpire.
Donald Jensen was struck In the
head by a thrown bat while
umpiringalittleleaguegame in
Terre Haute, Indiana. He continu
ed to work the game, but later that
evening was placed in the hospital
by a doctor. While being kept
overnight for observation, Jensen
wrote the following letter:
Dear Parent of a Little Leaguer:
I’m an umpire, I don’t do it for a
living, but only on Saturdays and
Sundaysforfun. I’veplayedthe
game, coached it and watched it.
But somehow, nothing takes the
place of umpiring. Maybe it’s
because I feel that deep down I’m
providing a fair chance for all the
kids to play the game without
disagreements and arguments.
With all the fun I’ve had, there is
still something that bothers me
about my job. Some of you folks
don’t understand why I’m here.
Some of you feel I’m there to exert
authority over your son. For that
reason, you often yell at me when I
make a mistake, or encourage your
son to say things that hurt my
feelings. 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
in a six-inning game today. The
total number of decisions, whether
onballsand strikes or safes and
outs, was 146.1 tried my best to get
them all right, but I’m sure 1
missed some. When I figured out
my percentageonpaper, Icould
have missed eight calls today and
still gotten about 95 per cent of the
calls right. In most occupations
that percentage would be consider-
edexcellent. If I were in school,
that grade would receive an A for
sure.
But your demands are higher
than that Let me tell you more
about my game today. There was
one real close call that ended the
game. A runner for the home team
was trying to steal the plate on a
passedball. Thecatcher chased
the ball down and threw to the
pitcher covering the plate. The
pitcher made the tag and I called
the runner out. As Iwas getting my
equipment to leave I overheard one
of the parents comment, “It’s too
bad the kids have to lose games
because of rotten umpires. That
was one of the lousiest calls I’ve
ever seen.” Later, at the conces
sionstand, acoupleofkids were
tellingtheir friends, “Boy, the
umpires werelousy today. They
lost the game for us.’’ I felt just
terrible when I got home. Here was
a group of kids who had made a lot
of mistakes which had cost them a
number of runs.
The purpose of Little League is to
teach baseball skills to young men.
Obviously, a team which does not
play well in a given game, yet is
given the opportunity to blame that
loss on an umpire for one call or
two, is being given the chance to
take all responsibility for the loss
from their shoulders. A parent or
adult leader who permits the young
player to blame his failures on an
umpire, regardless of the quality of
that umpire, is doing the worst kind
of injustice to that youngster.
Rather than learning responsibili
ty, such an attitude is fostering an
improper outlook toward the ideals
of the game itself. The irresponsi
bility 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. I wanted to quit umpir
ing, but unfortunately, my wife
reminded me of another situation
that occurred last week.
I was umpiring behind the plate
for a pitcher who pantomimed his
displeasure at any call on a
borderline pitch that was not in his
team’s favor. One could sense that
he wanted the crowd to realize that
he was a fine, talented player who
was doing his best to get along, but
that I was a blackhearted villain
who was working against him.
The kid continued acting like this
for two innings, while at the same
time yelling at his own players who
dared to make a mistake. For two
innings the 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 loud enough that I was able to
overhear, the lecture went like
this: “Listen son, it is time you
make 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
isyourjobto pitch, and, you are
basically doing a lousy job. Leave
the acting to the actors, the
umpiringtothe umpires, or you
won’t do any pitching here. Now
what is it going to be?”
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 my car.
Fighting his hardest to keep back
the tears he apologized for his
actions and thanked me for
umpiring his game. He said he had
learned a lesson that he would
never forget.
1 can’t help wonder how many
more fine young men are missing
their chance to develop into
outstanding ball players because
their parents encourage them to
spend time umpiring, rather than
working harder to play the game as
it should be played.
(The following morning, Donald
Jensen died of a brain concussion.)
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Lori Appleby, of RR2, Blyth has
now completed her throwing com
petitions of her high school years.
Help!
We need more ball game reports
To all those coaches and mana
gers or just plain fans of ball teams
out there: helpl
After having pages filled with
hockey reports all winter we are,
for the second year in a row, left
with no sports coverage when ball
season rolls around.
This, despite the fact there are
literally thousands of people play
Masonic Lodge installs officers
Thelastmeetingof St. John’s
Lodge 284 A.F. & A.M. for the
Masonic year of 1986 and 1987 was
held on June 9, completing the first
year in the new Masonic Temple on
Mill St. Visitors were present from
Tillsonburg and Wingham.
An inscribed plaque was presen
ted to Wor. Bro. Fred Thuell in
recognition of his outstanding
service to the Lodge. Wor. Bro.
Thuell thanked the Lodge and was
given a standing ovation.
The ceremony of Installation and
Investiture was held with Wor.
Bro. Murray Hoover as Installing
Master.
The officers for the ensuing year
are as follows: I.P.M. Wor. Bro.,
Murray Hoover; W.M. Wor Bro.,
R. W. Todd; S.W. Wor. Bro., Fred
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Seven athletes from the F.E.
Madill Secondary School in Wing
ham competed in the high calibre
ing the sport in The Citizen’s
coverage area with teams not only
in Blyth and Brussels but Bel
grave, Auburn, Walton, Londes-
boro, Bluevale and more.
We need your help. A short
writeup, even a couple of para
graphs on the activities of your
team or league each week will help
generate more interest in your
team. Help us to help you.
Uhler; V.W. Wor. Bro., Leslie
Knight; Chaplain, Wor. Bro. Fred
Thuell; Treasurer, V. Wor. Bro.,
Gerald Gibson; Secretary, Wor.
Bro. Ross Duncan; S.D. Wor. Bro.,
Robt. Grasby; J.D. Wor. Bro.,
Wilfred Shortreed; D. of C., Wor.
Bro. Robt. Cunningham; S.S., Bro.
Alan Baker; J.S., Wor. Bro. James
McTaggart; I.G., Wor. Bro. Max
Watts; Tayler, RT. Wor. Bro. Cal
Krauter; Organist, RT. Wor. Bro.
Donald Dunbar; Historian, Wor.
Bro. James Mair.
A number of members of the
lodge will be attending the annual
meeting of the Grand Lodge of
Canada in the Province of Ontario
being held in the Royal York Hotel,
Toronto on July 13, 14, 15 and 16.
Ontario Secondary School Track
and Field Meet held at McMaster
University in Hamilton late last
month.
Competing in a down pour of
rain, Lori earned a place among the
finalists in the shot put and was
ranked seventh in Ontario with a
put of 11.04 m.
It has been Lori’s dream goal
since grade nine to place in the top
eightatOFSAA, soshe finished
her throwing competitions with
successfully reaching this goal.
On Monday, June 8, F.E. Madill
held their annual athletic banquet.
Mr. Bob Campbell, head of
phys. ed. department presented
Lori with the most valuable seniors
girls track and field award.
The biggest surprise came to
Lori later in the evening^ when she
was presented with the “top
female athlete” trophy. This is
given to a senior student who has
excelled in a variety of sports.
Lori says she has really enjoyed
participating in various sports in
her four years of high school. It’s a
great way to meet people and have
a good time.
This summer Lori is a sports
director at Camp Menesutung in
Goderich and in the fall starts
school in London.
BEST W RATE
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