The Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-09-08, Page 13irgr
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sulk
idon
:H
ersoll umpires make it go
immediately:
#o umpire softball
big weekend
Must have good
know:: rules of
roughly, ignore
and coaches that
rly, officiate to
of ability but above
by the decision
of the reaction
e will have to it.
strong. handled the chores last
year and the quality of their
work inspired the tournament
executive to ask them back.
For the, second consecutive
year they did an exceptional
job. •
• Only about a, dozen of the
Ingersoll men are required to
handle the weekend gamesbut
they split up the taskin such a
manner that the fans usually
don't recognize them from one
game to the next -On Saturday
eight of them appeared to
handle- the action at two
bove fictional ad- diamonds,' six .returned for
t may serve to Sund's 'games and five for
the people needed to Monayagy's contests.
Goderich's annual The Ingersoll umpires throw
fastball tournament. the same desire into their job
le applying for the job that the players do to, win a
ble-to handle it or the--f•,as they -don- the spikes.
ent will enjoy no masks and chest protectors to
despite the quality of g° out and do a game, they
involved in it. The (*Pick and recheck rules.
without a doubt make slangs and position,they will
the tourney. tike •u P the ield to make the
1975 edition of the three .
ent was once again N�
by the members of the
I Umpires Association.
sociation, 18 • umpires
step out onto the field
tlrsch other's hands,
lalltiert to one another
r
IS
fon
.9
h
ent proceeds help pay for
at agriculture Park
and advising their counterp
to have a good game. The pi
umpire dusts off home pl
raises his hand and sh
"play ball".
With that signal he and
base umpires try to wipe th
minds clear of everything
baseball and devote their ent
concentration poiters to
ficiating. They make ev
effort possible to stay on top
the play to oke theright ca
and leave as little as possible
their judgement.
"We're only- human," sa
veteran ump Harold Fishlei
"We may.. be wrong on occast
but we stick by our decision a
never let anyone think we kno
we're wrong. If we do we'
lost control of the -game
Control of the game is t
most important function of th
arts him and shakes his hand,
ate telling him he did a great
ate; umping job. Quite a few of the
outs .players losing in this year's
tournament 'did just that,
his making Harold and his fellow
eir umps confident they did a good
but jobover the threedays.
ire A good umpire is like a good
of- player. He must prove.himself.
ery Candidates for an umpire's
of card must work several games
lis with a senior man before they
to are recommended for duties on
their own. Depending on their
ys ability they may take up to
gh. three years getting recognition
on from a veteran umpire.
nd The Ingersoll umpires take
w their job very seriously. They
ve handle about 600 games bet-
. --ween-them, working from30 to
he 60 games each a season. The
e only thing they are not con-
sistent in is their style.
d Some have a personal flair
official according to Harol
After he makes a close call h
will accept the questions of
concerned coach if they ar
done ina calm manner. He wi
explain why he made the ca
and usually, if he has contra
and has proved his abi;:ty, th
coach will accept the decision.
He and the rest of th
Ingersoll umps will not tolerat
abuse. If a coach runs out ont
the field shoutin
dissatisfaction, Harold wil
stand face to face with him an
tell him why the call was made
If the coach persists he will tel
him calmly to sit down or he
will be out of the game. If ,the
coach persists much longer he
will invariably find himself
watching the contest from the
bleachers.
e ey, have picked up such as
a calling strikes. Harold drawls
ehis strike calls out for fans and
11 players alike to hear.
II "Hecriiiike," he bawls when
1 " a pitch comes over.
e If one misses, a simple "bol"
that sounds more like he is
e clearing his throat gets the job
e done.
o Some of his base umps have a
g flair that adds a special ex-
t citement to the game. On a safe
d play they bend over until their
• chin is nearly on the ground,
1 stretching their arms to their
sides, 'palms down crying
"We'll tell him why we made
the call but no matter what his
argument is, whether the
believe him or not, we will
never change our minds," said
Harold.
Position on the field is vital in
calling a game. Base umpires
follow the base runner around
the bags staying on the side of
the man the ball is on. On first
base they watch the runner's
foot arid listen for the sound of
the ball hitting the glove.
Whichever is first governs their
call. On a close sliding play
they never take. their eyes off
the ball, watching the runner's
position when the tag is made.
The greatest thrill for Harold
is a post game congratulations
from the losing team. He says
he realizes his greatest per-
s<snai satisfaction when one of
the losing players goes up to
Page 11
"okay".
When therunner is out, they
clench a fist gpd bring their
arm down across their chest to
their opposite hip as they spin
away from the play, trying
The umpires work in pairs
like a pitcher and catcher. They
have signals between each
. other so that the base men and
the plate ump are informed on
plays. If a batter attempts to
bunt and checks his swing the
plate ump will glance to the
base man for a signal to see if
the awing carried enough to call
a strike. The time interval is so
short the batter thinks that the
plate man saw -the play and
made the call himself.
The devotion the Ingersoll
umpires have towards their job
adds a professionalism to an
amateur game that greatly
improves the quality of the
contest. They devote the same
entity to the game that the
players do and after a tough
game they also follow the
players in congratulations.
While the players are on the
infield congratulating one
another the umpires are at
home plate shaking each
other's hands and advising one
another of a good game.
WELCOME FROM
YOUR
Tournament Executive
Tournament Chairman -
Doug Fisher -
Ray Donnelly -
Jim Durst -
Jack MdcKinnon -
Jim Bell -
Bill Kirkey -
John Hoy - •
Greg Hansen
Doug Currie -
Gerry Durst
Scoring b Draws'
Scheduling
Diamond Preparation
Gate
Gate
Treasurer
Refreshments
Refreshments
Scoring & Draws
Good luck to everyone!
III HUROMIC METAL
hmi.
INDUSTRIES LTD.
. INDUSTRIAL PARK
GODERICH ONTARIO
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