Well, it’s over. I’ve been planning this expedition since I was 21 years old, and now I’ve done it. I’ll never know how things might have worked out had I come here at 21… but, based on my report card and my own self-evaluation, it’s good that I went the physics teaching route.
Today began with a rather lame student game. I neither umpired nor played. Nothing particularly exciting happened. The game was called in the fourth inning when the sprinkler system mysteriously came to life. The rulebook states that if a game is called due to the malfunction of a mechanical device under the control of the home team, that game shall be suspended, and replayed from the point of suspension. However, the “commissioner” declared a winner since this was the last meeting of the season between the two teams. Ho-hum.
This afternoon marked the school banquet, at which everyone dressed up in coat-and-tie, we heard speeches, awarded awards, and that kind of stuff. Immediately thereafter, we had evaluations. The atmosphere in the “waiting room” was tense: nervous folks, rumors floating everywhere of who did and did not make it, and so on. Only 25 students will continue on to the Professional Baseball Umpiring Corporation evaluation course in March.[1] That leaves 95 students who will not be progressing. Sure, about 10 of us, including me, were not looking for a minor league job; others will work independent leagues and hope to try again next year. But that sure leaves a lot of crushed dreams.
My evaluation was short and cordial. I sat down across from Harry Wendelstedt and Paul Nauert, who each shook my hand. They handed me my report card, which indicated that I was NOT in the top 25. Paul pointed particularly to the “attitude” and “test score” categories as strengths. They encouraged me to umpire locally, and to umpire the way I was taught here. I thanked them for their work, told them that the Wendelstedt name had already helped me make contact with my local association, and assured them that I would work high school games. And that was that.
My official report card gave me letter grades in about ten categories. I have some idea of the curve, now that I’ve hung out in the bar with my classmates for a few hours after evaluations were complete. It looks like students with B’s and B+’s across the board are good enough to work independent leagues; you need a solid mix of A’s and B’s to be considered for the top 25. I earned four A’s: attitude, hustle, voice, and test score.[2] I also earned three C’s: instinct, judgment (?!?) and positioning. All other categories earned B’s.[3] I would not have been considered for professional baseball, nor for the independent leagues, even had I been interested.
Umpire School is over. Sigh. It was fun, I’m sad that it’s all done… and I count my blessings now even more than I did before. Last night I saw so many friends who have lost direction in their lives now that they know they won’t be professional umpires. They talked about going back to jobs that they don’t like but that pay the bills. They brainstormed randomly about what to do now, where they’re going to go, how they’re gonna pay the rent, who might hire them… I don’t feel TOO sad for them, knowing that all are good, hardworking folks who will be successful at whatever they pursue. But the long faces, the attempts to remain cheerful in the face of adversity, made me as thankful as can be for my loving family, my rewarding job, the full (VERY full) life that I will return to shortly.
I’ll never forget my time here. It’s been wonderful. I’m glad I came.
But I'm glad to be coming home.
Today began with a rather lame student game. I neither umpired nor played. Nothing particularly exciting happened. The game was called in the fourth inning when the sprinkler system mysteriously came to life. The rulebook states that if a game is called due to the malfunction of a mechanical device under the control of the home team, that game shall be suspended, and replayed from the point of suspension. However, the “commissioner” declared a winner since this was the last meeting of the season between the two teams. Ho-hum.
This afternoon marked the school banquet, at which everyone dressed up in coat-and-tie, we heard speeches, awarded awards, and that kind of stuff. Immediately thereafter, we had evaluations. The atmosphere in the “waiting room” was tense: nervous folks, rumors floating everywhere of who did and did not make it, and so on. Only 25 students will continue on to the Professional Baseball Umpiring Corporation evaluation course in March.[1] That leaves 95 students who will not be progressing. Sure, about 10 of us, including me, were not looking for a minor league job; others will work independent leagues and hope to try again next year. But that sure leaves a lot of crushed dreams.
My evaluation was short and cordial. I sat down across from Harry Wendelstedt and Paul Nauert, who each shook my hand. They handed me my report card, which indicated that I was NOT in the top 25. Paul pointed particularly to the “attitude” and “test score” categories as strengths. They encouraged me to umpire locally, and to umpire the way I was taught here. I thanked them for their work, told them that the Wendelstedt name had already helped me make contact with my local association, and assured them that I would work high school games. And that was that.
My official report card gave me letter grades in about ten categories. I have some idea of the curve, now that I’ve hung out in the bar with my classmates for a few hours after evaluations were complete. It looks like students with B’s and B+’s across the board are good enough to work independent leagues; you need a solid mix of A’s and B’s to be considered for the top 25. I earned four A’s: attitude, hustle, voice, and test score.[2] I also earned three C’s: instinct, judgment (?!?) and positioning. All other categories earned B’s.[3] I would not have been considered for professional baseball, nor for the independent leagues, even had I been interested.
Umpire School is over. Sigh. It was fun, I’m sad that it’s all done… and I count my blessings now even more than I did before. Last night I saw so many friends who have lost direction in their lives now that they know they won’t be professional umpires. They talked about going back to jobs that they don’t like but that pay the bills. They brainstormed randomly about what to do now, where they’re going to go, how they’re gonna pay the rent, who might hire them… I don’t feel TOO sad for them, knowing that all are good, hardworking folks who will be successful at whatever they pursue. But the long faces, the attempts to remain cheerful in the face of adversity, made me as thankful as can be for my loving family, my rewarding job, the full (VERY full) life that I will return to shortly.
I’ll never forget my time here. It’s been wonderful. I’m glad I came.
But I'm glad to be coming home.
P.S. Please return to this site in late March for the in-season version of “Nachoman’s Baseball.” Until then, please send questions, stories, or comments to the Nachoman via email at greg_jacobs@woodberry.org .
[1] And, not all of those 25 will be offered jobs in the minor leagues.
[2] I got 247 questions right out of 250, tied with two others for best in the class.
[3] As with so many report cards, a couple of the grades seemed lower than they should have been… but (also as with so many report cards) a few grades were probably higher than I deserved. It all averages out.
1 comment:
It's been a treat reading your accounts, Greg. Enjoy the rest of your sabbatical!
And remember--June 6th, Transactors in Chapel Hill!
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