I only got 3 correct. I’m sending this to my Director. She’s a high level college softball umpire.
6/7. We watch A LOT of baseball.
1 Like
Thanks, that was fun. I did worse than you–only 2 right.
I liked NYT’s snarky comment about my shitty performance:
4 Likes
You Be the Ump
5/7
6 of 7
Missed #1
To be fair I was a catcher and umpired so have a bit of an advantage
I think the angle you’re “seeing” it from is tougher than real life too
2 Likes
5/7 for me. It’s so much easier being an arm chair umpire.
You Be the Ump
4/7
The angle is not one that most spectators usually have. The calls I think I missed were right on the edge (where most of the ball is outside of the box, but still touching). That’s a tough call, and you can’t really blame an ump for going either way with those.
It’s not like tennis where there is a hard surface impact next to a clear line.
Aced it 7/7. I used to pitch, but it’s been decades. I think I’ve watched 3 baseball games in the last 20 years.
You Be the Ump
7/7
1 Like
More stressful than any day of work was the day the umpire didn’t show up for my boy’s 11 year old kid pitch game. Guess who lost the stare at shoes longest, game.
Called ball, pitcher parents sideline: “oooh, that looked right there Billy”
Called strike, hitters parents sideline: “hey, hey, Bobby, that sure looked high, you wait for your pitch”
By third inning I was just begging every kid to swing at every pitch, let me off the hook.
I got 5 of 7.
You can’t be afraid to eject people
You Be the Ump
6/7
(in fairness I should have just guessed #4 was a ball after they talked about the catcher framing it)
6/7 - missed the first one that caught the upper inside by the stitching.
5/7.
I’d rather ref an nba game. decent money, direct and through informal channels.
Much easier to gamble too
2 Likes
My son did little league. The only positive is that the junior umps tend to call as many bad balls in your favor as against. However my son’s last game was against a team who hadn’t won a game all year. It was a “real ump” this time… he called so many balls on the opposing team, and everything a strike with our kids. (At his level… most of the throws are balls.) A few of the pitches even hit home plate, ump still said strike. Even the junior ump came over and questioned him at one point. The parents (and kids) on my side were so upset. Supposedly he was friends with the other team and possibly wanted to give them one win. I got 4 out of 7 on this.. not bad considering I know nothing about this game other than watching my kids’ team.
3/7. NYT thinks I should spend time in the minors. Even there, I think fans would rightly be yelling at me to wear glasses.
Then again, I don’t really like/follow baseball.