My Journey to Williamsport 2018

Well we are down to 86 days.

This week we ordered our rings. I have posted the picture of the design below.

I was in contact with District 1 about the State tournament. It will be in Machias this year from July 20-26. I sent them my availability to get some games.

Comments (0)     

Today, Joe Ouellette and I were honored at a cross-town game between a team from Bangor East and one from Bangor West.

Bangor East President, Dale Duff, brought us to the mound and informed the crowd about our assignments. We both threw out a first pitch, then we had the kids sign the balls. We then called the game for the kids.

Thank you to Bangor East and Bangor West Little Leagues.

Comments (0)     

I just returned from the orientation in Williamsport. We had 4 very full days of meetings, mechanics, ground rules and even games on both fields (Lamade and Volunteer).

A few things that stick in my mind are: 1. The fields have many ground rules - many are in place because of ESPN televising the games. 2. While watching the games on TV, the fields look totally flat (especially behind the plate). That is not the case. 3. While standing on the field at Lamade, the sensation that I felt was 'Oh my god'. It was very quiet when we first went on the field, but to stand there and imaging 20,000+ people around you is hard to do.

I also met the other 15 umpires from around the US, Canada, Japan and Columbia. These are guys are all great and the group seemed to hit it off right away. We got to learn about each other, work together and became the "Third Team" on the field, or as the staff called us - "the 17th team". Everyone is a great umpire and we are here to support each other during our work.

I am posting pictures below, with explanations of what was going on.

The complex and fields are amazing!! Both of the main fields are game ready (so are the practice fields), and they stay that way all summer. There will be very few games played on them this summer (only special permission from LL), but we had the opportunity to work on Lamade and Volunteer all day on Saturday. There were many local teams invited to play here, in exchange for our guys working the games. It was a great experience, and should help us be more relaxed and confident in August.

We all stayed in the Grove. This is where the teams stay during the tournament, and no one is allowed in there other than the kids/coaches during the WS.

We will be reporting on August 14th, and guess what one of the first tasks for us? Another meeting. We have a tentative schedule of what we will be doing when we first get there, and just because there are no games on the field - it doesn't mean the umpires won't already be busy. Looks like 2 busy days for us, even before the 1st pitch.

More soon.

Comments (0)     

The last 2 weeks we have 18" and then 24" of snow. Will spring ever come?

Comments (0)     

The challenger game at the LLWS has been announced by Little League. The Hazleton (Pa.) Little League and Highland Baseball Club (Evansville, Ind.) will face off on August 25th. A couple of us worked the challenger game when I did my regional in Bristol a few years ago. This game was the most fun I have had as an umpire. Everyone was safe and a great time was had by all. For the full story go to: https://www.littleleague.org/news/teams-announced-2018-little-league-challenger-division-exhibition-game/. We will be working this game for these All Stars while we are there. Can't wait.

Comments (0)     

We just got back from a weekend in Connecticut. We had the 2018 Eastern Region Umpire Clinic in Bristol.

It was great to see a bunch of guys I have known for a long time, worked with them in tournaments or 'been their boss' at the World Series in Bangor.

Not much new in the baseball world, except the bat rule. Doc also went over the information from this year's congress, and a lot of new updates to the Umpire Registry. Gonna be some big changes in how umpires apply for Regionals and World Series assignments. Picked up a couple of needed items from Frank from All Sports East for the season as well.

It was quite a let-down to come home to 6" of fresh snow in the yard after leaving 50 degree weather, rain and no snow in CT. Oh well, soon enough, our snow will be gone too.

Comments (0)     

I received a phone call from Tom Rawlings on January 12th, telling me that I had been selected to umpire the 2018 Little League World Series in Williamsport. He called me because my letter still had not come.

This call actually made my hands shake, because this has been at the top of my Umpire bucket list since I started umpiring. I have wanted a trip to Williamsport either as a player and umpire or a fan since I played in the state game in 1976.

Follow along my experiences for the year, and please feel free to comment.

Comments (0)