I like photos of umpires. This is in my found photo collection. I bought it because of the ump, but also the view into the grandstand. I’d love to know which ball field this is from.
Last night, while watching the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays, John Schneider got thrown out for a balk call against his pitcher. It clearly wasn’t a balk and Schneider was looking to get ejected by Ump Dan Merzel.
I have a nice core memory of seeing this at my grandparents:
Lasorda always had a good tête-à-tête with umps.
Some consider Rochester born Bill Klem to be one of the best umpires ever. He’s in the Hall of Fame too, along with Tom Connolly; the first umpires to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
What the world lacks is a good umpire movie, made by someone like Darren Aronofsky or Kelly Reichardt. I imagine it is quite strange being an umpire. No one loves you. Everyone always remembers your bad calls and mistakes. All that squatting only to be yelled at. Also, have you seen the movement on pitches recently?
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