Umpires get final word

By Andy Wilcox

I can’t guarantee that any reader who writes a long e-mail criticizing two paragraphs of one of my stories will get the same response, but George Slinsen had a good point.

While covering a Napa-at-Vintage baseball game in early May, I noticed players and fans were voicing more criticism than usual about the pitches the plate umpire was calling. Vintage lost 9-1 and when I interviewed one of the Crushers afterward, he commented that the called strikes were “low ones, inside ones and outside ones.”

In an attempt to explain Vintage’s inability to get timely hits, I wrote “The Crushers seemed to have more trouble adjusting to a plate umpire with an inconsistent strike zone” and quoted the player in the next paragraph.

George Slinsen wrote me the very next night, informing me that as a member of the North Bay Umpires Association, he was very disappointed that I used the word “inconsistent” as a statement of fact. “The umpire in question happens to be a very good umpire,” he wrote. “I would have him as a partner anytime, anywhere, any level.”

He went on to write that NBUA members “take our vocation very seriously. We attend no less than five association meetings per high school season devoted to rules and mechanics, and ... there are countless hours of discussion about situations and rules. We take it very seriously.”

I wrote Slinsen back, not just saying he was right but also asking if he and some of his colleagues might like to talk about what they do and the challenges and rewards of it. He put me in touch with four fellow members of the NBUA.

I wasn’t able to pursue this until the summer, when  the NBUA becomes the Napa Valley Umpire Association.

I asked them how hard they work to be accurate.

“I believe that most of us are obsessed with it,” said Slinsen, 52. “(On June 16) I ran into another umpire in a parking lot and he wanted my opinion on a balk. So two grown men are in the middle of a parking lot demonstrating pitching motions. Normal people do not act this way.”

Andrew Risley, 20, who started umpiring at age 16, said he enjoys learning the intricacies of the game and its rule book.

“Nobody enjoys being yelled at, but I find satisfaction in making a close call that I know is right even if some people are upset about it,” the 2007 Napa High graduate said. “The thing that bothers me the most is hearing the phrase, ‘Call it both ways.’ Integrity is a huge part of umpiring and I would never favor one team over another.”

For Risley, the road to becoming a NBUA/NVUA umpire began after a wrist injury ended his playing career just before what would have been his freshman season.

“I started working Babe Ruth league games in the Cal Ripken Division when I was 16 as a way to make a little bit of extra money and be around baseball,” he said. “Babe Ruth President Larry Baracco, who is also an umpire, recommended I contact the local umpire association run by Thom Whitters. So last spring I worked my first baseball game on a full-sized diamond. I have umpired all over Napa County, and Fairfield, Vacaville, Vallejo and Benicia.”

Risley, who has been focusing on criminal justice while attending Napa Valley College the last two years, said he’s thinking of a career in umpiring. In January, he’ll attend a professional umpire school in Florida — something he said Slinsen encouraged him to do.

Mike LaPolla, Whitters and Slinsen all got into umpiring when they signed up their sons for Napa Little League many years ago.

“I volunteered, thinking ‘How hard could this be?’” Slinsen said. “I had watched baseball my whole life and played baseball and softball from my youth through adulthood and I knew the rules. Mike LaPolla was Umpire In Chief and had us meet in a classroom at Napa High. We opened up the rule book and after two nights, I found out that I knew almost nothing about the rules of baseball. Then on a Saturday and Sunday we met at Justin-Siena to learn field mechanics. This umpiring stuff was not easy. This scenario repeated itself every year and eventually myself and others  began to help Mike instruct.”

Whitters said that when LaPolla told him to come to the first rules meeting, he told LaPolla he already knew the rules. “I’ll just pass,” he told LaPolla.

“Mike had probably heard that dozens of times already but he was persuasive and told me it couldn’t hurt to get a refresher. Mike and others have taught me that being a good umpire is not just knowing the rules, it’s about knowing how to apply the rules, how to handle yourself and others in tense and pressure-filled situations, and how to maintain control of the game, the players and the coaches.

“It is learning how to ignore people berating you on a loud and regular basis. Timing and consistency are everything in umpiring. It is extremely important not to make a call too quickly, but to make sure in your mind what you saw then make the right call. That is true with balls and strikes. It is extremely important to be consistent with your strike zone.”

Whitters has now umpired every level up to semi-professional baseball, and this year was chosen to umpire a section championship game — with LaPolla behind the plate. He is now the assignor for NVUA, determined which umpires will work what games from week to week.

“Some times when you have a long, sloppily played game on a hot day,” Whitters said, “You wonder ‘What in the hell am I doing here?’ But then you will do a really tight two-hour, nine-inning game and as you walk off the field, both teams and the coaches and fans say ‘Good game, Blue,’ and you know you will be back tomorrow.

“The real attraction for the semi-pro umpire is the constant search for that unusual play you have never seen before that serves as an opportunity to try and make a correct interpretation of the applicable rule, inspiring thousands and thousands of hours of back and forth discussion.”

Like many of his pupils, LaPolla didn’t think umpring would be too difficult when he started out. His first instructional meeting was at a police station — one of the board members was in law enforcement.

“I said to myself ‘Wow, what did I just get myself into?’ But after a short time, I was hooked,” recalled native of upstate New York.

A year later, he agreed to replace the outgoing umpire-in-chief, and would hold the position for the next 11 years. He said the umpires’ only compensation back then was a drink and one food item, a hamburger, hot dog or taco salad, from the snack bar. He has since officiated at several American Legion Western Regional tournaments, as crew chief in many cases, and attended a week-long Little League school in San Bernardino, and a one-week school in Arizona taught by retired major league umpire Jim Evans.

Roi Hammond, an umpire and assigning secretary for the NBUA, said it services all the high schools in Napa, Vallejo, Fairfield, Benicia and Vacaville.

“We have a total of about 65 umpires of various experience levels, including umpires who also do college ball — myself included,” he said. “We are always looking for new officials, new guys and gals to come out and see how they might fare on the other side of the white lines. We will train.”

Let’s see. Low pay, berating from fans, constant meetings and classes. What makes these guys keep coming back for this kind of thing year after year?

“One of the things that I enjoy most is being on the field with the players and interacting with them,” Slinsen said. “Almost without exception, I love them all. It’s also the only place in my life where I can have the last word.”

LaPolla admits that if you officiate long enough, you will make many mistakes, but hopefully one won’t make that much difference in the outcome of the game.

“Few really do, especially if you (take into account) player defensive errors, coaches strategy mistakes, missed offensive opportunities, etc.,” he said. “Most of us umpire because we actually love being out there in the middle of the action. There is not a better seat in the house.”

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