Posted on 06/12/2010 9:26:37 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
SAN DIEGO ---- Maj. Mike Gervasoni is talking about turning troops into umps, and Major League Baseball is listening.
"The major leagues are talking about developing future umpires, and they're just looking in the wrong place," Gervasoni said.
In November 2008, Gervasoni, 43, took part in a weeklong umpiring camp in Compton sponsored by Major League Baseball.
"I went to the camp to refresh my skills," Gervasoni said, who had umpired at the junior college level before joining the military. "The camp is used by the majors to take a look at those who would make it into their pipeline of developing umpires."
At the camp, Gervasoni had an epiphany.
"I thought, wow, the similarities between umpires is a lot like the Marines," Gervasoni said. "As I was trying to enhance my own skills, I found myself asking, 'How could I help my Marines and give them some opportunities?'"
(Excerpt) Read more at nctimes.com ...
(( ping ))
I think this is a cool idea.
"I thought, wow, the similarities between umpires is a lot like the Marines," Gervasoni said.Except that when a Marine makes a mistake he owns up. The only umps I know who'd fit that profile these days are Jim Joyce and John Hirschbeck.
And then there was Eric Gregg (RIP), who admitted he called a Phillie's foul ball a homerun at Veteran's Stadium (RIP) because the ball girl was jumping up and down and clapping like it was fair. That story always cracked me up.
On the other hand, at least he never let a personal beef get in the way of doing his job.
And why should Veterans Stadium rest in peace? Good riddance to all those damn cookie cutter stadiums with the broadloom playing "fields" . . . my only regret about them going down was that I wasn't the one who had the honour of pushing the plungers.
Only because I had Phillies season tickets there for so many years, on and off, including '76 - '78. I was at the Burt Hooten playoff game and I thought the stadium was going to fall dow from everybody stomping their feet. It was genuinely scary, especially up in the 700 level where me and my buddies were.
Other than that, I agree with you - - good riddance to that place. There must have been 100,000 rats run out into the street when they brought that structure down. Citizens Bank Park, on the other hand, is a terrific ball park.
Amen, brother. Got to love Citizen’s Bank even if you’re not a Phillies fan . . .
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