Blog Posting #38, March 7, 2009

Little League; Big Lesson
Category: Teaching

It was an unusually hot summer day in the Seattle area. The Little League game was already one hour along and it was still in the second inning. Parents and friends knew this was going to be a marathon; unskilled pitching resulted in walk after walk. But the fans fanned and the players played and the Ump, well I guess he umped. He had to be the one suffering most from the heat, dressed in black and bloated with padding. But he called it as he saw it, even though the bases always seemed to be loaded.

Compounding the situation, one of the fathers was loud and disorderly. Each time the umpire made a call in favor of his son’s team, he confirmed it. But every time a call was made the other way, he bombarded the umpire with familiar contemptible clichés such as, “Hey Ump: Do you need another pair of glasses?” and “I’ve got a rulebook for you—in Braille.”

The umpire bit his tongue for a little over three innings. Finally, he stood straight up, waved his arms, and said, “Time Out!” There was dead silence and, regardless of the heat, every player froze. The umpire took off his mask and walked soberly toward the opening in the chain-link fence that led to the bleachers. Jaws dropped and all eyes followed him as he began to ascend the weather-worn, wooden stands. The fans parted like the Red Sea leaving the father completely alone. The black-dressed Michelin Man casually seated himself next to the angry father and, for a long moment, said nothing. He only stared at the field. 

Then he yelled, “Play ball!”
“What are you doing?” the father asked him.
“Well,” replied the umpire, “Apparently you think the game can be seen much better from here so I thought, ‘Maybe he’s right. In all fairness to the boys, perhaps I should call the game from the stands.’”

Instantly, levity ruled and everyone chuckled. Even the father had to laugh at himself as the two men respectfully shook hands. The game still lasted so long the grass needed mowing again, but somehow from that point on, no one minded.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the last time I checked, one of the main reasons we have youth sports is to use training and competition to help teach the fundamentals of a successful adult life. And, the last time I checked, there is no better teacher, negative or positive, than adult modeling.

No written word, no spoken plea
Can teach our youth what they should be,
Nor all the books on all the shelves;
It’s what the teachers are themselves.
Anonymous

Why did the umpire choose to resolve the issue the way he did? He easily could have reciprocated with an equal doze of verbal venom. But he saw the game from a completely “different perspective” than the father. I’m not referring to the geographical perspective. While the narrow-minded father was watching a game that he desperately wanted his son’s team to win, the umpire saw the game as an opportunity for taking young men one step further toward successful adulthood. He believed adult behavior played a major role in that process and was convinced, two adults yelling at each other would certainly not help the boys. Because of his perspective, the umpire had no choice but to resolve the issue in the civil way he did.

On a hot, summer day at a little baseball park in Seattle, the big world stopped for a moment as a very wise umpire moved himself from home plate to the stands so a father could move to a broader perspective. Because of what they witnessed, I’m guessing those boys were “impressed.” It may have been Little League, but it was a Big Lesson.