Thanks for sharing my experiences at the Southeastern Regional Tournament in Warner Robins, Georgia.  Wow, what a long drive down.  I'm glad I made it a two day trip, side tracking by about 30 miles to see my sister near Wake Forest.  Total distance was 750 miles.

Our first meeting was on Thursday afternoon with our Southeastern Region Umpire Staff member, Marshall Casey, who had also attended the "refresher clinic" that I attended here the first week of June.  Marshall is also our evaluator for the Tournament.  A highlight of the meeting was receiving our shirts.  When I say shirts, we had been advised that we would receive one shirt and that we could bring additional shirts of the same design, only with no other patches, numbers than the Little League Umpire patch.  Apparently, Honig's supplied the initial shirt with a "Southern" Region logo instead of Southeastern, so they supplied a second shirt.  That second shirt has come in real handy the pool play days, especially if you had a plate in one of the two.

Friday began pool play.  The day started early for the first crew due to added responsibilities.  Even though the first game started at 10 AM, there was an Opening Day parade into the stadium.  We arrived at 7:30.  Everything that we as Umpires would need during the games was our responsibility.  Supplies of water put in the bullpens for the field Umpires was crucial, as they are more or less isolated during the game.  After the parade, where all the players and Umpires were introduced by Jen Colvin, our Regional Director, who had some very kind comments about us, stressing how long some of us had been Umpiring and volunteering to finally reach the Tournament.  Next, Steven Keener, the CEO of Little League Baseball came on and just before he was supposed to throw out the first pitch, again stopped and made special recognition of the eight of us.  Wow.  He deferred the first pitch to a long time volunteer, who not only was a World Series Umpire, but began volunteering at the Southern Region Tournaments, for many years in Gulfport, Florida taking care of the Umpires.  More about Joe when I talk about my plate game.

My first game was at 10 AM at 1B.  Cloudy and not really that hot yet, with an unheard of breeze.  Dan Collins, from South Carolina, who is only 27 years old, had the plate.  Larry Clutter, from WV, had 3B, and Buddy Peyton, from GA, had 2B.  Nothing of real importance happened in the game.  The real wakeup came from the first batter of the game.  After lining a foul ball down the left field line that would have easily been a home run if fair, the very next swing presented me with a liner right over my head down the first base line.  I barely had time to pivot, pick up the ball, and make the foul call.  Talk about things happening fast.   

My next game, I had the plate for the 4 PM game.  Forget the cloudy, not so hot yet day of the morning.  It was hot, but not as hot as my first plate at 10 AM in the State Tournament.  I thought my game was pretty good, but I made a couple of mistakes I shouldn't have made.  Keep in mind the simple things can get you gigged on your eval.  Left hand batter offered at a pitch, but when I gave the mechanic that he went, I pointed at the batter with my left hand instead of my right.  Later, on a strike 2 pitch, I failed to call a ball that actually nicked the bat as a foul tip.  As Darren was the first to point out, my game lasted 3 hours.  (I think he had to be thinking it was my lack of game control, a weakness of mine which he has tried to help me with.)  The third inning took about an hour alone, I believe.

Now about Joe.  Joe says he has never had a Plate Umpire drop during a game.  I'm surprised it is not for another reason.  Here's the routine.  At the end of each half inning, you go over to Joe at the opening into the scoring area, if you want to call it that.  You hand him your mask and he hands you water.  While you drink water, he dries your mask for you.  One of the Umpires in between games gives you a towel kept in ice water and then you drink some more water.  Joe gives you a dry towel and you drink some more water.  He gives you more baseballs if you need them and you drink some more water.  You see the routine by now.  AND, if you have not consumed enough water, Joe will not give you your mask back until you do.  Marshall forewarned us about Joe.  Apparently, other Umpires have tested Joe, and Joe wins every time.  I didn't test Joe, but I did have to ask him to take the water out of the ice, because it went down a little better when not so cold.

Saturday was the second day of pool play.  I had 3B at 1 PM, and 2B at 7 PM.  Nothing much to comment on except that our crew remained the same.  Now all 8 Umpires would have had a plate by the end of the day.

I was fortunate to have Dan on my crew, because other Umpires were pointed out for not doing what I did which I'm sure is already on You Tube.  Not only YMCA, but I/we did the Macarena.  For the latter, the crowd loved it, a great ovation ensued.  For whatever I looked like, that's all I needed to hear.  So, if I'm lucky enough to be in a semi-final or final game that is televised and you see me, you can share your comments with me later.

Sunday gives us a break from Tournament play and a chance for us to sleep in.  All of the players and Umpires are housed at the same hotel.  Surprisingly, I've not heard a peep out of all the 11-12 year olds that you think you would in this environment.  I think they must be tired from the travel except for the team from Georgia, which is from right here in Warner Robins, who is now 2-0.  If Warner Robins makes it to the Championship game, they are predicting about 10,000 as an attendance.  Larry, the WV Umpire, says he has never seen 10,000 people.  I think Larry said he lives 5 miles from his closest neighbor.  He also is suffering the most from the heat difference compared to his home.

At 1 PM today, Sunday, we go to the stadium and umpire a Challenger game, the first one held here at the complex.  I've always shied away from the opportunity to do a Challenger game.  I hear it can be pretty tough.  I'm looking forward to it.

Then at 4 PM, we go over to the Air Museum at Robins Air Force Base for a banquet.  I'm hoping to tour it on Thursday, another off day for the Tournament.

The off day today was needed by all of us.  We've been at the stadium about 14 hours a day for the past 2 days.  Lunch was provided at the Admin building, but I usually don't like to eat around game times.  I'm thankful there is an Outback next door to the hotel.  They have a great chicken quesadilla.

In proof reading this, I noticed that I've mentioned very little about the game itself but about everything else around the game.  I believe that's what it is all about if you think about it.

Monday will be another pool play day, so an update may not be made until Tuesday.