A fellow umpire gave this to me. He got it from a newspaper. I am a volunteer umpire and have work with a lot of umpires. Wish I could have meet Donald Jenson. The next game I call I will have him in sprit for most of umpires I know don't have any kids playing the game anymore. We do it for the love of the game. We could all learn from this. We as umpires are there to give each team the chance to win or lose accounting to the rules. Next time you thank you got a raw deal remember this letter.
It's How You Play the Game That Counts
Donald Jenson was struck in the head by a thrown bat while umpiring a Little League game
in Terre Hauie, Indiana. He continued to work the game, but later that evening was placed
in a hospital by a doctor. While being kept overnight for observation, Jenson wrote the
following letter:
Dear Parent of a Little Leaguer:
I am an umpire. I don't do it for a living, but on Saturdays and Sundays for fun. I've
played the game, coached it and watched it. But somehow, nothing takes the place of
umpiring. Maybe it's because I feel that deep down I'm providing a fair chance for all the
kids to play the game without disagreements and arguments. With all the fun I've had, there
is still something that bothers me about my job.... Some of you folks don't understand why
I'm there. Some of you think I'm there to exert authority over your son or daughter. For
that reason, you often yell at me when I make a mistake, or encourage your son or daughter
to say things that hurt my Feelings.
How many of you really understand that I try to be perfect? I try not to make a mistake. I don't want your child to feel that he got a bad deal From an umpire.
Yet no matter how hard I try, I can't be perfect. I counted the number of calls I made in a six-inning game today. The total number of decisions, whether on balls and strikes or safes and outs, was 146.
I tried my best to get them all right, but I'm sure I missed some. When I figured out my percentage on paper, I could have missed eight calls today and still got about 95 percent of the calls right.... In most occupations that percentage would be considered excellent. If I were in school, that grade would receive an "A" for sure. But your demands are higher than that. Let me tell you more about my game today.
There was one real close call that ended the game.... a runner for the home team was trying to steal home on a passed ball. The catcher chased the ball down and threw to the pitcher covering the plate. The pitcher made the tag, and I called the runner out.
As I was getting my equipment to leave, I overheard one of the parents' comments: "It's too bad the kids have to lose because of rotten umpires. That was one of the lousiest calls I've ever seen." Later at the concession stand, a couple of kids were telling their friends, "Boy, the umpires were lousy today. They lost the game for us.
The purpose of Little League is to teach baseball skills to young
people. Obviously, a team that does not play well in a given game, yet is given the
opportunity to blame that loss on an umpire for one call or two, is being given the chance
to take all responsibility for the loss from its shoulders.
A parent or adult leader who permits the younger player to blame his or her failures on an
umpire, regardless of the quality of that umpire, is doing the worst kind of injustice to
that youngster.... Rather than learning responsibility, such and attitude is fostering an
improper outlook toward the ideals of the game itself. The irresponsibility is bound to
carry over to future years.
As I sit here writing this letter, I am no longer as upset as I was this afternoon. I
wanted to quit umpiring, but fortunately, my wife reminded me of another situation that
occurred last week. I was behind the plate, umpiring for a pitcher when he pantomimed his
displeasure at any call on a borderline pitch that was not in his ream's favor. One could
sense that he wanted the crowd to realize that he was a fine, talented pitcher who was
doing his best to get along, and that I was a hard-hearted villain who was working against
him. The kid continued in this vein for two innings.... while the same time yelling at his
own players who dared to make a mistake. For two innings. the manager watched this. When
the kid returned to the dugout to bat in the top of the third inning, the manager called
him aside. In a loud enough voice that I was able to overhear, the lecture went like this:
"Listen, Son, it's time you made a decision. You can be an umpire, or an actor, or a
pitcher, but you can only be one at a time when you're playing for me. Right now it is
your job to pitch, and you are basically doing a lousy job. Leave the acting to the
actors, the umpiring to the umpires, or you won't do any pitching here. Now what is it
going to be?"
Needless to say, the kid chose the pitching route and went on to win the
game. When the game was over, the kid fowled me to my car. Fighting his hardest to keep
back his tears, he apologized for his actions and thanked me for umpiring his game. He
said he had learned a lesson that he would never forget. I can't help but wonder.,, how
many fine young men are missing their chance to developing into outstanding ball players
because their parents encourage them to spend their time umpiring, rather than working
harder to play the game the way it should be played.
The following morning, Donald Jenson died of a brain concussion.