Monday, April 19, 2010

The Bucket List/Runs Rule!


It was sunny and cool for most of the weekend...cool meaning temps in the mid 50s, just a tad lower than normal...but right in the range we can expect this time of year. It was windy but dry on Saturday when Sam and I did our first game of the year together...Sam did the plate, and I stood out in the wind(right in the face) on the bases...a pretty non-eventful game, with homestanding Lincolnview winning in routine fashion by a 14-5 tally over Waynesfield-Goshen. This got me to thinking just how many runners I had seen cross the plate in the 9 days and 10 games that I had umpired since the previous Friday...Drum Roll Please:

188 Runs!!!!

Now, we're not talking Slow Pitch Softball, Little League Baseball, or Tee Ball, we are talking 18.8 runs per game for High School Varsity Baseball(with the exception of 3 games in the JV ranks from the previous Saturday's Triple Header)...I'm not sure I have seen that kind of scoring in the last decade or so since I re-entered the umpiring ranks. Winds blowing out, dry weather causing pitching staffs to be a little worn out may have contributed to the high scores...but regardless, it made for long games and worn out baseballs....

Tonight Garry and I head for Lima Central Catholic...this will be my 3rd visit there this season with 1 more to go...and it's Garry's turn at the dish(home plate), when we work again this Friday in a MAC League game at Marion Local, I will go behind the plate.....Varsity game at Van Wert, a rare Jr High game(first one in 8 seasons and only one that I scheduled this season) at Lima Perry, and my longest trip of the year to Hilltop High School at West Unity, Ohio(some 75 miles north) will fill out the middle of my baseball work week.

The Bucket List_____

A term used for folks reaching towards the end of life, making a list of things they would like to do or accomplish before they "check out", assume room temperature, croak, etc...A couple of years ago, there was a movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman by the same name....2 old farts running around trying to see what they could accomplish before time ran out.

Now, I'm 61 and have no issues that say I'm checking out anytime soon...but hey, you never know? Anyway on one of the websites I frequent on occasion the Bucket List thing came up with some younger folks giving their opinions what they would like to do before the Grim Reaper came calling....most of the things were of a simple nature...as the senior member of this 40 or so person website, I listed mine...some serious, some not, and some just plain BS....here is what I listed that I wanted to see happen before "He" comes a calling:

(1) Live long enough to see Obama and family evicted from our White House....the SOB needs to know, he and Queen Michelle are only there temporarily...we Americans own the place...so when we throw your sorry ass out, get out, and stay out!

(2) Outlive Bill Clinton....has anybody seen that Hillbilly of late? He looks like he has AIDS....having said that I hope he lives until he's 95....

(3) See Noker(one of the younger posters, and a Obama loving far left loon, but a good kid) realize that Liberals are the scum of the earth...and see him driving a new Toyota Pick Up Truck with a Palin For President 2016 Bumper Sticker on it....(Noker loves the UAW and American Made Cars, can't stand Sarah).

(4) See Duke win another NCAA Basketball Championship, just to piss off the Duke haters...

(5) Find the perfect beer.....Guinness Double Stout and Sam Adams Winter Larger are as close as it comes.....I gotta believe there is even something better out there.

(6) Find the perfect hand rolled Cigar....Arturo Fuente Don Carlos #2 Torpedoes are great, but at $11 a smoke, I hope to find something more in my cash out range.

(7) See the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Flyers, and Cincinnati Bengals, win another(or in the Bengals case, a first) World Championship....only because I figure that will take at least 40 years, and that will make me 101....

Sounds like a plan!

Back Later >>>>>

The Bucket List, some of the items, on mine!



4 comments:

Gene Bach said...

That's a heck of a lot of runs for varsity baseball. Did the real pitchers all die?

The bucket list:
#1: When the get the boot I want it videoed so I can hit play, rewind, play, rewind, etc...

#2: I was thinking the same thing. He looks like a walking corpse. Maybe his wife keeps sucking the life out of him so she doesn't look more like the hag she really is?

One of the things on my list is to live long enough to see my Cubs win the series, which means I'm gonna live forever.

PRH said...

My oldest son Sam(Ohio State older studend at 28, and alxo a long time umpire, official, is a big time Cubs fan....you guys have it worse than anybody in sports...and I'm not sure this is the year either.

Runs, Runs, only 13 last night Gene...8-5 and this was a battle for first. I think with the lack of rain outs, and the strong winds, the pitchers are getting tired...and the tournaments are still 3 weeks away. Could be ugly!

Gene Bach said...

Dang, you'd think there would be enough pitching to go around, nut then perhaps it's just spread too thin. The last year I was in high school I pitched 112 innings...started 15 games, finished 15 games, plus had some relief innings. At the end of the season I was getting tired, but still going strong. I might just have been a freak though.

FHB said...

Good list.

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