Heroes Tournament: a Return to Umpiring | Grass Valley Slow-pitch Softball

"Hey Gerry, Do You Want To Umpire?"

I see Dave Shelton once in a while at the Center Stage Dance Studio on 121 Joerschke Drive in Grass Valley, California where I attend a full-body intense workout session for an hour from 5:30 - 6:30 Mon, Wed, and Thu. He is either helping keep the place clean or picking up one of his daughters who dances there.

It was either a Mon, Wed, or Thu, not sure what month it was possibly July or early August, Dave says hi and continues walking then stops and asks me "Hey Gerry, Do You Want To Umpire?" I was ready to say no thinking he was asking me for WNCSSA and I am not ready to commit my valuable time to dealing with them. I love and miss Steve Loomis and adore Ronnie, but I am not a fan of the board and they way the association is operated — read previous blog posts for a little bit of my history and experience with WNCSSA — and the players, but I have no issues with the players. They were the reason I showed up every night to umpire.

Anyway, Dave continues, "We are having a Heroes Tournament in October and I want some people to umpire that are not playing in it. That can get a bit troublesome and questionable." Well of course I said yes. I like Dave. Great guy. I did not know what I was getting into. It has been a few years since I was behind the plate, but considering I started umpiring at age 10 in Illinois then Southern California, and a huge, huge fan of baseball playing since I was 8 years old, I figured it would come back to me.

I wonder if Dave forgot about me?

Thursday, October 3th, something reminded me that I agreed to umpire in October. I did not remember the day or where Dave said. I misplaced his information and he has not contacted me. I wonder if Dave forgot about me?

Saturday: October 5th, 10:06 PM. I get a text message asking: Hey here is the bracket for next weekend are you still available?

I am guessing it is Dave. Looking at the bracket structure I was stunned at first by the starting times and the round-robin play before the final bracket playoff, but then I soaked it in and thought that it looked fairly easy and fun. so I replied with "yes."

It is about the players and the purpose of the tournament

I am looking forward to get back on the field and behind the plate, but most importantly to see new players and ones I have not seen in a while. I enjoy watching the people have fun on the ball field and hopefully I can be apart of that without being a distraction. The umpire is not the center of the game, and a good umpire is respected and in the background. Come watch a few games Saturday, October 12, 2024 and Western Gateway Park.