Donald Jenson was struck in the head by a thrown bat while umpiring a

Little League game in Terre Haute, Indiana. He continued to work the

game, but later that evening was placed in a hospital for observation by

a doctor. While there, Jenson wrote the following letter. 

 

Dear Little League Parent: 

 

I am an umpire. I don't do it for a living, but on Saturdays and

Sundays for fun. I 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 or strikes or safes or 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. 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 it 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 lose 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 young 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 an attitude fosters an improper outlook

towards the ideals of the game itself. The irresponsibility is bound to

carry over to future years. 

 

As I sit her 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 who pantomimed his displeasure at any

call or borderline pitch that wasn't in his team's favor. One could

sense that he wanted the crowd to realize that he was a fine, talented

player who was doing his best to get along and that I was the villain

working against him. 

 

The kid proceeded in this vein for two innings, while at the same

time also yelling at his own players who dared to make a mistake. For

two innings the Manager watched this and when the boy returned to the

dugout to bat in the top of the third, 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 be only one at a time

when you are playing for me. Right now it's your job to pitch and you

are basically doing a lousy job. Leave the acting to the actors and the

umpiring to the umpires. Now what's it going to be?" 

 

The kid chose the pitching route and went on to win the game. When

the game was over, the kid followed me to my car. Fighting his hardest

to keep back the 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 not help but wonder; how many fine young men are missing their

chance to develop into outstanding ballplayers because their parents

encourage them to spend time umpiring, rather than working harder to

play the game as it should be played. 

 

The following morning, Donald Jenson died of a brain concussion ....

So, who are those guys/gals and why do they seem so mean to my son/daughter? They DQ’d (disqualified) him/her for something and he/she was just doing his/her best!

Well, meet officials or referees are volunteers, who give up their free time to help run a swim meet. To help kids learn, they must point out mistakes. Read on - a bit long, but certainly worth it for the perspective it provides.