The Pros from Dover

Dust bowl infields, 20” high mounds, quarter mile hikes from parking lot to field (with no place to change), no baseballs, no breaks, lousy game fees, 18 year old girl site administrators. . . but hey, we’re the Pros from Dover! Situation Under Control!

WELCOME TO THE MISSOURI SHOW ME STATE GAMES!!!

This past weekend I hosted a special guest to mid-Missouri: MajorDave from Kentucky. Many of you know MajorDave from the umpire boards where he is a regular contributor and self-professed gear junky. I hooked MajorDave up with a weekend of officiating the 18 and over division of the Missouri Show Me State Games while he was visiting the area on business.

Honestly, we had a great time. The weather was absolutely fantastic and all of the adult teams played hard and conducted themselves exemplary. Of course, who could complain about the Pros from Dover? We had five two hour games on Saturday and four on Sunday (no breaks). Unfortunately, Columbia’s famous Shakespeare’s Pizza was closed by the time we finished on Saturday, so I was unable to treat the Major to the best pizza in the State. Maybe some other time.

While the Pros From Dover were cruising on their field, the wheels were falling off the SMSG wagon. For several games in the 18+ division there were NO UMPIRES and we heard many complaints about that situation. Some poor high school kid with no umpiring experience was put behind the plate. Then on Sunday morning we met a Missouri umpire who drove to Columbia from several hours away only to find out there wasn’t a game for him. This is not the organization adult players with professional or major college experience expect from a state-wide tournament. Frankly, the organization was an embarrassment to me personally as I was hosting an out-of-state umpire and trying to positively represent my area. On the other hand, kudos to the players and fans that made the weekend so great!

And thanks to MajorDave for being a great partner and consummate professional.