Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio?

Some say Pete quit and is livin' in Nepal, fighting for religious freedom. . .
Some say Pete is serving time after getting nabbed with a half pound of coke and two underage midgets at a Motel 6 outsida Bakersfield. . .
Some say Pete got smacked with a foul tip (foul ball!) and now wanders these United States one step ahead of the terrible green monster within him. . .

The truth is that I moved to Tennessee, met the worst assigner ever, got suspended for a righteous ejection, and quit umpiring. Last season was a dream for me as an umpire. I exceeded all of my goals, including a prestigious college World Series assignment (no, not D1, silly!). I was a member of a great college umpire group, all of my assigners were amazing, and we lived all in peace and umpire excellence - just read the blog!

Last June I moved to Tennessee and started umpiring from the bottom (as is proper and customary). Unfortunately, I nearly immediately tossed the organizer/ rat coach of a summer league and lost my games. The assigner has no backbone. More unfortunately for poor Pete, he is a bigwig in the area, especially for college ball, so I had to decide my course of action. I decided to walk away. I did not go to any camps or clinics, I did not attend the NCAA meeting, I did not register for high school, I quit blogging. . .

Know what? The world didn't end. 

I spent more time with my family. I went on vacation. As I write this I am at the pool instead of a ball field. I am also a new volunteer head coach for my 9 year old daughter's softball team. I intend to blog for her team and about my experiences.

I will keep Midwest Ump online, but the comments are disabled. My experience umpiring was a blast, and I met some really outstanding people in the Midwest and online, notably 

Warren from Umpire-Empire
Jim from Ump Attire
Brett from St. Louis
Don from Peoria
Mark from Springfield, IL
Bud and Jason from Springfield, Mo
Keith, Don, Justin, Ramon, Kerry, Johnny from central Mo
Bud and Pete, from IL
Ken from St. Louis

The love and generosity these men give to their fellow umpires and to the sport is amazing! If you find brothers like these, "grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel." Turns out, not all umpires are brothers. I bid you adieu and

Don't suck!
Pete