Reflections

I am starting to become acclimated to home again. One nice side-effect of the trip back is that I become regular in my sleeping habits, at least for a few days. Those of you who know me realize that is very unusual in itself. I have been in bed at around 11:00 PM every night so far. This will probably wear off by the end of the weekend.

I have heard positive comments from many of you regarding this blog, and the one I wrote in November. I have also received the requisite ribbing from my pals back in Michigan as well. I DO realize that not everyone is interested in some of the minutiae I included in my daily posts, and that most of you have more important things to do than track my daily activities (except Bruce Keeling, who has no other life). The blog first and foremost provided a way for me to stay close to my four girls back home (my wife, Vicki, daughters Hannah & Olivia, and my sister Tina) and to provide something I can look back on later to remember all the good times. It is also for the umpires that were here (and their families). If I've also provided a window to the experience for other umpires, officials and friends, then so much the better.

In reflecting on my second trip to Taiwan in five months, I would once again like to thank Dick Runchey for providing such a tremendous opportunity. Dick is the best thing to happen to international umpiring in recent times. He put together an extremely capable group of umpires for this tournament, and has a great leadership style. He allows you to go out and do your job without interference, but is also not afraid to give you a kick in the pants if you need it. Dick's efforts will play a big part in helping get baseball back in the Olympics after 2008. I have no doubt that USA Baseball (and others) will succeed in getting Olympic Baseball back with Dick's help.

I would also like to thank Rich Fetchiet, who has been involved to varying degrees with international umpiring for years. Rich's position is now more as a consultant in this regard, but I would never have been in a position to make a trip like this one or the World Cup without his help and guidance in my amateur umpire career. Rich's willingness to accept former professional umpires into the amateur fold cannot be overstated. He is an honest, straight-forward person, and I feel fortunate that my college baseball schedule is entirely in his hands.

The guys I umpired with this trip were fabulous. Out of the international umpires (those not from Taiwan) only Carlos Rey from Puerto Rico was at the World Cup tournament here last November. I became closer to several of the Taiwanese umpires that I did not know well before, and made new friends from Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Austria, Mexico, Cuba & Puerto Rico. Thanks, guys, for making this a very special memory.

Thanks also go to those scoring the tournament, especially Moira and Jenny, who made the long bus trip to Douliou and hung out with us after the late games at the hotel. I gained a new respect for what scorers bring to our game through getting to know them. It was also great meeting the wives of Carlos and Dale (Jacky & Deb). The tournament support personnel and hotel/restaurant staff were a delight to work with as well. We could not have survived without Lidia and Lili communicating with us and keeping us in line.

It was also great to visit with some of the friends I made last November, who made an effort to remain in touch during this second trip. I was able to visit with Natalia and her friend Victoria, my good friend Johnny, and Queenie from The Frog (she of the perfect margaritas). I also met some of Queenie's friends, and corresponded with former staffer Natalie (not to be confused with Natalia) via email while in Taichung, although we were not able to work in a visit.

Most of all, I'd like to thank my family: Vicki, Hannah & Olivia, for allowing me to make a second trip away in such a short period. They were very gracious in allowing me to go. (That couldn't be because of the gifts I brought back, or the fact that they're planning a St. Joe to Orlando to Hawaii trip for later in the year, could it?)

If you are an umpire reading this post, I reiterate my closing from the prologue of the November journal. This is an umpiring experience like no other you'll ever have. Become a member of the ABUA and do whatever you have to do to put yourself in a position to work one of these events. It's a decision you will never regret.

To all -- thanks for reading and for keeping in touch via email as you did so. I will keep this blog and the photo albums online...feel free to share their contents with any and all.

-- Dave

Day 10: The Trip Home

I don't usually sleep well before an early flight, and experienced no exception to this rule before my trip home from Taiwan. I had to work to find the best places in my luggage to protect the gifts I was bringing back home, particularly because I brought no hard-sided luggage. I did manage to get about an hour of sleep before my bus call of 6:00 AM.

The day did not start out in the best possible way. It turned out that Dana and I were the only ones from the hotel scheduled for the trip to the airport at this time slot. Instead of the bus we were expecting, a large car was waiting. This did not seem to be a problem, as the car would be much more comfortable for trying to get some sleep on the two hour trip to the Taipei airport. We said our goodbyes to Lidia and Lili and headed out. Unfortunately, and to our surprise, our driver stopped at the hotel that housed the tournament officials, where one of the officials was waiting. There appeared to be no way we could fit five very large pieces of checked luggage, our carry-ons, the driver and three people in this car. It took ten minutes of arranging and re-arranging for the two bellboys to jam (and I DO mean jam) it all in. Instead of a comfortable ride with a good opportunity for sleep, Dana and I were jammed together in half of the back seat, while the tournament official sat up front in luxury, never even commenting on our plight in the back. Oh well, just another thing to add to our list of experiences.

I managed to parlay a baseball into an exit row seat and a one class upgrade upon my arrival to the airport. This made a huge difference in legroom for the long flights home. As I travelled alone, not much of interest happened to report, so I'll leave you with an accounting of my 24+ hour day in a time log. Whoever dreamed up this itinerary must have been looking for ways to maximize my frequent flyer points! Here goes (all times approximate and EST):

• 1800 - Leave for airport


• 2000 - Arrive at airport; stretch body from car ride for ½ hour


• 2300 - Flight leaves for Tokyo (2 ½ hour flight)


• 0130 - Flight arrives in Tokyo; go through Japanese security all over again


• 0400 - Flight leaves for Washington, D.C. (12 hr flight)


• 1600 - Flight arrives in Washington, D.C. (go through Customs, claim checked baggage, recheck checked baggage, go back through security)


• 1700 - Flight leaves for Detroit (1 ½ hr flight)


• 1830 - Flight arrives in Detroit; switch from United terminal to Northwest, go back through security)


• 1930 - 20 minute massage at airport to work out kinks


• 2130 - Flight leaves for Kalamazoo (1 hr flight)


• 2230 - Flight arrives in Kalamazoo


• 2300 - File missing bag report with NWA for equipment bag


• 2330 - Greet sister Tina, who graciously agreed to pick me up from the airport


• 0030 - Arrive home!

Reflections to follow...

Day 9: Korea vs Chinese Taipei

The final day of the tournament! I went out to buy some more souvenirs in the morning at the place we shopped at before. Queenie came over for lunch and wanted to eat in the downstairs restaurant. I had not been there before; in fact, did not even know it was there. The staff was not as well-versed in English, so it was a good thing I was with someone who speaks Mandarin. They brought us about 10-12 different dishes. Many of them had to be explained to me, but I tried as many as I could. One of them was chicken feet. The Taiwanese love these, but they seem like a lot of work for not much return. After lunch I returned to the room and caught up on yesterday's blog info and before I knew it it was time to get ready for the ball game.

I was assigned second base for the Korea vs Chinese Taipei game this evening. Paul Hyham (from Australia) was on the plate, Dale (Canada) was at first, and Carlos (Puerto Rico) worked third. Although both teams have already qualified for the Olympics, the game was a complete sellout (over 20,000). The combination of the facts that these two teams don't like each other, that it was a Friday night, and that closing ceremonies immediately followed the game made for quite a festive atmosphere. I had forgotten how vocal the local people are in supporting their team...you couldn't hear anything when they were cheering, which was often. The teams seemed a little nervous and made several miscues in the field. Korea got off to a 4-1 start and managed to hold on for a 4-3 win.

Paul had a very good game behind the plate. He is confident and crisp in his mechanics, and seemed in control throughout. He has been selected to represent Australia in the Olympics and I'm sure he will do an outstanding job. Dale had most of the action on the bases. Carlos and I didn't end up with a whole lot to do.

After the game, all the umpires came onto the field for the closing ceremonies. We took tons of pictures as the three top teams (Canada, Korea and Chinese Taipei) were awarded trophies for their accomplishments. At the ceremony's conclusion, the umpires all went out near the outfield wall to get a good group picture. Many fans were still in the outfield bleachers and waved and posed for pictures. Many of the guys (me included) had their cameras and broke off for some shots with their favorite guys. We returned to the locker room, where Runch complimented everyone on a job well done.

We met back one last time in the front hotel bar to have a meal and cocktail. People started filtering out a few at a time to pack. Some are leaving very early. I have a flight about 11:00 AM and have to be downstairs for a 6:00 AM departure. I'll recap the tournament once I return home and get a day or two to catch up on my sleep and collect my thoughts.

Day 8: Korea vs Canada

I finally slept in a little after staying out at The Frog with Dana and Johnny the night before. I had a late lunch with some of the guys and then came back to catch up on email/blog/etc.

Our game on Thursday was the one I was hoping for: Korea vs Canada. Korea came into the day undefeated, and Canada had only lost one game. I was scheduled to work the plate, with Carlos Rey at first, Arnold at second, and Po-Sung Huang at third. Po was the only member of the Taiwanese umpire group I had not yet worked with, and it was the first time I had an opportunity to work with Carlos as well.

There were a couple familiar faces on the Canadian team. Rob Ducey, the third base coach, was a player in the minor league system when I was still umpiring professionally. I then had him as a player for Team Canada in a Pan-American Games qualifier. A couple of years ago, he was the first base coach for Team Canada in the Olympic Qualifier in Phoenix. Finally, he now scouts at the MLB level, so I occasionally see him in Chicago. Chris Robinson, the starting catcher, played for the University of Illinois, so I had seen him there and also at the Phoenix qualifier.

The game was a pretty good one. Korea scored a run right away and Canada answered with three in the bottom of the inning. They added another run in the middle of the game, and led 4-1 going into the top of the ninth. Things got a little interesting, as Korea got to within one run but couldn't score further.

I felt like I was more liberal with the corners of the strike zone, which worked out better at this level. Chris and I had no problems; I don't think he even asked me on a single pitch. The Korea catcher and I still had some problems in the middle of the game. He has a very bad habit of holding pitches when he wants them. He did not seem to be getting the idea that the corner was actually shrinking more each time he held the ball. Finally, I had to yell at him to throw one back. This seemed to have more of an effect and we were able to continue without further problems.

I went down to dinner in the front restaurant after returning from the game. There were a number of people already there, and my friend Johnny came in shortly afterward. He brought a box of Taiwanese dessert cakes for everyone to try after dinner (very delicious) and then he and I headed for the Frog.

Queenie, or favorite bartender from last fall, was actually working late that night. I guess she just helps out every now and then, and I had spoken to her the previous night and learned she would be there. She introduced Johnny and I to a couple of her friends that were there that night. We just hung out until the bar closed at 2:00 AM. I asked all the girls a lot of questions about their country, music, culture, etc. while I downed Queenie's great margaritas. She gave me a ride back to the hotel on her scooter. A police car came into the front of the hotel right behind us; I think they may have been going to say something about me not wearing a helmet. I got in the door and upstairs and avoided a brush with the Taiwanese law and headed for bed.

Day 7: Germany vs Korea

Dick held a brief meeting in the morning, then we were on our own until game time. For the first time in the tournament, I was assigned an early game (12:30 PM). In addition, the game was at Intercontinental Stadium, so we didn't have to leave real early. Our crew for the game: Dale (Canada) on the plate, me at first, Fan-Chung Huang (Taiwan) at second and Chin-Hsiea Chang at third (Taiwan).

Korea won this game easily, 12-1 in seven innings (10 run mercy rule). It only took about 2:15 to play. There was only one interesting situation in the whole game (and again it involved me). Very early, the Germany pitcher committed a start and stop balk with a runner on second (started into the set, stopped, then stepped off). The manager came out of the dugout. Arguing balks is not permitted in the tournament, although the umpire can give an explanation. This was exactly what I said to the manager as he came out: "We're not going to have an argument about this one, but I'll be happy to give you an explanation." For some reason he took offense to this and started a whole rant about how that was an inappropriate way to approach him and that I was being defensive. I let him go on this until he got to asking about the play, which I explained to him. He was still real agitated, and said that he didn't see the balk and he didn't think anyone else did either (actually Dale had recognized the balk from behind the plate as well). I asked him why he was wound up so tight and he said that my initial statement had "really got him agitated." His reaction during our discussion was so unusual for a play like this that I started wondering afterward if perhaps he and I had a history that I wasn't aware of. In talking with Dana (from Austria and formerly the US) later, though, I found out that he is like that all the time. It reminded me very much of how some of our Mid-American Conference coaches behaved several years ago. Anyway, the rest of the game went smoothly and we were back at the hotel shortly after 3:30 PM.


I wrote up all the stuff from the day off in the afternoon and waited for Arnold to get back so we could go for some pizza. Also, Johnny, one of the tournament staffers from last November, was coming over to meet me in the evening. When I came to the lobby to meet Johnny, Arnold was walking through, so it worked out perfectly. We took a cab over to Fatty's and had a nice dinner. Arnold had been craving pizza for a few days, so he got that. I decided on some ravioli and red wine (yes, red wine all you smart guys back in Michigan -- yuk it up some more). I didn't quite recognize what Johnny ordered. It was great to see him, and it was good that he was there, because we needed a translator with our waitress. After dinner we decided to walk back to the hotel, and waited for people to start trickling in from the evening games.

After hearing the stories of the days events and taking some pictures with Lidia and Lili by the hotel Buddha, Dana, Johnny and I decided to hit the Frog Mexican restaurant. This had been our unofficial hangout in Taichung last November, but our favorite bartender, Queenie, no longer works there so it was the first time I had taken anyone in. I recognized one of the bartenders from before (J.J.). She knew Queenie and got her on the phone. I talked to her for a few minutes and I think she going to meet us there on Thursday night. Johnny treated Dana and I to some Taiwan sausage from a vendor outside the bar. It was served with little lumps of rice and was quite good. We'll see on Thursday if taking that risk was a smart move. Dana seemed to like the Frog (it's a little hole-in;the-wall place with a lively atmosphere -- perfect umpy bar). We came back about 1:30 AM, said good-bye to Johnny and called it a night.