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.