World Series Journey Begins

In December, 2016, i received an invitation to umpire at the 2017 Junior League Baseball World Series. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I was speechless, and could not really believe the letter that I was reading. I had to read it 2 or 3 times before it sunk in - I was going to the World Series. I have been a Little League umpire since 1995, and while I have aspired to this honor, I can't say that I expected it. This is the dream that many Little League umpires dreamed about, and I am honored to be one of 13 chosen worldwide to participate in this year's series.

I will chronicle my experiences on these pages, and hope to represent what it is like to be a Little League World Series umpire.

My journey to Taylor, MI (home of the Junior World Series) started shortly after i received the letter from Little League International inviting me to be a member of the 2017 crew. My wife, Marilyn, and I talked about what it would take for me to be my best. It meant doing more games than I might normally do in a season. It meant putting some of our plans on hold, while I honed my skills and practiced, practiced, practiced. Marilyn has been incredibly supportive of me for the entire spring and summer as I spent an increasing amount of time on the field. My business partner, Mark, has also supported me - accepting the fact that i am taking off early more often, and will be taking some extra personal days as the tournament gets closer.

The last 3 weeks have been all about the early stages of the Little League 'tournament season'. For those reading this who are not familiar with the LL tournaments - you can get the details below if you are interested.

I was honored to be on the plate for the District 12 championship game on July 5, and then again for the Section 5 Championship game on July 14.

I have a great team of supporters in District 12, where I lived for many years. The District Administrator - Jenice Condie - has been a champion of mine since we first met as volunteers in Willow Glen back in the 1990's. The co-umpires in chief - Dan Campagnolo and Larry Gomez - have likewise helped me over the years become a better umpire, and have consistently nominated me year in and year out for this position. Without the support of these folks, and many more friends in D12 over the years (Ralph, Richard, Raymy, et al) I would not be here.

Since I moved to the Sierra Foothills, I have also been lucky to get the support of the crew from District 54 as well. My fellow World Series ump, Kevin Swinhart, and I did Regionals together in 2009, and now we hook up again for the Series. Others from D54 (Jeffrey, Glenn, Bob, Dave, et al) have also helped me become a more complete umpire and I appreciate all of their support as well.

Next up for me is the Nor Cal tournament which starts on Wed, July 19. For those of you who have played or volunteered at Little League know that each game has its own unique twists and turns, crazy plays, and inspiring moments. I will endeavor to share in the coming days, those little things that make Little League such a great organization to be part of.



For those reading this who are not familiar with the LL tournaments and want to know the details, here goes: there are several levels that the teams have to go through in order to make it to the World Series. The first tournaments are District level. This is where each league puts forth their best players - their All Stars. Each District is made up of around 8-12 leagues, so in order to win the District Tournament (usually double elimination), teams need to win 4 or 5 games in a 10 day period. District tournaments for Juniors finished up about July 5-7.

After District, the winning teams from each District move on to the Section Championships. There are 5 or 6 Districts represented in each Section. Again, double elimination, and the champion needs to win 3 or 4 games in a week long tournament. Section Championships in CA ended this weekend (Jul 14-15).

Section Champs go on to participate in the State tournaments. In California, because there are so many Districts, the state tournament is split into Nor Cal and So Cal. The Nor Cal tournament begins on July 19, and goes until July 27. From Nor Cal, the winner goes to Western Region, which runs from July 31 to Aug 7. From there, the winner goes to the World Series in Taylor, MI starting on August 13.

As an umpire, I have, or will, work these tournaments through the Nor Cal level. A separate team of umps will work Regional. Since my District - CA D12 - is hosting the Junior tournaments this year - from Section through Regional - I am able to work several games at each level.