UMPbelievable

I'm a little league umpire two nights a week. Some would call me a masochist, and there are days I agree. Rick Reilly explains it best in a recent piece for ESPN.

In it, he talks about two Georgia high school baseball players (a pitcher and a catcher) who conspired to bean an ump because they didn't like his strike zone. The pitcher threw a fastball that went as straight as an Amish minister. But there was one problem: the catcher dind't catch the ball and it hit the ump square in the face mask. When state officials saw the tape (viewed here on YouTube), they immediately gave the team a severe warning and fined the school $1,000. The catcher who orchestrated the beaning lost his spot as a walk-on at Gordon College. "I was shocked," said Gordon coach Travis McClanahan. "I've never seen that happen. I've never heard of a player even suggesting doing that."

But while the players have already received severe reprimands, Reilly thinks there's still one more thing the players should do (and this is where he captures the ugly side of umpiring):

"I hope . . . the players have to pay in a way they'll never forget: by being forced to umpire Little League games. They'll be amazed how vile parental vocabulary can be, how far little brothers can spit and how many pitched balls wind up hitting them in the thorax."

But let's not stop there, Rick. I think our jails would be less crowded if teens caught for stealing, under age smoking/drinking, or vandalism had to serve their sentences behind the plate, instead of behind bars. Heck, they might end up begging for the slammer.