Well, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind. Funny, because living in Washington, I really should have.
Wednesday was supposed to be the opening day of tour number one – around the state. I was all set to cruise down to Centralia – about a two and a half hour drive – and get game number one in the books. Except it rained the whole way down. One of those grey, driving, relentless Washington rains that sucks the soul right out of you. I tried cranking up some music to lift my spirits, but in the end I knew it was a foregone conclusion. We were rained out.
On top of it all, I was going to meet with an old co-worker from Zillow for lunch, so all was not lost on this trip. Except that he got sick and was unable to attend. And wasn’t able to let me know. So after about a half hour of waiting, it appeared to be a wasted trip. That was until Jan and Tony showed up.
So if you’re not familiar with all of this, let me introduce myself. I’ve been involved with high school baseball at the state level for over a quarter century, and I know pretty much everyone in the state. I’ve been hinting at this project for several years now, but between COVID, job change, and my wife ending our marriage, there were numerous delays. This is, at last, the year it is happening. In order to do this, however, I have had to contact all of the associations around the state to ask to be put on their roster. I communicated the dates I will be in each area, and they are dutifully assigning my games. The cooperation has been incredible as I have had much support from folks along the way. Few, however, have been more supportive than Jan Sorenson.
I’ve known Jan since the early 2000s, when I started working at the state high school activities association office. Her husband was a local high school athletic director who passed unexpectedly at a young age, so she somehow ended up assigning local baseball and softball umpires. I became friends with her and many of the folks in that area, and occasionally dropped down to help with training. Jan and I hadn’t had much contact over the years but we always had a great working relationship. So when my schedule came out, it didn’t surprise me that Jan chose to have me work her group first.
When Jan called with the news of the rainout, I could tell she was as disappointed as I was. I told her of my plans to have lunch with my friend and invited her to drop by when we finished up. Since he never showed, I was eager to at least be able to visit with her. She indicated that she would be coming and bringing Tony, a local umpire I had worked with once or twice years before. Tony was eager to visit with me, and I remembered him. It didn’t take long for me to remember my favorite part of umpiring – as much as I enjoy what happens on the field, it’s the gathering around and sharing tales, laughing and ribbing each other that means the most. My mood lifted appreciably, and I suddenly didn’t mind the rain outdoors.
Jan handed me a small bag with a gift. It was an umpires hat with the Twin Cities Association logo on it. She said that this was to be my “official” hat for the remainder of the tour. I smiled and told her I might just have to make it that after all. We finished our pizza and parted ways. As I made the trek back home, I looked at the side of the hat and saw it had my initials embroidered into it.
Yep, I guess this is going to be my cap after all. We will see how things proceed. I’m rescheduled for Friday, but the weather isn’t looking promising.
