Never, in my life have I had to change into an umpire uniform into street clothes, and then back to an umpire uniform. We must have changed six times in a matter of two hours on Wednesday! We had to go to the field at 10am on Wednesday because they had to film video introductions which I believe will be up on the series website soon. Then we got changed out and took a trip to Honigs to pick up some umpire supplies. I picked up two US Flag patches (because my extra shirts did not have them on there), another black undershirt and the new Honigs compression pants. Walk out of there $65 lighter. Got back to the complex at 2pm, then had to get dressed in uniforms again for opening ceremonies. Opening ceremonies was very short, sweet and to the point. They introduced the teams, the umpires, and the owner of the dairy. Sang the National Anthem and then had the international teams sing their countries anthems.
Linda Newton and I with mascot 'Rose' during the opening ceremonies.
As soon as the ceremonies was completed we had to rush to the other side of the complex to the ice cream room to serve ice cream to the teams. Yes, you heard me correctly, WE serve the teams. We had to throw on an extra shirt (they found one for me that fit) and dig into ice cream. After serving the teams we got to sit down and enjoy some ourselves. Got back to the tents and got dressed (again!) and left for the hotel.
View of the Portland Skyline from the Waterfront.
Portland Courthouse and Community Courtyard. Very nice!
Early yesterday I decided to go out and walk Portland. It's actually a very nice city, but I wouldn't want to live here. I walked down to the Waterfront and enjoyed the little park they had there. There was a doughnut place everyone kept talking about so I decided to find it. It's called VooDoo Doughnut, and it sits in a little corner shop.
"The Magic is in the Hole" & "Good Things Come in Pink Boxes"
The line was out the door and wrapped around. It was like waiting in line for a popular ride at Disneyland! I hopped in line and waited about 40 minutes before I finally got to order. I got the Portland Creamer (cream filled doughnut) and the Old Dirty Bastard, which was a chocolate covered doughnut with Oreo cookies on top with peanut butter drizzled on top. Best doughnut EVER!
ODB is alive and well!
After the doughnut shop I walked more around Downtown Portland and just took some photos. They have a trolley system and I decided to take that back near the hotel. Met a lady from Connecticut who had just taken a walking tour of Portland so I talked with her for a few minutes. Needless to say, public transportation is a translated word for 'bathroom', because that is what it smelled like.
Crew for Game #2
Yesterday we started games. My crew had Game #2 of the tournament between the Host team, Oregon District 4 and the Southeast team from South Carolina. The game before us took forever to complete and our game started about 25 minutes late. Unfortunately it ended by mercy rule with Southeast winning and I took a shot to the crotch... yes, that's right, a shot to the crotch. Let me explain:
I was at third base. Fair/Foul responsibility is mine from the bag to the fence. On a bounding ball, I stay on the line and judge Fair/Foul. Batter hits the ball down the line, and I can see that it is going to be close. About the time it reaches the bag the right fielder darts in front of me and I lose the ball. I take a step in foul territory and see that it goes foul. I call foul right about the time the 3rd baseman, shortstop and right fielder all miss the ball. It catches me about 2 inches from my Mike and Ikes, and today I'm starting to develop a nice bruise. Needless to say, I didn't bail on my Fair/Foul responsibilities and got the call right.
Getting into position for a possible play at 3rd.
I came back after the game to the hotel and did some laundry. They provide laundry service to us, but I don't trust others with my clothes. I don't want to have to worry about having a shirt come back smaller than what I gave them. As I walked into the wash area in the hotel one of the Southeast parents looks up and says, "You were that guy that got hit by that foul ball!" That's right sir, it was a foul ball because I didn't bail and got the call right.
I stayed in last night and got laundry done and ready to go for today. I have two games today: one at 2pm and the other at 530pm. I'll be at 2nd base for the 2pm game and 1st base for the 530pm game.
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