{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 63: Podcast creator Jason Becker will change your mind about umpires","description":"Let\u2019s meet the baseball nut who sticks up for the guys behind the plate that every baseball fan loves to hate.  Yes, we\u2019re talking about umpires.  In this episode of the Check It Out! podcast, host Ken Harvey talks to his friend Jason Becker, creator of the Umpire Inspire podcast.  \u201cIn my book, he\u2019s a genius, and he\u2019s producing a fascinating podcast for the officials behind America\u2019s favorite round-ball sport. That\u2019s baseball, and those are umpires,\u201d Harvey said in introducing Becker. \u201cFans and players often disagree with what the umpire says and what the umpire does, which can make it a lonely job even when there are two of them on the field.\u201d  Becker humanizes umpires. He explains why they love what they do, even when they don\u2019t get paid to call balls and strikes and outs. They\u2019re inspired to do it for the love of the game.   Becker\u2019s podcast invites listeners to come in and hear a captivating conversation with an enthusiastic umpire who may be from anywhere on the planet.  \u201cBaseball isn\u2019t just American, it\u2019s global, and these umpires consider their jobs to be a lot more than just calling balls and strikes,\u201d Harvey said.  Becker said baseball has been his passion \u201cfor practically my entire life.\u201d He started playing when he was 5 and continues to play today in a senior adult league.  \u201cI've played since I was a kid, like a lot of people. Coached my boy all the way through Little League, and my girls for a couple years while they were playing,\u201d he said.  About eight years ago, he grabbed a mask and tried umpiring.  \u201cIt was a need that I felt I could do some good with in our local Little League here in Mukilteo, and it turned out to be a really great fit,\u201d Becker said. \u201cBeing out on a baseball field makes more sense to me than being just about anywhere else, so I've really enjoyed umpiring.\u201d  He takes it seriously. He umpires Little League baseball and softball around Washington and umpires high school baseball in Snohomish County.   It took Becker a couple of years of umpiring before he could see the connection between his love for umpiring and his love for fascinating podcasts.  \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of folks out there for whom umpiring means an awful lot, and they put a lot of their heart and their time into it, and it\u2019s often not paid. Little League is an all-volunteer organization, for instance,\u201d Becker said. \u201cI found that umpires were generally just a really great group of people to hang around with because of their giving spirit, their commitment to public service... how umpiring is a public service for many of the friends that I have in the umpiring community.\u201d  That\u2019s when the \u201ctwo worlds\u201d came together in Becker\u2019s mind, and the idea of the Umpire Inspire podcast was born.  In late 2019, he decided it was time to make it happen.  \u201cNow\u2019s the time,\u201d Becker said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to take a swing. Hopefully, I\u2019ll connect. Maybe I\u2019ll miss, but it\u2019s going to be an interesting journey, and it has definitely been such a joy and such a privilege, as I have completed this first go-around, and I\u2019m just on the doorstep of getting my own season two underway, so it\u2019s been great.\u201d  The first episode of Umpire Inspire debuted on March 17, 2020, with minor league umpire Bobby Tassone, who works the Carolina League. Interviews with seven more umpires followed.  Season 2 started on Aug. 11. Among Becker\u2019s interviews so far are umpires who work in Venezuela and the Czech Republic, and two women who call the game.  Some are professionals. Some are amateurs. They come in all shapes and sizes and range in age from 16 to 76. All have interesting stories to share.  \u201cYou\u2019ve had an opportunity to have some conversations with some remarkable guests already,\u201d Harvey said.   Harvey asked Becker when he, as a young player, first became aware of an umpire on the field.  \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody has asked me that question before,\u201d Becker said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure I do remember, if I\u2019m being honest. As a kid, you\u2019re out there, you\u2019re doing what you do with your buddies, and you\u2019re playing the game and you\u2019re having fun. I can\u2019t recall a time where I do remember the umpire, but it does put a point on what the best volunteer umpires, or paid umpires... one of their best characteristics is they\u2019re doing it for the game.\u201d  Umpires don\u2019t care who wins or loses the game, Becker explained.   \u201cWe are what we call the third team on the field,\u201d he said. \u201cIn every baseball and softball game, there are three teams: there\u2019s the home team, there\u2019s the away team, and there\u2019s the third team, the umpires, who, just like the players, are out there giving their best effort and trying to make every call correct. They want to do their best job, just like the players do. And maybe it makes a point that I don\u2019t remember my umpires when I was a kid, but it doesn\u2019t change the fact that they were out there giving their time away from their families, away from their work lives, so that I could play ball. Without an umpire, it\u2019s just a scrimmage.\u201d  Harvey recalled his time playing baseball as a youngster and coming to terms with the stranger behind the plate.  \u201cI think that probably any of us who have stood on the field and gone to the home plate and swung, at some point in our lifetime, whatever age, we start to recognize that an umpire has a significant amount of power, but also a significant amount of knowledge about the game, and maybe even more than my coach does,\u201d Harvey said.   He said he appreciated Becker\u2019s ability to bring out the humanity and service that umpires bring to the sport and wanted to know, \u201cAt what point did you start to really recognize that about these umpires?\u201d  It took Becker a while behind the plate to see the other stories in his umpire colleagues.  \u201cMy show is not about rules or field mechanics or instruction,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a thousand great websites and podcasts and sources that do a much better job with things like that than I do. My show is about the stories and the journeys and the heart of why we umpires do what we do. There is nothing an umpire loves more than to just get together with his or her partner after a game, share their experiences and their wins and their losses, and what they\u2019ve learned; swap stories; tell tall tales; that is something that is common with every umpire at every level, all around the world.\u201d  Harvey asked for an example.   \u201cOne of my favorite guests during this season one was Dale Scott,\u201d Becker said. \u201cHe was a Major League umpire for 30-plus years until his retirement in 2017. There was so much good stuff there. He did point out ... if you went to your job every day not having any idea of what was going to happen that day, it might make you get up out of bed in the morning a little differently. It could light a little bit of a fire. That\u2019s what it\u2019s like every game for a baseball or a softball umpire. Some things are going to be consistent, but just about every game you see something and have to rule on something that you may never have seen before.\u201d  That got Becker to tell the story of his own personal umpire hero.  \u201cOne thing that\u2019s really interesting, Ken, is that a lot of the stories start exactly the same,\u201d Becker said. \u201cI\u2019ve had the opportunity to speak with everyone from teenage youth umpires here in Snohomish County, all the way up to Major League Baseball umpires, and oftentimes, they have very similar stories. In fact, I was just re-listening the other day to one of my episodes, a conversation I had with a Major League umpire ... really, an umpire hero of mine named Tripp Gibson, who is one of many Major League umpires that live here in the Puget Sound area.   \u201cHe was telling us about his first game. Coach gets a little fired up, and in his very first game ever as an umpire, he has to toss the coach. The way Tripp described it, he says, \u2018Yeah, so the gentleman, Pat, who brought me out, he met me after the game and gave me my check for 25 bucks and said, \u201cWell, good try, kid.\u201d Tripp said, \u2018Good try? That was awesome! I\u2019m coming back tomorrow!\u2019\u201d   While most players get to take a field break every half inning and between plate appearances, umpires never leave the field.  \u201cI would love for listeners of this show to maybe start thinking about umpires in a little different way,\u201d Becker said. \u201cThe home team and the away team, they get to go in the dugout and relax every half inning. But the umpires stay out there every pitch, every inning, every game, and for the Major League guys, six to eight months in a row.\u201d  \u201cThat\u2019s got to be really tough,\u201d Harvey said. \u201cEspecially when the weather conditions aren\u2019t prime for something like that.\u201d  Despite the difficult working conditions and tension that comes from making calls, umpires just want to do their job right and enhance the game, Becker said.  \u201cOne thing that umpires like to hang their hat on is, if they can get through a game and nobody notices that they were even there, they had a pretty good game, right?\u201d he said. \u201cBecause it\u2019s not our job to get in the way. It\u2019s not our game. We are there to serve. We\u2019re there to go to work and enable and enhance that game that we\u2019re working at, and if we get that done, it\u2019s been a pretty good day at the office.\u201d  Part 2: Self-Help Shelf   \u201cThis is Sarri Gilman with the Self-Help Shelf for Sno-Isle Libraries. The book I have for you today is \u2018Eight Dates,\u2019 by Dr. John Gottman and Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman. Oh yes, they\u2019re married, and they once ran the famous Love Lab where they researched couples and communication. Together, they now have the Gottman Institute in Seattle, where they share years of research on how to make marriage work and what predicts divorce.   \u201cDuring COVID-19, not too many couples were having romantic dates, and your closeness and intimacy may feel like it was just lost in the pandemic, or maybe it was lost even before that. If you\u2019re married or dating, \u2018Eight Dates\u2019 is for you. The book gives you a guide on things to think about before each date, and you literally make a plan to go on eight dates together, and each date, you\u2019re given a different topic with a whole different set of questions to ask each other. You practice listening and learning about each other, and even if you\u2019ve been together for decades, I think you\u2019re going to get a lot out of this book, especially if you feel like your relationship needs attention and you wish you were closer.   \u201cSince we're in a pandemic, you\u2019re going to need to bring a little bit of creativity to your dates with your partner. Maybe it\u2019s a beach picnic or a date at home; it really doesn't matter where you are, because each date is a full discussion on a topic picked by the Gottmans, with a guide to support you.   \u201cI do recommend that you each read a copy of the book so that you have some of the background material to think about before your date, or you could even read out loud to each other to prepare for your date.   \u201cOne of my favorite lines from the book is this one: \u2018The goal of conflict is not to win or convince the other person that you\u2019re right. In creating compromise, we have to understand each other\u2019s core needs on the issues we are discussing, as well as each other\u2019s areas of flexibility. The goal is not to become identical; the goal is to understand each other.\u2019  \u201cThis book is also going to help you get a better understanding of each other's core needs. By going on the eight dates, you will have a much deeper understanding of each other, and you\u2019re going to get tips that you can practice for each date, and my hope is that you just continue going on these deeper dive discussion dates in the future.   \u201c\u2019Eight Dates,\u2019 by Doctors John and Julie Gottman, is available digitally from the Sno-Isle Libraries. Take good care of you, and remember, some books are almost as good as therapy.\u201d ","author_name":"Check It Out!","author_url":"https:\/\/podcast.sno-isle.org\/","html":"