Boys of summer are back!

[Danskman]

It's a beautiful Spring day in NorCal. I have my first high school umpiring assignment of the season in a couple hours. Can't wait to get on the field. Any Pelicanites that are baseball umpires, coaches, managers, scouts, at any level?

[Danskman]

Hi Noah. Game went great. Very well-played for the first game of the year. Still amazes me how big and strong 17-18 year old athletes are nowadays. I had a blast. Called a good game behind the plate, and had a couple close plays home. My wonderful wife even surprised me and left work early to come watch me. Looks like another nice day today.

I also played as a youth and in HS. Interest started waning when I got a job working at a Porsche dealership washing cars...

If you still have a passion for the game, you should check into umpiring. It's really a kick. I'm sure your local Little League or high schools could use another good umpire. I believe ex-players make the best umpires. They have a good sense of anticipating a play (but never the outcome).

[CJFusco]

I used to play little league and HS ball, but I am currently one of the original "Smooshball" players.

Smooshball is a version of whiffle ball played indoors with a hollow, plastic bat - shaped like a normal baseball bat, NOT a whiffleball bat - and a ball that you can squeese some of the air out of and will slowly reinflate. If you squeese the ball right before you throw it, the pitches will have interesting movement.

The game is played in a living room. Batter stands by the front door, pitcher stands in the hall. Batter gets 5 outs per inning. Anything down the hall is a run, anything that hits the back door (end of the hall) is a Home Run (2 runs), anything that hits the spot on the wall between the top of the door and the ceiling is a Grand Slam (4 runs);

anything hit that doesn't go down the hall is an out. A swing and a miss is an out. If the pitcher gets to the ball while it is still bouncing, he may hit it against the front door for a run. Any foul balls that head toward spectators may be slapped down the hall for a run.

This game is very, very, very addictive. We currently have about 20 different people that sometimes go over my friend Russ's to play, on Wednesday and Saturday nights (sometimes) after work

[911Rob]

What part of baseball do you get to hit someone?
(Except maybe if I played I'd smoke the Ump)

Played in school, but always enjoyed contact sports.
Irish Rugby Player.