Today, we met another full time MLB instructor in Bob Davidson. If you're not familiar with him, he is an umpire that the media and broadcasters love to disparage. And one of his nicknames is "Balkin' Bob," due to the his balk calls. Fittingly enough, in today's warm-up formation, he had us do 3 different balk calls. Now that is a man with a great sense of humor! He was amazing and a blast to learn from today and we're lucky to have him until the end of class.
Right before lunch, we also got to meet the chief, and the founder of the school, Harry Wendelstedt. And while he is clearly not in good health, he still came out to the field to visit and talk to us. His passion for umpiring was clear, as was his caring mentality for all his students and "family." I'm very honored to have met him.
Does Hunter Wendlstadt teach at the school? I think that's Harry's kid
ReplyDeleteYes, but he does more on administering and running the school. Ed Hickox, Doug Eddings, and Bob Davidson has done alot more of the hands on instruction, in addition to the triple A and MLB fill in umpires that are on staff.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jerry Layne as well.
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