OK, I said there would be more later, so here it is.  The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...  from my perspective; realizing that others may view this differently.  The games are over, and no one has say so over my officiating assignments for the Series.

But before I start, I want to make one thing abundantly clear...I am absolutely blessed that I had these people to work with for the past 10 or 12 days.  They are my partners, now my friends.  Nothing I may say here has anything to do with them.  They were and are and will continue to be the best.  We bonded immediately, without any...ANY...competition amongst one another.  Those of you who umpire know how incredibly rare that is.

So, some background.  A month or two ago I went to a Dodger game with friends.  It was Orel Hershiser Bobblehead Doll Nite and everyone in attendance was given a bobblehead.  That nite an idea came to mind.  Knowing that Orel was an announcer at the upcoming LL World Series, I decided that it would be funny to somehow use the bobblehead in some fashion while here.

So I took a picture of the doll, wrapped in tape, and wrote a note below the picture.  Here is that picture.

The doll is wrapped in the ticket stub from the game.  Underneath the picture, I typed the following :

Be KIND TO ThE umpires tonitE   Or The Little Guy Gets Whacked

Wheel be in toucH

 I thought it was funny, but that's just me.  My plan was to somehow get it to Orel sometime during the WS and that opportunity arrived this past Wednesday nite.  Prior to the game, I ran across Kyle Peterson, one of the ESPN announcers.  I asked him if he could do me a favor.  At that point a rather large and well built man wearing an ESPN Security shirt asked what I had.  He asked me to open the envelope.  I showed him the picture, which was in an envelope along with my LL pin.  He then asked Kyle if he had a problem with it and Kyle said no, he'd give it to Orel.  About an hour later all the umpires were in the locker room when the Umpire Coordinator for the WS, Mike Legge, came into the room and asked to see me.  I was taken to another room where there were about 5 or 6 other people, along with Pat Wilson, LL VP of Operations.  He handed me the envelope and asked if I had given it to Orel.  I told him about giving it to Kyle Petersen and that it was a joke.  He showed me the pin inside the envelope and asked it if it was mine and I said yes.  He then said that Orel didn't think it was funny and that Orel thought I was serious.  I was shocked to say the least and said it was a joke but that if that was the case, then "I owe that Gentleman an apology"  Mr Wilson replied with "No you won't.  You're not going to talk to him at all".  I replied with "message received loud and clear".  Mr. Wilson then continued to tell me for about 5 or 10 minutes how badly I had behaved and I repeated several times "recieved loud and clear".  During one point in the conversation I replied that I had shown the letter to my supervisors and he quickly responded with "who did you show the letter to?"  I told him that I had shown the letter to Bill Carter, the Western Region UIC.  I told him that both Mke Legge, the Umpire Coordinator of the LLWS  and his Asst., Frank Policano, the Eastern Region UIC, had also seen the letter. He said that they would be talking to Orel again.  I turned to one of the gentlemen in the room who had been identified as the ESPN head of security and asked him to please apologize on my behalf to Orel.  Pat Wilson once again said "No, we're not going to do that".  He then stated that "it's too late to change tonite's schedule but after this game you and I will speak about your future in the Tournament".  I knew exactly what he meant by that... I was going home.

So I went out on the field and was awarded my plaque for being a WS Umpire, along with the other 15 umpires.  The ceremony had previously been scheduled for that nite.  Needless to say, I was not myself during that ceremony.  Everyone saw it but didn't know why. After the ceremony, I was scheduled to work 2B in the game.  I was honestly in tears, and wasn't sure I was up to it, but I went out for the introductions.  While standing at home plate waiting for the teams to take the field, the home plate umpire (Torbin) told me to turn around and look at the ESPN booth.  Orel was looking at us and was making a gesture with his fingers to his eyes and then pointing at us as if to say "I'm watching you".   He had a huge grin on his face.  I turned away but Torbin said that he and Orel made eye contact and that Orel pointed towards me and then wrapped his arms around himself as if to say "give him a hug".  I took that to mean that Orel was now OK with things.  According to several people, he identified me by name several times during the broadcast and made positive comments. I was the 2B umpire, who does that?  But again, I take that to mean he was OK with things.

After the game I walked past Pat Wilson and said "I  have spent 35 years of my adult life supporting this organization and it's principles, please don't make my dream end this way".   His response..."I'm not taking anything away, I didn't do anything".  My response "I hear you, I'm an accountable person, I'm not blaming anyone for this, I did it, but you have to hear what I'm saying".  His response "Well, we talked to Orel and hs says that he thought you were serious but now he knows you were just goofing so you'll continue to get assignments".  the next morning Mike Legge called and said that "Orel had let things go so Little Legaue had let things go"  I took him at his word. 

I did get a 3B assignment in the International Final after that, so again, I thought that things might be OK.  Mike had mentioned that all assignments for the US and International Finals, as well as the World Championship had to be approved by "the powers that be".  When the assignments came out for the Final Game, I must admit I was surprised.  I was the only umpire of the 16 to only get a single plate assignment.  I asked Mike "if it was what I thought it was" and he said "yes".  I replied that they said they had "let it go".  He said "What can I say, they could have sent you home" and walked away.  I have been told by someone who would seem to know that the umpire schedule he sent upstairs for approval is not the same as the schedule that the umpires received at our meeting.  I am told that it was changed  upstairs.  What that means, I don't know.

So, that's it.  My LLWS didn't end like I thought, and hoped, it would.  Yes, I worked the Championship game, and others didn't.  But the left field line is not what someone dreams about for 35 years. I clearly did not learn from Bat's experience of last year.  I did not lay low and fly under the radar.  Clearly, I am not a "fly below the radar" type of guy.  Never have been, probably never will be.  I am disillusioned mostly, but I am also hurt, I am also angry and I am not sure how to process those feelings all at once. I am honestly not sure how I feel about the organization that I have spent 35 years of my adult life supporting and I'm not sure that my association with that organization can survive this.

Suffice it to say that I ran afoul of the powers that be back here.  Not my fellow umpires or the umpire staff, but the ones higher up. I am totally 100% responsible for that. I own it... my fault... I caused it... all by myself. But I had shown it to my supervisors.  I was told that they had "let it go". 

Clearly their definition of "let it go" is vastly different than mine.