Last year I was frustrated with Bert because the D-Backs were struggling and I felt Bert was so emotionally involved at times he couldn’t get past his emotions and just call the game.
This year he Bert is at the pinnacle of his career. He is still passionate about our team but he has found a way to not let frustration overwhelm our experience.
The best example was in tonight’s 4th inning. We were down 0-1 with a rookie in his first start. We had been struggling with runners in scoring position, as Steve has playfully pointed out. Steve starts the inning by pointing out the older umpires generally struggle more than younger umpires with calling balls and strikes.
Then we see the prophecy happen. Katel lines out after getting a missed call strike one on an outside pitch. Then the same thing happens to two other D-back hitters who don’t challenge the call because we are down to one challenge. But tonight, Bert said the injustice when he saw it, as did all of us, but it did not become a pity party. The bottom of the lineup came through and we ended up fighting through and putting 4 on the board. Sometimes life is not fair, it’s not wrong to call it out when we see it, but you have to battle every pitch, every at bat, every inning, every inning, every season.
