I knew when my career was over. In 1965 my baseball card came out with no picture.

You throw batting practice, you warm up pitchers, you sit and cheer. You do whatever you have to do to stay on the team.

Baseball hasn't forgotten me. I go to a lot of old-timers games and I haven't lost a thing. I sit in the bullpen and let people throw things at me. Just like old times.

Anybody with ability can play in the big leagues. To last as long as I did with the skills I had, with the numbers I produced, was a triumph of the human spirit.

They broke it to me gently. The manager came up to me before a game and told me they didn't allow visitors in the clubhouse.

I spent three of the best years of my life in 10th grade.

Let's face it. Umpiring is not an easy or happy way to make a living. In the abuse they suffer, and the pay they get for it, you see an imbalance that can only be explained by their need to stay close to a game they can't resist.