- November 26, 2024
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Pete Celestino
Flagler County Police Athletic League
Being the patriarch of a large Italian family, my grandfather was always giving me and my cousins words of advice during our adolescence. We all admired him immensely, and I am sure we have all used his advice throughout our adulthood. I think about things he used to tell me all the time, but the advice I repeat the most and has served me the best was,
“You can learn more by listening than you can by talking.”
Considering that I became a professional baseball umpire, this advice served me well many times during on-field confrontations with players and managers. I would let the person I was having an argument with do most of the talking (sometimes screaming). This gave me plenty of time to mentally prepare my response. Most of time letting the person you are arguing with do all the talking would lead to him repeating himself. When that starts to happen, umpires are trained that this is the appropriate time to end the discussion. My grandfather’s advice, more often than not, helped me to resolve these confrontations without having to eject anyone.
