Behind home plate

United States of Baseball has a nice interview with former Major League umpire Eric Gregg (Part I, Part II, Part III). As a fan, I'm as guilty as the next guy of yelling at the man in blue, but Gregg seems to have a good perspective on the game:

You know, as a baseball guy, I think I made out better as umpire than as a player. I was there for every minute of it, from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. I didn’t have off days, I didn’t have to come in from the dugout or the bullpen.

It's a tough job, but at the end of the day he knew that it was a job that gave him the best seat in the house.