Kill the Umpire features Bill Johnson, a working man so enamored of America’s pastime that he regularly loses jobs because he can’t stay out of his favorite New York ballpark when he’s supposed to be at the office. Loudly disdainful of all umpires, Bill gets both a blessing and a comeuppance when his father-in-law, a retired ump, sends him off to umpire school to learn the profession he deserves. After a lot of resistance, Bill understands the basic nobility of being the guy people love to hate despite also being necessary to baseball.