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Health & Fitness

Fishman, Zabinsky Display Humorous Natures (Part III)

This is the third of a three-part series on the YouTube success of two former Sharon High baseball captains, Jake Fishman ’13 and David Zabinsky ’11. Known as ‘BugCatcherJLF’ and ‘Harry Highpants’, respectively, they each have produced wildly popular humorous videos that have garnered over 150,000 total views apiece. This post highlights Zabinsky’s baseball umpiring histrionics videos.

David Zabinsky says that he thought of the ‘Harry Highpants’ idea last summer to lighten the mood for young ballplayers who put too much pressure on themselves and to spice up the games for himself.

The Sharon resident serves as the home plate umpire at Little League baseball games through the Sharon Youth Baseball & Softball Association (SYBSA), providing him the venue to debut ‘Harry’.

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In the video, which words cannot do justice, Zabinsky pulls his umpire pants up to mid-chest; barks commands in a shrill, animal-like voice; tosses the ball feebly to the pitcher; trips and falls over home plate while returning to his position; and thrusts his hands wildly into the air, looking like a moose, in signaling strike three.

“In all my years of playing and being around baseball, I have never seen anything quite like these videos,” said Stephen Pike, a Stonehill College pitcher, Stoughton resident, and former AAU teammate of Zabinsky. “David clearly brings excitement and humor to every game he suits up for.”

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The video, which lasts 1:25, has racked up over 126,000 hits since it was posted last fall. Boston Red Sox first baseman Mike Napoli shared the video on his Twitter account, posting, “This is what we need.”

Zabinsky was contacted in August by Yositaka Komatsuzaki, the director of a morning program on TV ASAHI, a self-described “major” television station in Japan, regarding airing the ‘Harry’ video this fall.

Komatsuzaki told Zabinsky in an e-mail (said in context), “Your video is so good! I believe this broadcasting will bring many Japanese joyful time and your video more promote.

As to why he feels that his audience will enjoy the video, Komatsuzaki wrote to Sharon Patch, “Most popular sport in Japanese baseball is. Those who enjoy baseball for holidays are many. One of the topics of the people, but it is the home-plate umpire. Not only judge of plate umpire, movement and personality has become a funny story.

“I have never seen in Japan plate umpire video of [somebody] more unusual. I think every one of his moves is interesthing and, in a mystery to me,” Komatsuzaki added.

Gilad Haas, SHS ’11, who videotaped the ‘Harry’ games and is majoring in film at Emerson College, says that the most amusing facet of ‘Harry’ is his spontaneity.

“When David first told me that he was going to do something like this, I knew it would be funny. It's not something that can be scripted; rather, it solely relies on David's ability to take a boring Little League baseball game and turn it into a spectacle,” Haas said.

“The aspect that I enjoy most about his videos is that he is out there having fun,” said Jake Fishman, who played with Zabinsky for two seasons in Sharon. “He loves to entertain and he loves baseball, and he managed to combine the two.”

Neal Beberman, the director of umpires for SYBSA, says that he finds ‘Harry’ amusing yet appropriate. “He did it [in a way] that it did not take away any aspect of the game itself. I think the kids and coaches enjoy it. David is a great kid, and he does it with class and doesn't make a mockery of the game,” Beberman said.

Zabinsky released another edition of ‘Harry’ last month, which has tallied over 34,000 views as of this past Tuesday. The rising Bowdoin College junior, a righthanded pitcher on the baseball team, who also pitched for the Brockton Rox this past summer, says that he hopes that ‘Harry’ helps young ballplayers have more fun on the field.

“I would see kids strike out and get tongue lashings from their coaches and walk to the dugout with their heads down,” Zabinsky said. “These were 8, 9, and 10 year olds getting down on themselves while playing baseball.

“I wanted to show them that the game I love is fun, and shouldn't be taken too seriously. So if a kid struck out, a crazy, flailing, screaming umpire wouldn't be bad consolation,” he added.

Haas says that Zabinsky, who was voted “Class Clown” by his graduating class at Sharon High, is a talented performer. "I think the fact that he can keep a straight face when he does these things is what makes everyone laugh.

“When we were seniors in high school, we made a short film for a class, and at one point, David had to do mock job interviews. I let him do that completely unscripted, so it was all improv. To this day, I still show people that video because it's just so funny,” Haas added.

Mitch Kaufman, who graduated with Zabinsky, called his former classmate “a collection of many opposite personalities rolled into one giant, wild, wrecking ball. I enjoy watching the receptiveness and reaction levels of the surrounding citizens,” Kaufman said.

Zabinsky is so entertaining as ‘Harry’ and off-camera because he is not afraid to embarrass himself, says Fishman. “He is willing to do anything he thinks will be funny with no regard to others’ opinions, and he has the confidence to pull it off,” Fishman said.

“I don't care if people are laughing at me or with me,” said Zabinsky. “What’s important is that people are laughing.”

Haas says that Zabinsky’s top attribute as a performer is his intelligence. “He understands the situation better than anyone else around him, and therefore can determine the direction in which it will go. He knows where the boundaries are and where he can and cannot cross,” Haas said.

‘Harry’ is even more hilarious to those who know Zabinsky personally, says Haas. “Most of the viewers don't know that he's such a smart kid and accomplished baseball player,” he said.

Pike says that he thinks that Zabinsky should pursue a career in acting because of a tremendous sense of creativity, a knack for thinking on the spot, and an ability to adapt into numerous roles.

Haas added, “If I could give him any advice, it would be to do more [videos in the future].”

As for forthcoming endeavors, Zabinsky, who is spending the current fall semester in Madrid, says that he plans on filming more non-umpiring videos and is in the process of writing a screenplay for a potential feature film.

Fishman says that he has “a little bit” of a friendly rivalry with Zabinsky regarding viral popularity. As for having more views (currently) than his fellow former Sharon baseball captain, Fishman said with, fittingly enough, a laugh, “It feels pretty good.”

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