Rob Drake, Thank you for TheUmpireLife

It was with a heavy heart I removed TheUmpireLife from the links section of Umpire-Empire and from my bookmarks. I first visited TheUmpireLife in January of this year when doing some research for this site. At that time the site was a modest blog. The content wasn't all that it grew to be at that time but was still very interesting. I posted a comment to his article, and bookmarked the site to check out more frequently for updates. One thing that really impressed me was that Rob personally replied quickly to my comment. It quickly went into my "Daily Surfing" bookmark file. The growth of TheUmpireLife was also something spectacular. I have personally never seen a site with such exponential growth and active participation. In just under 2 month growing to over 300 registered users. That doesn't include the additional hundreds of visitors who never even registered. Some webmaster statistics cite that only about 10% of a sites visitors will ever register most visitors are primarily inactive browsers. This makes its growth even more astounding.

The content of TheUmpireLife was also second to none. The tone was kept in check even some posts/threads which were more inflammatory in nature were dealt with professionally. I think specifically of a person who made 2 comments one asking Rob to apologize for a call the poster thought Rob missed, and another where the same individual made comments on the handling of one of Rob's ejections. The poster's tone was definitely inflammatory, but Rob's was tactful. As was the tone of all of the professional umpires there. This tone which was set by the pros was maintained by the vast majority of posters. I also found there was no holier than thou tone or attitude from anybody. The information relayed was highly informative. Whether a question about being a pro, a mechanics issue or a rules issue. Everybody posted clear well-informed information. This was one of the beauties of TheUmpireLife. Amateur umpires could post their questions to the professionals and count on getting a quality response without being looked down upon. This included everything from light hearted questions about a situation to in depth rule interpretations and applications. This made the site educational for the amateur umpires and a truly interactive learning experience. Which I believe accounted *greatly for its rapid growth.

I also found the site to be well moderated. Spam was addressed quickly, there didn't seem to be any deletions or removals which were unnecessary. This is one of my pet peeves about discussion boards. Where a moderator who comes under scrutiny all of the sudden makes those posts disappear. ***Poof*** I hope there can be some reasonable resolution to the situation and look forward to any updates from Rob. Hopefully TheUmpireLife will be able to reemerge in some fashion so we as amateur umpires can continue to learn from those who have made it through baseballs narrowest door. These guys made themselves accessible to us and got nothing in return but our gratitude and the sense of helping their brothers in blue. I wanted to end with some of the posts which have recently appeared on TheUmpireLife. It may sound hokie, but Rob your site has effected so many people in so many ways. We all appreciate what you have done and hope no harm comes to you professionally from your successful attempt to improve the greater umpiring community.

• I've had a blast - not that I'm leaving. It's been awesome discussing rules interps with those that have years of experience at the upper levels of baseball.* ManInBlue
   
• Thanks Rob for what we've had so far. Your site has been first-rate... cookie
   
• I would like to thank Rob for starting the site and message board. I know it has helped all of us with our umpiring. Coaster Palooza
   
• A+ on the site. It has connected me with so many people. I appreciate it. mattmullins55
   
• I learned a lot and gained a ton of confidence while working my HS games thanks to the knowledge I gained from the info shared on the site. It was like attending a daily umpire's clinic. My life has been enlightened. Thank you! circlesthesun
   
• As a 15 year old LL umpire i loved this site as I could chat with other umpires and get advise. Thank you Rob for all you've done, and taking the time to think about the other umpires. FALLumpire
   
• Thanks so much, Rob, for running this site. I got an immense amount of knowledge from you and the great bunch of umpires here. BrianC14
   
• I just wanted to say thanks for the effort you put into this idea. And to all the rest (Professional- LL umpires), thanks for keeping this site civil. It was refreshing to visit daily and share experiences. Dobie
   
• I have learned alot and feel that i am a better umpire because of this site. THANK YOU!!! for attempting to let umpires of all walks of life see into the world you work in and teaching us to be more professional in our levels of baseball. okump96
   
• Thank you Rob! This was an excellent umpiring message board and I will definitely miss it. I have a new found respect for you after you started this message board to HELP us amateur umpires get better. There is a dying need for umpiring education everywhere, and this was a great source of information from someone at the highest level of baseball. angus
   
• THANK YOU. For giving us somewhere to come and speak on a professional level and allow us to get better as umpires across the board. I don't think there is one person on this site who hasn't taken at least something away from it, and that credit solely goes to you. Rash3UC