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OK, Here goes.... I've been doing this a while..16 years. 14 high school varsity, 7 Juco, D3. Without sounding overly cocky, I think I'm a damn good umpire. I've seen and heard all the horror stories about poor sportsmanship, confrontational parents, etc. Sure, I've experienced it, but it's been on rare occasions, and the overwhelming amount of the times, I've had respectful coaches, players, and to a lesser extent parents. Fast forward to this year. I thought it was me. I was starting to think my zone was inconsistent. Starting to think my judgement might be off. I know I'm getting slower. Maybe it's affecting my game. I've been talking with some trusted colleagues, and it seems it's not me. The umpire hate is reaching new levels. The overall tone of the games, attitudes, it's filled with anger. Dirty looks from hitters from every close strike, looks of astonishment from fielders on safe calls that aren't even that close. Batter runners stomping up and down when they're put out at first by a full step. Fielder yelling a runner is off the bag when I'm right there looking at a hand on the top of the bag, coaches looking for help on routine plays, (Not asking ..Demanding "You GOTTA GET HELP). Grief on check swings, no matter if I call a strike as PU, or go for help...As BU, whatever I call on an appeal, I'm gonna hear crap from the other side. I had to give a college coach an official ball/Strike warning in the 8th inning with his team leading 22-1. Another one a few days ago after his starter walked 7 in 2+ innings...Most were pitches his catcher couldn't even catch. Besides the ball/strike stuff, these aren't issues or actions that require warnings/ejections. Just ornery attitudes... No one's happy with anything. Yesterday, as we're leaving the field of a home team run rule win, a group of passive- aggressive Dad's start in as we pass loud enough to be sure we're hearing them "Every call goes against us, they all suck this year. They got it out for us. Where do they find these guys? They won by 12, yet they still found the need to make sure we heard them talking about how much we suck and that foul ball my partner called against their team in the second inning. ... Last week we're leaving a college field and after we pass a group of ignorant morons who were on us from the start we hear "Better luck next time, blue." It's taking a lot of strength to ignore. I thought it was me until yesterday. I got calls from two colleagues in the span of a few hours lamenting the sme issues, and questioning if they want to do this anymore....It's not been fun this year" is what I'm hearing over and over. Is it a bad stretch? Are attitudes worse? Am I worse? ....I'm rained out today. and you know what? Part of me is thinking "Thank God". I don't like feeling that. I want this to be enjoyable. It has been for 16 years, with the occasional misbehaviour here and there. This year it's rampant. The table has completely turned. The polite, no issue games have become the outliers. I'm going to put a big part of the blame on social media and the amount of umpire hate being spewed. From national media outlets, to Joe fan's ignorant hatred...It's trickle down to where players, coaches and parents all bring their keyboard warrior mentality to the field. Or.. Is this the way it is across the country, and somehow I've avoided it for the most part for 16 years?.

I have had worked several games with @Richvee this year and probably close to a hundred with him in total. He and I are good friends and I enjoy working with him, poking fun at each other, and sometimes getting dinner after games. He and I have had the "Is this worth it?" conversation this year and I am beginning to think there is merit in considering hanging 'em up, especially for those 9-10 hour DH days for JUCO. Rich is a very good umpire who is technically sound and has good judgment on the field (I did say we were friends, so off the field judgment may be suspect). I think I do a pretty good job on the field as well and I am seeing a lot more of the stink eye, the histrionics from pitchers, and catchers shrugging when the dugout asks about location. I also officiate volleyball and I have issued more yellow cards this year than in several seasons combined. Perhaps the solution lies with the tools at our disposal that maybe we need to use more often. Rich and I were working a bad JUCO DH when there was an unnecessarily hard tag at 3B from a team that had been getting its ass handed to them all day and of course the runner had to come up shoving F5. I got in both of their faces and used language I probably shouldn't have but my aggressiveness immediately got their attention and the situation was diffused. I also had to issue my first official ball/strike warning this year to a team losing by 15 runs in the third inning. Truth told, I kind of relish doing those things sometimes. Like @SH0102 just mentioned and @BigUmpire used to say frequently, shooting one monkey usually gets the other to fall in line. Maybe that approach will work. Maybe not, but at least you may have the chance to work on your ejection mechanics. And fans aren't worth anything except the check they write for teams to pay our game fees. I treat them like red-headed step children (sorry gingers). Keep at it Rich. You enjoy this too much to let the rats take it away from you.

Do what I do - don't look at the players! You won't see the scowls and you'll be much happier.

Early in the year, I was hearing quite a bit of umpire grumbling for being grumbled, but it seems to have dropped off. That or I'm just not hearing it as much. I've been lucky this HS season . . . probably because I've been much more selective on what I will do. I have cut out 2 of 4 assignors, and that eliminated a significant percentage of the local schools for me. Many of them were places I wasn't being sent anyway. I'm not sad to see any of those go. OK, maybe a couple of schools. I really cut my schedule back this year. I have not done more than 3 nights in a week, and that 3 night week only happened the week I was on Spring Break. I am saying NO daily, even as I watch 5-10 e-mails a day begging for umpires. In recent years, I have been at the point you are at, @Richvee, and right about this time in the season. I don't know what the future holds for me, but I'm not hating it at the moment because I have taken steps not to. Physically, I am questioning myself. I'm 51, so I know I am younger than most umpires, and I still move better than them. However, I don't want to be them. I don't want to be 70 and standing in one spot "because we need umpires." If I can't give it my best, I don't want to be a detriment. I know I need to lose some weight, but I am not any heavier than the last few years. That said, I am not moving like I used to and I am sore far more often. I think I am not going to work as much summer ball, and may work on losing some weight to see if that changes things. Just some theories of a rambling old man: As for the general attitudes around the game . . . Are we at the point that the generations of entitled travel ball kids are reaching JUCO? I'd think we would be well past that, but we know it got worse and worse each year (just like my freshmen classes get lower and lower when they come in each year). Has it just aged up? Add to that many JUCO teams are glorified HS teams, and mommy and daddy still come to the games. Social media? Sure, that's part of it. I would say the general state of the world is going to make this a bad summer for baseball umpires. Not just the ABS system in MLB, but just the depressing state of the country and world, a crumbling economy, and gas that has jumped $1 here in the last few days. People look for somewhere to take it out, and isn't that what their check and gate fee entitles them to do?

Rich, I don’t know you but I know what organization you work for. the comment “nothing warrants an ejection” is not accurate. USC warnings are team warnings, use them, and use them early. guys stomping, throwing arms up, saying things are demonstrative actions and are USC. Shut it down, give that official warning the ncaa loves, and then eject someone if they don’t stop. also, If you feel you’re almost done who cares? I won’t say where but I had a series this year, first 2 games were church (blowouts), third game was competitive and got very chippy. We issued warnings to both teams, half inning later we had an ejection. Rest of game 3 and game 4 were church. Shoot the first monkey, the rest of the barrel falls in line. I know those tests and answers make it seem like we can’t warn and eject much, but our job is to control the game. i am not saying go be a red-a$$, but if the grind is so bad you’re miserable, you’re at the warn and eject if it continues stage. fans, nothing can do there; try to find humor in their ridiculousness best wishes for last couple weeks

Not sure if others are seeing this, but “by me” there’s a lot of turnover of high school coaches and you’re getting younger and younger head coaches who don’t have relationships with umpires and/or “don’t know how to act.” The days of the 20-30 year head coach by us are really over. I think that feeds into a lot of the chirping, complaining, and problems.

@wolfe_man on your F3’s remove the Velcro padding and move it up just a bit higher…. Problem solved.

This is my biggest gripe with the original version of the DaviShins. While I don't have a simple solution, it is a big factor in the updated design we're working on.

… by us amateurs. Peruse this read: MLB Article About ABS Implementation There are two points to consider from this article; one is directly posed by the author, the other is by yours truly, after watching the first month of the “ABS Era” (insert Tim Kurkjian’s voicing this akin to his descriptor “not since the Live Ball era”). First, how the catcher catches / doesn’t catch the pitch no longer matters. “The mitt didn’t move!”, “You can’t reward him fumbling it!”, or “Not a strike if he didn’t catch it!” are all disproven by ABS. While there was an “art” to framing, and (attempting to) influencing a PU, there is now emerging a different “game within the game”, where catchers are now “dirtying / soiling” their catches so as to influence batters to waste challenges. What this means to us (umpires) is that, more than ever, we need to call the zone irrespective of how or where the catcher receives it. The second point is slightly personal. I am (in)famous for having a very fast, emphatic, and definitive strike call. We can get into a prolonged discussion about Timing, and how it has an ambiguous value. Sure, guys talk about “Timing” frequently, but can it be measured? Quantified? No, it’s strictly felt. So all this mumbo-jumbo about having “great timing” and delaying one’s call to see the “entirety of the pitch, including the catcher’s mitt catching it” no longer holds water. The ABS imager isn’t giving an entirety-of-the-pitch zone; instead, it’s only giving the planar window on/over the midsection of the plate. Am I advocating for not tracking the pitch? No. Am I saying that we should only focus on that planar window? No. I’m simply saying that “timing”, as we explain, train, and hold value in, has lost its worth, so to speak. In fact, I will now argue that by prolonging the call – whether naturally or artificially (the “shove it up their a$$” strike call) – you’re putting the participants at a disadvantage. Call it promptly, definitively, and decisively, and let the ABS system validate it. … and quit all this 💩-talk about, “oh, your timing seemed quick”. 🐎 💩!! The more important question – did you read / call the pitch correctly??! If ya did, then the “timing” of your call doesn’t matter squat!

The 20-seconds between pitches... not between pitchers. The batter and pitcher have the same time limit... because of that it is unenforceable.

Tighter pants. I had this issue when I wore them very early this season. Then, my 15 year old wanted to start dabbling in the umpire world (the highest level of giddyness excitement that you can imagine, that was me) So, I went back to my Force 3's, and gave him the DaviShins. Well, he isn't going to work a 'ton' of games since he's also playing High School, so I just wanted one pair of combo pants. His combo pants are obviously a little tigher/form fitting than my Plate pants. He hasn't had this issue at all, one time.

Thanks to all the replies. It all helps. I'm sure it's a bad stretch that will improve. (Doesn't mean I can see the end of the college road not fay ahead. Special thanks to those who have said I've made a difference in their umpiring career. That's the best compliment I can ever receive. ❤️

Off topic: No you need to scream "FOUL" 😃 I no longer try to break ex-players become umpires habit of "foulball".

said Gen-Z umpire here, You are correct that a light comes on when they are recording; however, some products/businesses block/drill through the light, disabling it. The same goes for the Oakley Meta AI glasses.

Rich, All good stuff shared here, and glad to see someone mentioned you’ve made a difference for them; that’s the highest compliment. I agree no single act mentioned in the quoted post is warning worthy but persistent actions in a game are. Kinda like how the first snarky comment to the other team doesn’t get a bench warning (unless it’s real bad). But if it keeps going, here it comes, even though that single comment isn’t awful. The point is to prevent the other team from reacting and now it goes back and forth except now you’re the other team in your situation. “Hey bill, none of your guys have said anything horrible, but the constant questioning of every pitch and call is making it hard to stay focused on the game, can you help me out here and tamper it?” Now, if it happens again, you give the warning , then again, eject. If they’re dumb enough to get to the eject after a kind “help me out here” and official warning, oh well.

I bought these six months ago… I think I got them on clearance for like 60 bucks… Great shoe!

Great point made and agreed with wholeheartedly by this guy. Umpire audits at many levels would ding you for being too fast... even if you're right. Like for not doing a pivot at 1st base when you caught the touch and that there was no interference just the same by looking over your shoulder, but you didn't follow the assigned protocol by the age-old umpire association. I've had a, let's call them a supervisor, say that my strike call wasn't long/loud enough (first time I've ever been told I can't be heard, normally I'm told I'm too loud). Twelve years of doing this signal/call and I've not had one coach at any level say "Was that the strike signal Blue? I can't hear you and that hammer confused me" - but I evidently didn't meet the superivosr's signaling/volume expectations. He also said I need to call every pitch because it's nothing until I call it... what about the pitch to the backstop? The one that hits the batter, BALL. Do I need to scream "FOUL BALL" on every foul too - even the one over the grandstand? Change can be a good thing if it gets rid of archaic rules and policies. Can navy shirts be next please? Back to the topic, do you think we'll see an immediate and big change from F2 pitch-yanking or do you think it'll take a few years to trickle down to amateur levels?

Ugh. I have to take the Blue Fish Award today.

I'd just like to say that as a 3rd year, 57 year old umpire with aspirations to be better, you have been a helpful and inspiring voice on this forum for me since I started and I'm sure thats been true for others. Sounds like you are in a tough stretch and I hope it gets better. But you should know that what you do and share has a really meangingful impact. Thanks.

When a toaster looks like this, you talk to it.

Congrats on the regionals. Have fun!! D3 playoff implication regular season DH Saturday, Juco finishing off the season Sunday, and a Juco playoff next Saturday. That finishes off college for the year. I'm also struggling with what the future holds for me. I'm getting slower, aching more. I'm not sure the travel and grind of college ball is worth it much longer. Weekend Dh's mean out at 9AM the latest, probably 1-2 hour drive, home around 7-8 PM. It's wearing me out. But the ball and money is good. It's the northeast, and especially this year, the weather sucks.(we're still in the 50's..low 40's at night) Being out there in 25-30 weather makes me question my sanity. The friendships and comradery of college ball is second to none. Weighing the pros and cons....I need to figure it out.

I love my Davis Shins, with the exception of this issue. It's now second nature to pull my pants out when they get clamped. @wolfe_man based on your comments, I'm guessing you don't have firsthand experience specifically with the Davis design? The DavisShins are essentially a rigid design from top to bottom. Yes, there is a separate "knee cap" but it barely hinges at the joint. The only straps are behind your calf; nothing above the bend of the knee. When you squat, the shin guard (down the entire height) is fighting to be vertical (or on plane with your shin bone.) This pulls the knee cover away from your quad as you squat; only the tension in your pantleg resists the rigid knee cap from standing straight up. The gap created between the guard and the front of your thigh closes up when you stand from your stance, thus creating the "chomp" effect that gathers the pant material that was spanning the gap. Any methods that might work on standard designed guards are pretty futile on the DavisShins. Duct tape? Yes, if you can call balls and strikes with your knees locked completely straight!! 😆

Vanity, vanity... all is vanity. What difference does it really make? If the association you're auditioning for is a solely collegiate association (or, alternatively, led by collegiate umpires), I can venture an experienced guess why they perseverate on sartorial details like this. Insidiously, it's not someone who's 80 years old; oh no no, instead, it's someone younger... think mid-40s / 50s... What's absolutely maddening, is working for one particular association/assigner, who insists that we are to "look like the Big League guys", yet another association – often at the same or similar level of competition – insists, nay mandates, that we are not "Big League guys" and we will never wear that style of uniform (ie. shirts, shirt colors (ahem, Wisconsin just a few years ago), jackets, pants, etc.). Like that assigner / association head has a chip on his shoulder, or a grudge against the Big Leagues because he... oh... ohhhhhh... I get it. 😉 Again, if you provide the uniforms, then you have all the control and justification of directing what we wear. If ya don't... If you're too freakin' cheap or that much of a control freak over your little fiefdom...

They got some work in today…

I take it you haven't see @Richvee's thread. 😁 Seriously, great points. Biggest thing for me was grokking CICO (calories in, calories out) and sleep. Working out more at the cost of sleep or that there is a "free lunch" in no carb diet are traps. I'm down 30+ lbs and another 15 would be good. About time to refocus on that.

Unfortunately, this is where we are. When this happens, the time for diplomacy is long past. On the coach demanding You GOTTA GET HELP your first response, in a calm voice is, "Coach, talk to me like that again and you will be ejected." If you get into a situation like you described, get both coaches together and tell them to get their teams and themselves un der control. And tell them if they can't do it, you'll do it for them. Most of the time situations can be handled with a little diplomacy. This is not one of them.

The timing rule between pitches... It is unenforceable as written.

Surely! That’s a polar, extreme end. Accordingly, there is the other polar extreme – the guy who (finally) makes the strike call when the BR is already at the 45, having perceived the pitch to be Ball 4! “Huhr, don’t I have perfect timing? … HURH!” That’s a close cousin to the PUs who sit in their “school” stance while the F2 holds it out there, like some divine supplication, and won’t call it until “voluntary release”, often because some trainer / instructor / clinician / “higher-up” / ump-fluencer somewhere told them “You must have timing! You must see it all the way in, track it the whole way, and – here’s that stoopid cliché that @wolfe_man encountered – “it’s nothing until we/yoU call it”, so take your time! Process it!” Well, that’s not entirely true and applicable now, is it? I do not have issue with mentors, trainers, and supervisors assessing PUs once having all the metrics and data available on that game, post-game. Where I have the biggest issue with is a self-deigned “evaluator” telling a guy, either immediately post-game – or worse, during the game – that “uhm, your timing seemed quick”. What needs to change is not necessarily how we call B&Ks… what needs to change is how we teach the calling of B&Ks. If we are emphasizing “getting it (the pitch, the call, etc.) right”, then what should it matter on how we get there??

Don't know about you but I'm carrying extra weight as is. Looking to shed, not add 😂

Working a varsity game two weeks ago, I heard a HT fan that actually got me to grin. Pitch is on the upper outside corner but it's been a strike all game. "Mr. Rogers in the neighborhood"--I hadn't heard that one. Back on the OP, @Richvee you--as well as most of the folks here--have been a great resource for me (nigh unto a mentor) and it's a depressing indictment on amateur baseball to hear the parents, players, and coaches are getting to you. I think with the emergence of baseball replay accounts--looking at you Jomboy--that have 0 knowledge of the finer points of the rule book as fed into this a lot. In my corner of the country, the fans are still pretty docile--but I fear it's only a matter of time before the disease reaches high school here.

Timing can be too quick, even in this age of ABS. I have worked with umpires who have called the pitch prior to it getting to the plate, much less to the glove. Love your articles.

This is what I do when I wear mine. I find this a small irritant compared to the combination of light weight, cooler, the two straps and relatively protective. Being on the less tall side I would like them a little shorter (14-15").

Thanks man, I've thought of doing that so man times and just haven't taken the time to move it.

As long as the foot is the first thing that moves, yeah, I’m not calling that. I’ve called it multiple times when the hands separate just before the foot moves.

"What is only applicable to a game that is not broadcast?"

Alex/Ken, I'd like LL 4.06 and or LL 9.01 prohibiting coaches and players from making a mockery of the game...for $100, please? ~Dawg

IMO, that is the clause that was invoked and is being missed in most conversations. So here is the issue with the confusing, never bothered to clean it up, language of the rulebook: That ball, if it is stopped, is foul . . . UNTIL somebody has to pick it up and it hasn't been ruled foul, then it becomes fair. Had F5 waited for a foul call, it would have been foul. By snatching it first, he made it fair. @BLWizzRanger's base example is similar. If it doesn't make it to the base, it is foul. That same ball position (in relation to the line) that makes it to the base and hits the base, becomes fair.

Thanks. I’m thinking you’re right. But like Kevin said. It’s not necessarily USC. It’s a stink eye after a called strike. A shrug from the catcher into the dugout after a ball call. A sigh and a roll eyes 🙄 and a finny look from a fielder when you call a runner safe. These things- which I don’t think are warning worthy…. But they’re getting more frequent, and it wears on you.

Also, the rule still says it's fair "while on or over fair territory touches the person of an umpire or player". That doesn't disappear for newly added contradicting language (not to mention that new language was added to a paragraph about fly balls).

Hope they all go well! Heading into JUCO Regionals this weekend. U1 tomorrow, then PU for Regional final Sunday and U3 for the IF game.

I haven't yet gotten my new GD plate pants hemmed. They are heavier than my Smitty's. Will be curious to see if that helps.

Nah Rich, it's you Seriously, sorry you've had a rough year. I can't say I've seen a difference between this year and previous years, but I did have an ejection of an assistant coach and I haven't had one for a while. I suspect most of the issues you've had have been in HS and not college? I know you mentioned some idiotic fans at a college game, but this is more the exception I hope? Hang in there and just make sure you and your brothers have each others' backs. They're the only ones that matter.

@Richvee, I am seeing this in my market as well. It used to be poor losers crying and complaining about the umpiring and now we're seeing "poor winners" who didn't even need umpires on their game as they beat their opponents by 15, 20 or 25 runs...it really is bizarre. What's ironic is when I talk to guys who were umpiring in the 2000s and 1990s they tell me it was worse in those days. As for the walk from the field back to the cars...think about your route out as you are walking IN. Is there an outfield gate or a foul territory gate past either dugout that you could use on the way out? Nobody likes a long walk back and forth from cars to the field but, are you parking as out of the way as possible? Away from where the team buses might be and the bulk of fan parking? Conduct your post-game as efficiently as possible and depart the facility as efficiently as possible. I think the saddest part of this entire situation is...NOBODY, nobody thinks they are the problem. No coach, parent or player thinks they have ever said anything inappropriate or abusive towards an official. It's not golf...I get it. Officials are always going to hear something negative about their work from fans whose team the calls go against but, there's room for improvement and nobody is interested in improving the culture except the officials. And I'm sure coaches, parents would say, we don't have to respect the officials...that's what the money's for. One thing's for sure...nobody loves sports like the officials. Why else would we put up with it decade after decade? And even if we did blow the call and your kid lost the Intergalactic Champeenchip Of Duh World? So what...it's a god damn game. They're kids. They will experience far WORSE disappointments as adults then anything that will ever happen to them on a baseball field as a kid. ~Dawg

Umpiring has definitely lost some of its luster at least at the high school levels, over the past 15-20 years IMO. Part of it is the abuse/comments and part of it is the game fees not making it worth a lot of people's time.

For the record, thanks for sharing. I think there are far more of us out there feeling this way, but too many won't speak up for fear of others poking fun. First off, man, I'm so sorry. I fully understand and sympathize with what you're experiencing. So far, the kids have been mostly okay - but I've been doing mostly 9th/JV until I was sure I could handle the speed of Varsity without issue. While this year hasn't been as bad as the last one I worked yet, I do feel like fan and coach behavior especially is getting worse. Typically, the higher the level, the less issues I have with players and fans, but not always true with the coaches. They can be jerks just trying to throw you off your game for the fun of it or get in your head so you'll call something their way the next time. But I know you're familiar with all that. I believe that you are correct in laying the blame at the feet of social media. There is definitely an anti-umpire bias out there, I've even seen pages called "umpire hate" groups that supposedly post where they believe an umpire has missed a call. You will notice there's never any substance to their post, just overall hate towards the profession. I'm sorry again though. When these start piling up over a few games, it does get you to start asking "is this worth continuing". When I'm hurting and doing my best just to get back on the field and giving it everything I've got and then parents are jerks, it does take a lot of internal calming to keep yourself from letting them know all you've done to get there and call a game so their kids could play... and them complain. Hang in there if you can. Whatever your decision is, I will support you as a friend and brother.

Maannnn, I got something raw and knawling at me but it is too soon to spill. But, let's just say I left the field with someone hollering 'Hey Blue! You still suck!" for all to hear including the herd of cows across the valley. I hear you brother.

Correct.

That part is incorrect. The player was a starter; he can re-enter in the same position in the batting order.

As an ASICS wearer, I’m tempted on that first pair (sorry, @Velho, that second pair looks like bowling shoes) … was trying not to spend so much money this year! Just bought a pair of Brooks last year. $9 shipping, or spend another $40 for free shipping.

Fit for me (for the alternatives) is: Easton EvoShield Rawlings If i recall correctly EvoShield had the most vents but I think its ugly. All-Star is superior in every way besides the shape compared to all of them though.