Jeff C.

Great article. Thanks Jeff for posting.

In the last 6 years I have had exactly one dressing room. And that's only because it was so cold, the AD/coach felt sorry for us. Other than that, I dress in the parking lot. No one has ever offered a place to dress.

I look forward to reading this everyday. This is as close as I will ever get to school. Thank you Jonny for this blog.

I have met Thunderheads, Jim Kirk & MJR_2013. Came close to working with Thunderheads, but a thunderstorm changed our plans.

Yep, I've been getting games for about two weeks.

I hope the bad ones are gone by the 21st!

I did a fall ball game for my brother in law a couple of years ago. He asked me about my zone. "It's fall ball. You're about to find out" was my response. I only said that because it was my brother in law and he knows he can be a pita. I'd never say that to an actual coach.

I don't know how many partners I've had discuss how to approach us, during the plate meeting. I just cringe inside and stare ahead and try not to make eye contact with anyone.

Jeff we must be very similar in nature. I too arrive on the field with the attitude of trying to please everyone, which ain't never going to happen of course. I do pretty much what Ricka does. I also ignore the "good game blue" comments even if they are well meaning. Because that same fan or parent next week could say that I was the worst umpire ever. Trust me, the fans, coaches & players can never be as hard on me as I am on myself.

Yep, and then you hear "But in our last game .....".

My old pet peeve. Once you get yourself in the routine of putting the ball back in play, it becomes second nature. When I first started, I really worked on that the first couple of years. I always put it back in play. I'm pretty loud @ the beginning of an inning, so there is no doubt. If there are runners, I verbalize a bit louder so everyone can hear. No runners, I verbalize loud enough for my catcher and batter to hear. I always point also. Once you get into the habit, pitcher's will wait for you. I've seen it happen. And I still find varsity pitcher's that don't wait. I simply step out and remind him that I have to put it in play and remind him that if my hand is up, ain't nothing happening.

I thought the same thing. Thanks for the advice guys.

Gotta agree with the Major. It's my favorite but I don't get many occasions to wear it.

There will be leadoffs and stealing. Elares, that is pertinent info. And we are to enforce balks, no warnings. There will be 2 of us. I will start on the plate and then the later games, I will be on the bases. Does the plate guy pretty much use 90' mechanics for rotations, i.e., when there might be plays at third?

I'm doing a 10u tournament this weekend and I need some tips on working the 60' diamond. What are the basics? It's been a looooong time since I have done this age. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Now Jeff, not everywhere in Michigan is the same. The vast majority of guys I work with wear black or navy undershirts. I hardly ever see red ( I think it looks good by the way). We also wear polo blue & the red, white & blue stripe light blue. We also wear the light blue with the dark blue & white stripe. As for me, I wear whatever undershirt I happen to grab, black or blue. It would be nice if we could wear black since our assistant director of the MHSAA is a D1 umpire. Go figure.

He stood there like a house beside the road. I also liked George Kell. I loved his accent.

Just recently I had a game like that myself th3. I figured out I wasn't tracking the ball all the way in. I was terrible. I started telling myself one at a time, one at a time.

@ Maven, the BU was fairly loud when he called it. But there was no conference.

@ Grayhawk, this is what I think happened. I'll have to revisit that section of the rulebook so I understand it better.

Well Maven, the BU pretty much bellowed "Illegal Pitch"! They didn't confer but it's possible the count was fixed and I missed it.

I was watching a recent varsity high school game and the BU called an illegal pitch. There was a runner on first base. Should this have been called a balk or am I missing something? Runner was left on first base. Not one peep from anyone. I'm not even sure they added a ball to the count.

That is an awesome picture.

Please, please tell me "Bad to the Bone" was playing?!

You read it correctly @Jocko. I was looking down that way, but I KNEW it wasn't my call. I gave him a good stare. He didn't ask for any help ( thank goodness) because I had diddly squat for him. Thanks guys, I agree with everyone that has replied.