Texarkana

I played ball till I was 23 or 24. Always loved it and played hard. Twenty some years ago I was sitting around talking to a guy that called HS ball at the time and we were having our usual baseball talk when all of a sudden he asked me if I wanted to go umpire some baseball games for him in his town. I said ok. First year I did nothing but 9-10 year olds and worked with a lot of guys who had called a long time. Next year I called 11-12 and did that along with 13-14 for another year or so. Year four I got invited to umpire HS ball by the head of the local chapter. Went to about five local clinics and called 9th and jv ball for three years. Six years into it, I started calling varsity baseball. About five years later, started calling college. Looking back, I think the progression and the time frame was perfect for me. The guys that mentored me stressed the importance of doing it right and using good mechanics no matter what age group I was umpiring. One guy that mentored me umpired on a stage that most people only dream of doing and shared a wealth of stories of MLB coaches, playoffs, venues and all that went along with it.

Every once in a while I have game that I just do not feel that great doing. I had one of those yesterday where I just felt out of sinque (sp) I was calling a high level varsity game with a guy I call a bunch with so in between innings I asked him to watch me and see if he saw anything different than what he was accustomed to seeing with me. I usually do not say a word to my partner but trust this guy a bunch. Next break he tells me that I am standing back farther than usual. I moved up about ten inches or so and the difference was astounding. I had called a kids game the other night and had moved back a tad due to the catcher having some unusual habits and had neglected to move back up. Ten inches or so made a huge difference.

In all seriousness, I suppose it's personal preference. This is funny as hades. Where did you find this?

There are a couple of guys I call prety regularly with that I would have looked at them quickly and they would have let me know if I had a pulled foot or not and I would have made the call and not a soul in the park would have known that we had just worked together in making the call except for us. I usually cover this in my pregame talk at the car. I would have let my partner know to look at me and if I had the out sign showing in front of me he was out but if I was moving my hand he had pulled. I just put it in front of me (in front by the right side of my belly) where you would have to be looking for it to see it. I have had coaches come out and ask and once they know you were working together it is a dead issue. I guess you better know who your partner is and make sure you cover these things before hitting the field. Not sure what the big time schools teach but this is what I have always used and have had no problems with it.

Did you really suck or did you just have someone squawking because you would not call the low strike? I watch guys call low pitches strikes over and over again and know that they are setting the pitcher up for a bad game and a good umpire who knows how to call a strike some heartburn by calling them. If that was the case, do not change your zone. It is up to the other umpires to learn what a strike is. I had a very good catcher yesterday, big 14 year old kid that was trying to drag em in. I also told him to let them alone he had a better chance by just sticking them, because they were that close. Little did I know "PAPA" was in the dugout who happened to coach a solid D-1 program and junior relays it back to him. As I was walking out, Gramps grabs me to tell me I call a solid game and talk a little ball. Tell ya the truth, I am glad that I did not know gramps was in the dugout till after the game was over. I was calling in a different area and state than I usually call so did not know the coaches, players etc. Sometimes better that way. Sometimes we can get to cute for our own good.

The Gerry Davis stance? Or what Finnerty mentioned above? The Davis stance.

Can someone explain this stance to me in simple terms but cover the details. I let my hands dangle between my legs. My wrists lay across my thighs but my hands dangle. If a ball hits them it just gives and stings. Can you use this stance without putting your hands on your knees and just let your hands dangle? I am never to old to try something new and improve.

This little weasel umpire throwing a fellow umpire under the bus is a tool. He is more worried about kizzing this managers azz then protecting one of his fellow umpires. What a little troll. I would never call a game with this little rat. To call the actions of a fellow umpire "unappropriate" without even knowing what happened makes it even worse. New guys, take this as a lesson. DO NOT EVER THROW YOUR PARTNER UNDER A BUS. This manager could care less about this little azz kisser. All we have on a field is each other. Wow what a troll.

I had twelve games last week. Four high school and eight 13-14 USSSA. This week I have two high school and nine over the coming weekend. Getting tired already.

Unless you work varsity, most of the time neither dugout has water, except for what the players brings for themselves. If it's hot and I am working solo and hustling, going over two hours without water is not advised. Hard to believe that this is how they feel in the IE, Stephen. It can easily get to 90+ where you live in the Spring. Lots of good advice elsewhere on the list. Nice list. I am not being critical but ever call games in Texas in August? I have walked out on the field when it was 105 degrees. It is not up to teams to supply me with water.

I called a game a few weeks back (varsity) for a team from Shreveport named Calvary Baptist. They needed NO help throwing strikes. Good coaches and very professional. If you were calling Evangel and Calvary JV ball it was probably better teams than a lot of small school varsity. You are very lucky that your partner did not tell you to stick it where the sun did not shine when you shared your strike zone but I would bet he told the assigner not to partner you and him together anymore. You should have taken your place in the field and said NOTHING. And to TOP off the fact you did not stand in the proper place in between innings, you are going to critique him DURING A GAME??? Wow is all I can say. If you want to quit calling JV ball it would probably be better if you worked on YOUR mechanics and YOUR strike zone and stood in the proper place. I can think of very few reasons why umpires should converse after a game starts in between innings. It looks suspect at best and raises questions in coaches minds.

I guess another way of looking at this would be that you had kids who wanted to play baseball. Economic repressed, non-matching uniforms, not the best field conditions etc. But they were there because they wanted to play ball. Probably no kids that had money for 300 dolar bats, private lessons etc. But at least they had the opportunity to play ball and as an umpire, I owe it to them to do just a good as job for them as I would two private school powerhouses who had the best of everything. I think games like this prepare you for a "big" playoff game down the road. Work on keeping focussed 100% of the time. If you can continue to focuss during a game like this, you will be ready for the one down the road where every call is put under a microscope. I heard some good ideas about working on mechanics etc. If you had a newer guy with you, a good opportunity to train them also.

For the next couple of weeks I have been assigned to do games with all of our new chapter members. I really enjoy doing this plus I get paid pretty good money to call some jv games with no pressure. Pretty nice gig. District games start in three weeks and that is a new ball game. Yesterday I called a jv tourny game with a guy who just two weeks ago looked like he was totally lost on a high school ball field. I could not believe the improvement in two short weeks. I knew both of the coaches and let them know that I was working with him and would be talking with him a bunch in between innings. No problem there. You know, sometimes I believe it is better to get a guy who has never called games and has no habits (bad or good) than a guy who has called 5-10 years and has some pretty bad habits and muscle memory ingrained in them. The mechanics that you teach them and they practice from the start is what they will carry with them. I had the plate and the main thing that I wanted this guy to work on yesterday was getting a good timing rhythm and getting used to having his eyes watch the whole play before calling. When making his safe/out calls to use proper mechanics and not look like he was doing the backstroke when calling a runner safe. When a ground ball is hit and the fielder has made his throw to first, I was stressing for him to go back down to the set position, making sure he had a good angle about 15 foot away and to watch the play. He caught on to that quickly and had two bangers where not only he got the calls right, but he stayed down with his hands in proper position and WATCHED THE WHOLE PLAY. On one a ball was dropped at the last second and due to him using proper mechanics, called it just like it should have been called. Nice to see guys starting out who want to call games and we have an obligation to teach them right and with some compassion (no belittling or name calling)

I tell every brand new guy who does a first game (as they are walking with their head down) Let me tell you something. We have all had a first game and no one on planet earth could possibly screw theirs up any worse than I did. It usually gets the head up to the level where we can talk. I try to encourage new guys not make them feel like dog crap (like a few did to me) We need to get guys to want to stay and umpire!

I got burnt on this about 15 years ago and it has never happened again. Kudo's to the person who said "do it every time and there is never a problem" Younger guys, heed this advice. If you do not put it in play one day you will be having a conversation with a coach on the field. Great reminder. And a great reminder for us to remind our partners!!

You can not help but notice a good umpire at the high school level. Now things may not be said but trust me, salty coaches notice both good and bad mechanics rather quickly. I believe an umpire doing a bang up job will be noticed and it may not be verbal, but it will show up in the number of games that he/she is doing, big time playoff games they are calling and tournament requests they get. So the good umpire is definately getting noticed and recognized/rewarded as such. I called a couple of games today with a young man that came back from school. Nice mechanics, game mechanics etc. but I do not believe he is doing his self any justice by letting people know within the first 10 seconds of a conversation that he went. This is drawing attention to him and when he makes a BOO boo, I can hear it now. It did make me feel pretty good that when we were talking after the game he was very complimentary and was asking a lot of questions about my plate mechanics, rhythm etc. I told him that it was years of practicing the RIGHT thing and watching lots of games and film. But I did pick up some very good things that he brought back from school. The verbal communication and crispness of his signals was fun to watch and I am going to work/use some of them. I truly admire any young person who goes to school and is willing to sacrifice and live the hard life to chase and hopefully fulfill their dream. To any on here that are doing the same thing, good luck and by gosh I hope you make it!! Just keep doing a good job and you will be noticed.

I get six weeks vacation and save it for ball. The official season opened this week. I have eight games this week (4 double headers) We usually do two weeks of scrimmages but it rained this year and I got a grand total of two innings behind the plate and four in thield. Saturday I have a three team round robin and all three are prior state champs and usually go deep. So much for warming up. I will keep you all in my prayers that you have a safe season as does your teams.

That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. The way that I read it was that he watched the pitch come out of the hand, hit the glove and then his timing issue kicked in.

Agreed. I also use a little phrase in my head. I get a kick out of guys who call it "artificial" or some other name they have heard someone along the line say. I am not a MLB umpire. I have called a long time and do what I need to do to establish MY time and rhythm. If someone else thinks it is artificial, do not do it. I am not going to name drop but the guy who taught me how to develope good timing and good rhythm has called bigger games and on a bigger stage than 99.99999% of all umpires in the world. I get so tired of guys telling other guys who are doing a bang up job of umpiring ball that they are doing this wrong or they are doing that wrong. As long as they are using good sound mechanics and calling an accurate game, LEAVE THEM ALONE unless they ask for help. We all make a mistake and any hot shot that says they do not is lying. Last night I almost made one. Wind was blowing left to right and a kid hit a ball to right that was slicing. At first I thought it was pretty routine and started in from "A" but after a step or two my instinct kicked in and I yelled going out and started out. Good thing I did. This ended up being a strange one where the kid was in the fair part of the field but the ball was just foul by about an inch. You had to see it to see how weird it was. I could have very easily made a BOO BOO but ended up making the right call because of a last split second decision. We had a good chuckle after the game on the way I reversed field.

This pretty much sums it up for me. I am in management and am in the electric generation business. We have 2000 contractors building a new coal power plant right now. I am in charge of getting all the spare parts set up along with hiring people, overseeing some aspects of the construction. After it is done, it will be a great place to work but right now it is the most stress that I have had in the 32 years that I have worked for my employer. THANK GOD FOR UMPIRING. It is the only stress relief that I get and without it I would be a ball of nerves right now. Going to the ball park and getting to move around, interact with people and watch baseball is my salvation. There are a few moments in a game where it may get tense or tight but for the most part it is a walk in the park for me. This is my stress buster and relax time. Last night I had a pretty good team from Texarkana and a very loaded private school from Shreveport scrimmaging. Three of us calling the game (two man crew) rotating. I did not call any behind the plate but was out on the field and at a moment in the game as I exhaled, I realized the peace that I was feeling and was grateful to have chosen to call ball games twenty some years ago. It balanced what I had felt earlier in the day dealing with the craziness at work.

No disrespect, but Durwood thought he was part of the show. I am saying this in a funny way not a mean disrespectful way.

I laughed as I did it.

If I were you I would be more than a little miffed. I am clean shaven but do not think this has one thing to do with the quality of umpiring. I agree with the "not looking like grizzly" They probably waited to tell you guys this last at the state meeting for fear that nothing else would be discussed.

Welcome to the umpire fraternity. I live right up the road from you and will do anything I can to help you if needed. I know quite a few people down your way and called a JB playoff series this year down in Gilmer. Just give me a shout if you need anything!

This sounds like false timing to me, you're saying "he is..." is the same as counting. Timing is effective use of the eyes, making sure you see all aspects of the call. On a pitch, that is watching it all the way into the glove. Whatever works for each guy I guess. I pride myself in rarely missing a pitch and this is what works for me. I can not remember in years doing something stupid in the field as a result of pulling the trigger to fast. I agree with what you say about the eyes etc, and this is what I use to replay the tape in my mind. It is just what works for me. Has worked for twenty some years now.