GetItRight

Try a different browser. It wouldn't load in my normal browser (Chrome) but did work when I tried Internet Explorer.

Great position and great call at home: http://hawkcentral.com/2014/05/23/video-watch-iowas-yacinich-steal-home-in-big-ten-tourney/

Doesn't RefPay cost money to set up an account? Like a $25 fee? If so, that would $#% me off.

This is fairly overrated. If there's any kind of crowd and/or depending on the weather conditions, no one is really going to hear your verbal anyway. I give very limited verbal on the bases, even for really close plays. That's why signals were invented in the first place. A crisply delivered signal, with accompanying confident body language, is generally enough to sell most plays. The really tight ones are going to elicit a response from one side or the other anyway, no matter how loudly you scream "Out!" or "SAFE!". I guarantee I have some of the softest verbals of anyone on the board, and I've had a pretty successful career so far (high school state tournaments and up to the Division II level in college). When I see umpires that really SCREAM their calls out, it tells me that they're trying to convince themselves on the call. Just be smooth with it. Just trying to provide a different perspective is all.

This is example #1 of why it's silly to require umpires to carry indicators. You still end up with situations like this. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_04_22_minmlb_tbamlb_1&mode=video&content_id=32292749&tcid=vpp_copy_32292749 http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/umpires-use-replay-to-check-count-on-yunel-escobar-%E2%80%94-and-still-get-it-wrong-083141608.html

I've always felt that the difference between a truly excellent umpire and average/bad/mediocre ones is the ability to recognize and evaluate your own mistakes. I make as many of them as anyone else, but I always understand when I've screwed up and can typically identify what the problem was (timing, positioning, lack of focus, etc). A poor or mediocre official doesn't realize that they are making mistakes, and/or has no idea how to correct them. I've had bad games before, but I know when I'm having bad game, and I know when I'm having a great one. I don't need anybody else to let me know. If someone honestly can't tell the difference of when they're having a good or bad game, then they just aren't very good to begin with, by definition.

If you ask me anything about a call during a game, I am going to tell you EXACTLY what I saw/thought about the play. If you don't want my honest opinion, then DON'T ASK. I will not abide by whatever silly little verbal cues that you want play around with during a pregame. I will NOT be following those suggestions during the actual contest.

Ummmmmmm...maybe down there in the Bible Belt, but I wouldn't try that up here in Yankee-land. I would literally LAUGH OUT LOUD if you did that in front of me.

Well, since each batter is of a different size and has a different strike zone, I'm not sure why some people get so worked up over this. The strike zone changes with each and ever batter during a game, so your head positioning should change accordingly. I am constantly amazed when I see guys on TV that set really high. I have no idea how they are calling the top accurately, but many of them do. Whenever I try to set that high, literally everything high looks like a strike. I am a firm proponent of the "eyes at the top of zone" theory.

I don't think working year-round sounds like all that much fun. I enjoy the break-up of the different seasons.

I think the reason for that is because HS coaches actually face a penalty via a fine and time to attend an anger management-type class when ejected here. Also, filling out an ejection report and needing to get with the offending school, partner and assignor is a hassle. In summer ball, if you don't like someone you can get rid of them easily and the game continues. No restricting them to the dugout or forms to fill out. I can totally vouch for the problems happening in younger kid travel baseball. 90% of my post high school games will be 15U or older. I have one tournament with 13U. I think this is spot on. There are consequences in school ball that coaches take into consideration. In summer/travel ball everyone is an All-star and there are really no repercussions if they act stupid. Plus they are hobby coaches in summer ball. As opposed to the truly dedicated professionals that coach at the high school level?

100% of coaches that attempt that argument with me are likely to see an early end to their evening with a comfy seat on the team bus.

I tossed HT's cleanup hitter in the 1st inning of a state tournament game for MC. Absolutely automatic. Gave HC more leash than I normally would; he stayed. I still think I probably shouldn't have changed my ways. MC is a safety concern so there should NOT be any extra rope on something like that, no matter what the stakes. Most other cases I recognize that they are fueled by emotions and they may get a little more slack. They may be trying to fire their team up etc. All part of the game. To a point. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk These kinds of comments are EXTREMELY contradictory. Extra rope is extra rope and should apply to all situations equally, IF you're going to give it.

LOL, that is way too complicated, and I have enough things to worry about in a game besides where you're stepping or what hand you're pointing with. I wouldn't even pretend to agree to that in a pre-game.

In both cases, an actual throw must be attempted in order for there to be a valid INT ruling.

If you follow me to my car after the game, I am now off-duty and will tell you EXACTLY what I think about you if you're interested in a post-game discussion.

I was evaluated out here last year and told I was the most boring umpire in the state. Said I put him to sleep. When he said this to the coach the coach replied, " He may be boring, but he sure does like to call strikes." Also said I was called mushroom because I am a fungi. How are strikes boring?

He's wrong on both counts. Just because someone is in an "evaluating" position in some organization does not make him an umpiring genius, and this guy clearly isn't one.

It's similar to the catcher squeezing you or blocking your view. All you can do is work it the best that you can and call what you see. Players doing something abnormal isn't the umpire's fault and if it causes you to miss a couple, so be it. That's why they say that sports builds character.

I can't believe they would even let that game be played under those circumstances. What a disgrace to baseball.

This is the absolute key thing to say. When listening to a play sitch from a game that you didn't actually see, unless it is from the umpires involved themselves, you will almost NEVER be getting a clear and unbiased summary of what actually occurred. This isn't because people are trying to hide things or be disingenuous, but very often coaches, fans, and even players don't fully understand the rules and very often have trouble comprehending exactly what happened on the field in it's entirety. It is simply amazing how 3 different people can be watching the exact same game and then come away with 3 different versions of what actually happened. When talking to coaches, fans, players, etc about situations that happened in other games that I didn't see, I almost always proceed under the assumption that key pieces of information are missing from the story. Even if it's from a coach who's knowledge of the game I generally respect. The only person that I know is going to give me the straight, unvarnished truth is the involved umpire. Well, at least most of the time. What I will typically do when talking to non-umpires is to state the rules involved in the version of the play that they have described to me, and then make statements such as "If that happened exactly the way that you say it did, the ruling should have been this." This will often be followed by something along the lines of "what the umpire might have been thinking was..." Edit to add that some people here seem to take things a little too seriously. I have no problem discussing plays with people that I know well, including a select few coaches. I will often ask who the umpires involved were and then if I know them well will say some positive things about them to the coach in question. If I don't have anything positive to say about them, I will simply say that I don't know them that well. High school baseball is not life and death and I refuse to be a part of some Blue Wall of Silence just because someone might get their feelings hurt. It just isn't that big of deal, and really shouldn't be, to anyone.

I would never agree to work a game solo unless I was getting paid double.

I think it means "I'm about to call somebody out."

I enjoy calling runners out just because. I don't really need the excuse of a great play in order to do it.

I had a high school game that went 17 one time. 2nd game of a DH. Started at 7:50pm and finished at 12:05am. I was the plate umpire and left the field in the middle of the 13th to use the restroom. Longest games that I've heard of around here were from friends of mine that went 21 in two different games. I had another friend that went 20-something in a state playoff game a few years back. I don't remember the final inning count in that one.