Justin

Update: headed back to school to become a high school math teacher. Thought about it for most of my undergraduate career, decided to pursue statistics instead but for the wrong reasons ($$$$$). Finally figured out that enjoying what I do is more important than my earning potential, so I'm starting my teacher certification program in about a month.

Just got my confirmation/welcome email - anyone else headed to Long Island at the end of the month? This will be my first clinic other than rookie camp - looking forward to it!

Been driving the same car since I was 16, and never had an issue with it before. Dad taught me how to drive stick and did/does the same thing. Apparently not the best way to go about it...

Hey all, Thanks for the support. I have some good news, even if it makes me feel like a bit of an idiot. I found my car! Turns out that my parking brake released and the car rolled about 1000 feet across the plaza. Never hit anything (missed 2 curbs, 3 trees, a few lampposts, and a drive-thru ATM), no damage, nothing taken, and no one ever reported a runaway vehicle to the police. Moral of the story: neutral + parking brake = runaway Civic. Happy to have it (and all my gear) back. Even though it turned out OK, this incident made me realize that I don't have renter's insurance on the place I just moved into a couple of weeks ago (first time living somewhere other than my parents' house or a college dorm, and it never even crossed my mind). Taking care of that particular issue this evening. Thanks again for all the support - you all are awesome.

Just call the game how you normally would. You got the assignment for a reason. Your assigner (hopefully) won't put you in a situation you aren't capable of succeeding in. 2nd year umpire, so most of my games this year are a new level for me. I try to tell myself the above before each game at a new (higher) level than I've previously done. Worked out pretty well so far.

My car was stolen from my place of work this afternoon, along with most of my umpiring gear. Car was locked and windows up, and we've narrowed the possible time down to a 15-minute window. Huge blow to me - umpiring has been my largest source of income this summer, I've been moving up quickly and having a great time on the field, and now I can barely piece together a uniform to work the bases. Assigner/UIC wasn't able to talk tonight, but he's expecting my call tomorrow so we can figure out where to go from here as far as the rest of my summer assignments are concerned. Stuff I lost: - All plate gear: Wilson hardshell CP, shins, NB plate shoes, Wilson mask, All-Star HSM. - Uniform: All umpiring caps (2 w/ assn. logo embroidered, 1 blank), navy shirt, 2 red shirts, navy jacket w/ state logo. - Misc. accessories: Ball bags, indicators, rule book, case book, camping chair, bucket, cooler, Nutty Buddy. Stuff I still have: - Uniform: 2 powder blue shirts, cream shirt, base pants, plate pants, base shoes, belt. I'm lucky to even be left with the stuff I have - happened to have a big tournament weekend and the stuff I still have is what needed to be laundered at the end of the weekend. Hopeful (but not optimistic) that my car will be found and recovered with all my gear, but I'm expecting to be on the lookout for a new set pretty soon. One of those things that you hear about, but never expect will happen to you...

HS - vouchers filled out at the field, check within 30 days Summer rec - cash at plate Summer tournaments - TD or site manager finds us in the parking lot at some point throughout the day and gives us checks Legion (and one tournament) - paid by assigner at the end of the summer

The guy whose watch says 12:01 when the protest is filed.

I was in the same boat last week - worked my first 25+ MUNY game as a 22 year old. Must have done something right, because I have another one on Monday :-) I can only speak to the game I worked, but I have a couple of observations that may help you out. - @Majordave is absolutely right about pace of play - guys are pretty slow to get into the box, take signs, etc. Roll with it. - Professionalism is key. Your assignor put you on this game for a reason - you earned it. Don't let the age difference get into your head too much. I got worked up before my game because I was nervous about the age difference, my (in)experience level, etc. Get through an inning or two and you'll realize that you're just working a ball game. No big deal. - The competition level was pretty high for my game, but it was the classic blend of competitiveness and collegiality. Everyone's playing hard but there is a solid amount of mutual respect. - Catchers were pretty vocal with me, especially in the first couple of innings. They know how to lobby for a bigger zone, and will do what they can to buy strikes for their pitchers. Every conversation was calm and respectful ("looks like we found the edge of your zone, blue," "where are you on that one," etc.) No big deal as long as they're not too persistent or demonstrative. Have fun! I had a blast working this level for the first time - looking forward to hearing how it goes for you.

Babe Ruth 12U (Majors? I'm not sure of the age designations in Babe Ruth). Below is the exact report I just filed with my association and the league, with team names removed. Looking back, I think I may have had a quick trigger, but the comments about my association and pay rate got under my skin for some reason. Looking for feedback on the both the EJ itself and the report (first one I've ever had to write). Bottom 1st, 2 out, runner on 2nd (has just hit a double). VT attempts hidden ball trick, I call balk because the pitcher had taken the rubber without the ball. VT HC comes out of dugout for an explanation. I explain my call (pitcher was on the rubber without the ball), and the coach argues that it's legal because the pitcher hadn't come set. He continues to argue, I warn him that he is about to be ejected, he returns to the dugout. Strikeout ends the inning with no runs scored, and VT HC comes to me in between innings and resumes the argument. I again warn that he is about to be ejected, and he makes one final comment to me (I don't remember exactly what was said here, but it wasn't anything ejectable) and begins to return to his dugout. As he is walking away, he is still talking rather loudly, and the two phrases I hear are "these association umpires don't know what they're doing" and "we're paying $XX for this $#!%." I then ejected the coach for personal and profane comments, in addition to prolonging an argument. Upon realizing he was ejected, he came back out and said "I'm at least going to get my money's worth" and attempted to keep arguing the balk call. After realizing that I wasn't going to entertain his argument anymore, he said "I thought association umpires would have a thicker skin than this" and left the field. No issues or incidents followed. Edit: Removed pay rate from report. Must have missed it the first time around.

Tumblr? You crazy kids and your social media options... My dance students constantly talk about Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Vine, etc. Then I pull out my prepaid flip phone and they look at me like I have 6 heads.

Well, that's pretty damn cool. Thanks for the find!

Dinner. Beer. Star Trek (or Battlestar). I'm a nerd.

Our post-game wasn't very long, but he did point out a couple of things that I need to work on: 1) Inconsistent strike mechanic. I use the hammer, but it's never quite in the same position every time. Sometimes it's tight to my body, sometimes way over my head. I can't figure out any particular reason why it changes, but I need some mirror time to figure out where I want that hammer to be and to get it there consistently. 2) Indicating where a ball missed. I got into this habit working Jr. High and JV games, and whenever I think I've broken it, it comes back to haunt me. Didn't even notice myself doing it today, but my partner caught me motioning "outside" (I only do this on outside pitches for some reason) at least 4 or 5 times after I balled a close pitch. The pitcher knows where it missed - I don't need to tell him. 3) Where to park for games at this field. We ended up meeting at the field since we parked a half mile away from each other (Google "Delaware Park" in Buffalo if you want to see what we're dealing with) and by the time we realized it, all the spaces near our respective cars were taken anyway. I learned that our association traditionally parks on one of the side streets, since it's usually one of the only places where there are two open parking spaces near each other. The little things I didn't even think of when I moved to a city...

MUNY/MSBL game - I was the youngest person on the field by at least 10 years. First time working this age group, so I was a bit nervous about working a game where the players were older than me. Nothing too interesting to report, which I suppose is an accomplishment in itself. Multiple guys in my association warned me about this league/age level and I was prepared to take a decent amount of crap, but things went pretty smoothly. One pitch that I definitely want back: a 1-2 curveball that crossed right at the batter's waist. He took a step toward the dugout and I balled it. Next pitch was a fastball down the middle that the batter swung right through. So no harm done by missing that pitch, but I had a consistent zone throughout the game so that one really bugged me. A few other borderline pitches that I questioned myself on after calling, but no grumbles from either side about them so I guess I got them right for the most part. Partner is an Air Force vet who's been umpiring for almost 30 years. He seemed pretty skeptical when he found out how old I am (22) and how much experience I have (this is year 2), but it seemed like I won him over pretty quickly. I'm finding that because my association is relatively small and most of the guys have been umpiring for at least 10-15 years, working with newbies seem to make a lot of the guys nervous since they're used to working with familiar faces. I've also found that simply acting professional and asserting control of the game from the first pitch seems to go a long way in convincing my partners (and coaches who are unfamiliar with me) that I know what I'm doing (for the most part) and can be trusted on the field. Overall, awesome experience. Both catchers were great, the two teams knew each other so there were some fun conversations between batters and catchers throughout the game, and my zone and mechanics were the most consistent I've had them all season. Feeling pretty good about this one.

My little brother is going to states! He pitched a complete game 3-hitter with 7 K's today, and hit the game winning HR in a 2-1 ballgame. They've been eliminated in the Section VI Class A final 3 of the last 4 years, so this is a huge step forward for the program. State quarterfinals against the Section V champs on Saturday - blocking it off in Arbiter and looking forward to being a fan for a day.

I'm a graduate student in biostatistics - just finished the first year of my master's program. Hoping to work for a cancer research center when I graduate. Currently, I deliver for a sub shop, tutor high school/college math and physics, teach tap dance, and umpire to help pay my way through school until a professor decides to throw some funding my way.

I appreciate all the help, guys. Got an alert from Arbiter around noon today saying the game was cancelled, so it looks like I'm off the hook this time. Now that I know this kind of an assignment is a possibility, I'm planning on digging deeper into the softball rules so I can be a bit more prepared if this happens again.

Hey all, Our association is in a bit of a scheduling bind because of all the rain here in WNY, and as a result I've been assigned a softball plate job (FED JV) on Friday. This will be my first softball game and it completely blindsided me, so I'm looking for a little help. Could you all help me out from a mechanics/positioning perspective? What are the major differences in coverage between baseball and softball? At this point I'm just interested in getting through Friday, so I'd appreciate a focus on PU responsibilities. Found the NFHS rules differences document online and have been talking to a couple of friends who coach softball, so I should be OK from a rules perspective, but if you all have any points I should focus on I'd appreciate that as well. Hopefully getting a softball mechanics manual from tomorrow's partner, but I'd like to get a jump on this if possible. Thanks!

The creator of this comic just gave a TED talk on his "What If?" series, and used the baseball example as his intro. It's a great watch if you have 20 minutes or so.

2nd year umpire here. Have yet to work a HS game in this association - moved to Buffalo at the beginning of the summer travel season and all of my HS assignments so far have been cancelled because of rain/snow. Imagine my surprise when I check Arbiter and see a varsity game on my schedule! First game of the season tomorrow afternoon (JV plate) and then the varsity game (bases) on Saturday morning. Guess I must have done something right in the summer tournaments...

Reminds me a bit of this movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157472/?ref_=nv_sr_1

I'm a math and physics guy in my day job, and I've been following Randall's stuff from the beginning. The "what if..." section is a fairly new addition - the webcomic itself has some hilarious insights into a lot of math/physics/computer science topics. Of course, this particular article is pretty high on my list of favorites.

I don't mind being called "Blue" at all. He told me his name too, but I call him "Coach." If we were like for like he'd call me "Umpire." I think that's worse! Pretty close - the travel teams from Ontario and Quebec call us "Umpy" during summer tournament season. Always an interesting one to hear.

Came home from work tonight to find my first assignment of the season on Arbiter for tomorrow at 5:00 - I guess they finally found enough dry(ish) diamonds in WNY to get the season started. I have the bases for a JV game with a partner that I worked with a few times last summer - very grateful to have a familiar partner to kick off the season. Any tips for last-minute things to review when returning from a long layoff? I struggled with the bases more than the plate during my rookie year (the result of working a lot of one-man modified, I think), so I'm a bit more nervous than I probably should be. Can't wait to get back out on the field!