Fighting Illini

Mine would be Fuzz Washington.....HAHA!

Thanks to everyone that has weighed in with advice and encouragement. I was definitely a little down after the games Sunday and feeling slightly overwhelmed, but after seeing everyone's comments and knowing what I need to do to improve my next time around, I'm more than ready to get back after it. Its interesting how you can build somthing up in your mind to feel like the 7th game of the world series and when things don't go how you saw them playing out in your mind beforehand- feeling like you just blew the 7th game of the world series. I put the weight of the world on my shoulders for this little league game and it really ended up burning me on the mental side of things before, during, and after the game was over. If nothing else improves (I'm praying lots of things improve), I know my approach and expectations will have me in a better mindset going into my next games on Saturday.

I finally got to umpire my first ever baseball game yesterday afternoon. A 10U double header, each 5 innings. I worked the bases in game 1 and switched the plate in game 2. Game 1 on the bases went smoothly, however Game 2 behind the plate was rough - especially the first two innings. As none of you know me personally, I will just tell you this about myself. I am typically a very calm, relaxed, laid back person albeit typically very organized. These characteristics did not translate to the ball diamond for my first go around. Going into this game I was nervous, anxious, and pumped full of adrenaline. By the time I got home last night I was mentally and physically exhausted and just crashed. After decompressing this morning and reflecting on the game, I trace my mistakes and problems (Which I will elborate on in a moment) to a few things. Those being 1. Nervouness 2. Inexperience 3.Lack of confidence Now, going into a few specifics here (If I listed everything this would be one hell of a long post, so I will hit the highlites). On the bases, not many issues but plenty to work on. I need to work on getting myself into position better, following the play, and being a better team mate to my partner. I was more focused on not embarresing myself as opposed to paying attention to the factors I needed to be paying attention to help him out when needed. I also needed to to do a better job of situational thinking and anticipating. Behind the dish - As I mentioned, first two innings were rough. I had a tough time staying on top of my pitch count. I was a bit overwhelmed and just got lost a few times. I had a kid strike out on four strikes - yikes! I regrouped, gathered myself and got things back on track for the final three innnings which were by no means perfect but no more major doozies like that. Through out the entire game, I know my strike zone was all over the place. I really struggled finding a consistent zone for these little kids who were all over the place with their pitching. I found myself trying to rationalize a strike call to help a kid out if possible and speed things up. This led to rushing things and not taking my time. My mechanics, both physical and verbal, were sloppy and inconsistent. I had it drilled into my head going into the game that I needed to sloooow dooown and even though I knew it in my head, I could not make it translate into the way I called my first game. While I won't say my first experience was a bad one, it wasnt really a good one either. I needed to get some experience, and that is exactly what I got. I got positive feedback from coaches and partner (Partner knew it was first game, coaches obviously didn't - although by the time the game was completed they may have suspected as much). My partners advice was to allow myself to feel good about getting the first game under my belt but that is difficult when I know I have a TON to work on. On a positive note, these were both great games to have as my first experience. Not competitive at all (Both were 20-0 shutouts), coaches were all great guys, and my partner was actually the pastor at my church so no stress as far as having a difficult partner. Post is longer than I intended but I wanted to make sure I got the important details included so I could get some really good advice and feedback. I have round two this Saturday in a 12U DH. I suspect I will spend the majority of my time between now and then making sure I am much better in my second appearence than in my first. My goal at this point is to make sure yesterday is the worst outting I ever do as an umpire in my entire career.

Hello Everyone! I am a brand new umpire, that is to say I have never umpired a single game in my entire life. However, I love the game of baseball and enjoy working with youth and thought this was a great way to spend my Spring/Summer/Fall. I have been lurking on these boards for the past month or so, but decided to finally sign up as I foresee myself having a plethora of questions in the near future, although most times I have found that it has most likely already been asked on here at some point! A little bit about me....My name is Corey. I'm 29 and live and will be working games in Central Illinois.The goal is to become an excellent official at the high school level, and I don't really have any aspirations of going much beyond the college level if that opportunity should ever present itself. I have a few games on my schedule at this point that are Freshman and JV level - starting in a couple of weeks. After reading some of the posts on this board and finding that it takes some associations a couple of years to promote offcials to this level (Possibly a geography thing - as in different parts of the country do things differently?), I am concerned about possibly being in slightly over my head - although when I questioned my assignor about being completely new to all of this, he assured me these would be good games to learn from and I have no reason not to trust him at this point. Any advice from the UE group on how to approach these games being brand new would be welcome! Anyway, I couldn't be more excited about beginning the season. I have had a blast assembling my gear for the year. I have spent more time reading reviews and price shopping for stuff than I have doing anything else that can be considered productive. I'm proud to say I spent a few extra dollars and purchased quality gear that I'm eager to try out. I guess that is about it for me. I appreciate the chance to be a part of the UE community!