Majordave

and the training is excellent. Videos of CWS and other tournament situations with senior NCAA umpires discussing the calls, the positioning, the rules. A lot of situation management type video and discussions. This is what separates the good from the good enough to work D-1. For all of these coaches, head and assistants, it is their livelihood. They do baseball FULL-TIME. They are passionate about winning to a fault. We, on the other hand, are part-time arbiters of a game we love but do not work at with every ounce of our ability EVERY DAY of our lives. I know some NCAA coaches from when I coached Legion and sent my players to their camps and workouts and visits, etc. My son was in the mix for a while but wound up playing football instead of baseball in college. If you attend one of these clinics you will have a significant appreciation for the effort and dedication these higher level fellows have. I want to be there so bad it hurts. The Atlanta Clinic agenda is posted online now. Conference umpires meetings only on Friday evening. Saturday Morning rules update session all am and breakout sessions on rules, situations, etc. in pm (three different sessions) Final matters and local association meetings on Sunday morning. Sunday is optional unless you will be eligible to work post season, Attendance at all sessions is mandatory for those. There is not a mechanics session, per se, but you do learn via the videos, and q and a during breakouts. There are no demos, no stand and deliver. It is a gentlemen's meeting. Most of those attending dress to impress. Ties and jackets/suits. Sunday is slightly more casual for most with turtlenecks and jackets or sweaters. There is probably more I can say but I recommend it if you want to work at that level. It will make you a better umpire. Last year was my first in college ball. I was told I would only work NAIA and maybe some DIII and work my way up. I got several NAIA games, two of them were conference weekend and several NAIA vs NCAA matchups in early season. Then I got a DII series in mid season. So, you never know. My mentor tells me that getting in to college ball is initially a show of your ABILITY. Then, moving up depends upon, in large part, your AVAILABILITY. Wishing you well in whatever you decide to do. I will be in Atlanta and possibly also in Chicago due to my association working both southern and mid-western conferences. It is all tax deductible as umpire training expense. If you have the means.

It is an aluminum alloy like you see in military aircraft with an odd shaped wiring. The wires are an elongated oval shape with the thin side being what you see from the front. The wider side or thick side cannot be seen in two-dimensional photos. It is a shinier silver than titanium. It is, however, very light and the guy I met who had it at the International Umpires camp last month liked it. Especially the price vs. Wilson Titanium. Nike Titanium-fuhgedaboudit! The Diamond mask has visible weld marks where vertical and horizontal bars meet. The guy who had it had replaced the cheap cloth pads (his description) with Wilson doeskin wraparounds in tan. I didn't like the look but that is my opinion. The only site that shows that mask as a titanium is dugout sports. SOS sports has it listed without that titanium puffery. The proper description would be titanium like or feel. By the way this diamond mask shape is the exact same as the one they sell in black. Another guy I know has that one and the black rubber coating has cracked off and looks the same as this new silver colored one. The weld spots are very visible on his mask as they were to be covered by the black rubber coating. I don't know of any stories of this Diamond/Schutt/Gerry Davis featherweight frame failing other than the rubber coating cracking off.

The 2009 NCAA umpires clinics registration is now open. See eofficials.com NCAA link on bottom left. (of the eofficials website home page, not this page) Registration is free. Training is good. Lots of video last year. Networking opportunities, vendors with discounts on gear, baseball in the winter. I recommend it even if you do not yet work NCAA but desire to do so in the future. Unless you are attending a hands on clinic somewhere on the weekend it is near your area you should attend one of these.

in the end. I guess. We have had a VERY dry year and are in a drought here in KY. (The state not the jelly-Grin). Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode line: "Everything always evens out for me." Maybe next year. Of course, you are getting the big bucks for your employment and I am earning a measly teacher's salary. (forget that summers off crap. There are Master's Degrees and Rank I and administrator's qualification college classes to take.) No sour grapes here, I left the big bucks of an attorney for the more free time to do what I want (like umpiring).

that I got to work the plate in a D1 intrasquad today at University of Kentucky. Three man crew. Family day with announcers, big scoreboard with jumbotron and replays, music, the whole shebang. Temp in low 70's. Short sleeves. What a great day. They have the three game intersquad "world series" next weekend so I get at least one one of those. I am now up to 190 games this year counting fall games. Pretty good 2008 and looking forward to an even better 2009. Hope yours was everything you wished for.

As some of you stated, not really much of one here. But,..... in some places it rages wildly. I like the quote, forgot the MLB guy who said it, (found it-It was Rich Garcia edited 11/21/08) ..."The strike zone is where I call it and they don't bitch." Great way to say it. I find that I have a slightly higher zone for HS than college and Legion (since most of the players in Legion ball around here play or are going to play in college). Mostly, I feel this way because I think that it relates to the speed the pitchers throw. It just is not fair to call a mid-chest pitch a strike when the pitcher throws mid 80's and up. The batter cannot get the bat to that plane and swing with any semblance of a proper swing. Sure, he can tomahawk and/or throw the bat at the ball but to really swing the way they should be taught cannot happen at those speeds. Thus, it just isn't fair, in my opinion to call a higher strike with high velocity pitching. As an aside, (Can you say tirade? Sure, I knew you could.), I HATE to work any game under 14 year olds and I especially HATE 60' games such as Little League. I finally agreed to work the local Little League district tourney this past summer after ignoring my assigner's requests the past two years. I did it to work with some great guys I do HS with. However, the baseball skill level sucked, the coaching sucked, the fans sucked and the pay sucked. I turned back the last four games I was to do including the Championship plate. The two plate jobs I had in the in six games worked resulted in three pitches directly to the inner thighs and multiple other hits on arms. elbows and wrists as well as hits to multiple other protected areas. Some of those kids can hit and throw but almost none of them could catch. I guess all the good players from around here are now on travel ball teams. Lazy, fat little catchers who never hustled, threw their helmasks on the plate in the way of a play, mommas bitchin' about EVERY pitch.....Just a really sucky (is that a word yet?) experience for me. I will probably never work that level again unless they offer me something like $100 per game and I call from behind the mound and the fans are in the outfield and the coaches wear muzzles. Then I might work a game or two. My two cents, your mileage may vary.

Is to have a very deliberate and detailed pre-game conference with your partner. Use a checklist and go over it every time. I am working on a new one and another umpire friend of mine and I are developing a laminated/illustrated checklist style binder we will try to sell to umpires, especially newer/amateur umpires that will cover all the possibilities with diagrams and checklists. This is one thing that can prevent a lot of problems. I will also add an amen to the timing issue. On all calls, get into the best position you can to see the play/pitch. Come to a complete stop if moving on the play BEFORE the play happens. Remember angle over distance. Try to get closer on a tag play and stay at least 10 to 15 feet away on a force play. See the play/follow the pitch all the way to the mitt. Stay down. Say the call to yourself (I used to actually say it aloud in a low voice to myself) (That's a ball/strike, He's safe/out) then come up (if a strike/safe/out) and make your call (verbal and mechanic together). If a ball, stay down and verbalize it. There are probably a hundred or so other things to say but we can all add as they come up.

at the International Umpires Camp in Atlanta. He worked with us in the cage and met with students along with Paul Nauert and AAA International League Umpire Brian Kennedy for a rather candid Q and A session. He also donated several items (hats. balls, pullovers and game shirts for a charity auction-all autographed by Ed. Paul and many other MLB umpires.) I got a Jerry Crawford game worn/autographed hat for a fair price. There was a 2008 Yankee Stadium All-Star game ball with the whole umpire crew's autographs. I asked "Rap. (as he told us to call him) about his CP. He said it was originally a Riddell Power but it is old and has been modified quite a bit. He has an Italian flag sticker on it as well. My cage sessions with "Rap" were recorded and were very memorable for me. I have usually had some pretty bad cage sessions at other camps but today was great and I felt that I was finally able to show my true ability. Rap had only positive commentary about my work and did not change a thing. He gave me several complements and I have it on video tape. A good day for me. as an aside, UIC, there are several (approx 14 or so) guys from NC here this weekend. They all got a 100 dollar discount.

Not mine. Just providing information. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230292137636&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching About five days left as of this posting.

http://pub30.bravenet.com/forum/2532780106 I don't think there is much traffic on there lately. I have read on one of the other sites (umpire.org or officiating.com) that it is pretty good. Website looks good. I have it on my list to go to sometime. A little far for me right now but a guy in my state high school association (Kentucky) that called State championship tourney this year, 2008) went last year (2007). He said it was good and worth the money.

No good ideas other than the same thing you already did with the other CP. How about wearing it with a mock neck underneath until it stretches out? Wetting the webbing and pads before wearing to allow some "give" until it breaks in/softens up?

Shrek worked with a partner who is not certified and the baseball was not very good. It was VERY hot and humid. I postponed the meat on the grill/pop-a-top thing until Sunday. The meat was marinated smoked pork AND beef ribs with my special spice rub and smoked chicken wings (chicken with a tan) and my homemade BBQ sauce named after my daughter (Cassie's Sweet and Sassy Sauce)(I used to name it after my wife: Nancy's Sweet Stuff, but she made me quit labeling it as such for obvious conflict of interest reasons) with cole slaw, fried okra, baked potatoes, grilled peach pie with Maker's Mark Bourbon (a Kentucky product) and honey sauce topped with vanilla ice cream and of course cold adult beverages and spiced iced tea. It was fan-effing-tastic! I cooked it all, too. My two cents, your mileage may vary. I am moving slowly today due to some increased weight allowances after stuffing myself Sunday evening.

(Sorry, Brian not UIC) around here there are few assigners for anything but regular season sanctioned ball. The summers and fall ball are basically the coach picks who he wants. It sucks. That's why I call in the neighboring region 35 miles or more away. I do work some around here in the summer just not for this particular coach that pulled that crap today. Odd thing is that the coach had asked me in person to call a game for him on a Friday evening two weeks ago but I declined due to a football scrimmage I was involved in as one of the coaches. I may never get to the bottom of it but as it works out I had other things to do and did not have to sweat a lot for a guy I do not care for. I have called games with this guy coaching in my regular region. I usually have to either warn him or restrict him to the dugout. Any close call that does not go his way he complains that I will never give him a break. Funny thing is that his team wins when I have worked a game involving his team.

As to what that coach said. Abso-freakin'-lutely. All pitches are strikes until they prove themselves different. Anything close is a strike. All borderline pitches are strikes. This moves the game along and gets them swinging the bats. NO ONE comes to the game to see walks. NO ONE. The players actually decide the game when you call a lot of strikes early because they get the message, get the bat off their shoulder, start putting balls in play and games move along faster with players making plays not umpires calling ball, ball, ball, ...... Every evaluation I have read for a new umpire and every new umpire I have worked with could benefit from calling more strikes. I say again: ALL close pitches are STRIKES. ALL borderline pitches are STRIKES. When in doubt, call a STRIKE. Do it early, do it often. No one will bitch and you will have a reputation as a good umpire. All of the guys I work with that are considered "good umpires" call a lot of strikes early, hustle a lot, look good in uniform (fitness and neatness) and they know the effin rules. I strive to be in that percentage. Most people think I am. Particularly the ones that count-my assigners and evaluators. Aren't you a Mountie? You should have no problem pissing people off and "announcing your presence with authority". (quote stolen from Bull Durham-Nuke Laloosh.) Good luck in whatever path you choose. Work a lot of games. More experience is always a good thing.

It is not going to be the best baseball and friends weekend plans after all. The A-hole coach for the home team is not one of my favorite people. The good friend who asked me to work with him (Shrek) was called by this coach to work the DH tomorrow. Unfortunately, the coach does not like me and I do not like him. It goes way back to when I coached and where I work now. I teach and coach football at the cross-town rival high school. The A-hole coach used to coach at our school but got fired for some inappropriate activity so now he works for the enemy and has a hard-on for us. Anyway, when my partner told him I was working with him the coach had his assistant call this afternoon to tell Shrek that they found another guy to work the game and I would not be needed. A little politics and personality clash. I am the only NCAA umpire in our area. I do not call regular season high school in this region where I teach and live to avoid the conflicts and drama. I work a neighboring region with a much better quality of ball and more qualified coaches and superior facilities. Five of the last seven state champions come from the high school region I call in. Nevertheless, I will still have some meat on the grill and tops popped tomorrow evening, A-hole coach or not. It is supposed to be 95 here tomorrow so maybe he is doing me a favor. As to the West Vest Gold, I also had the original West Vest that was adjustable with velcro. I got hit in the stomach just to the left of my navel by an 87 mph fastball from a lefty pitcher two years ago. I know it was 87 because I asked the guy with the JUGS gun between innings how fast the kid was throwing. He said: "the one that got you was 87." Anyhow, the kid that hit me two years ago just signed with the Rangers this week with a 1.25 million dollar signing bonus. I love West Vests. College fall ball starts in a couple of weeks. I will get some work in then.

I hope your experience with WV gold is as good as mine and Stan's. I also got mine from Jim Kirk. Since he is here in KY, we had a good talk when I ordered. I am very happy with mine. PLUS- I just got a call to work a high school fall ball DH this Saturday so I will get to put mine to good use again (I'm sure some or a significant portion of the kids playing will be JV level players so good hard shell protection is a necessity.) I also will get to put my new Wilson New View TITANIUM mask to work. I am excited. PLUS, I get to work with one of my very good friends JT Bullock (SHREK to his friends) AND another very good friend, Gus Curtis, just got back Monday from working the NorthWoods League in MN, WI, IA, MI and Canada this summer and he wants to come down from the big city of Lexington, KY and work three man in preparation for the Music City Umpires Camp we are attending late in September and pop a top or two after the games. The field we are working is about 500 yards from my house. I can see the outfield from my back deck. AND my grill/smoker will be working on some ribs and pork butt all day so we will have a FEAST after the games (weather permitting). What a great life. Hope your weekend plans are as good.

$100 per game is not enough. In my opinion.

If any of you ever attend an NCAA umpires clinic (they are free) Dave Yeast and I presume his successor, had several videos of the CWS with microphone feeds of the umpires calls (Dave cautioned us that this audio was for us in the umpiring audience only and not for public consumption as a training technique). We heard some great stuff. Dave Buck and the Rice coach (I forgot his name) in an argument that ended with the coach misunderstanding a call by Dave from 1B. When Dave explained the call (which was not what the coach thought was called) the coach said "Oh, well I can't argue with that." and he walked away muttering to himself. There is also a music video with Chase Adkins' Swing as the background with all the nut cutter plays and the umpires voice calls and as much of the umpiring mechanics on these calls as they could find on video which was really cool. Lots of called K3, whackers/nut cutters, plays at the plate, emphatic safe and out calls, etc. The first video I had ever seen of umpires in action. They sell a CD with this music video and the powerpoints and some other videos of calls for training purposes for around $20. I bought it and used it in training and wowing some of my HS association guys while recruiting some to try and work some college this year or in the future. I recommend that anyone planning on ever working NCAA ball go to the NCAA.org site and register in November/December for a clinic near you (online registration is required and free) and then go and learn. Edited to Add: You might also need to register at eOfficials.com (its also free for this part) and look at the NCAA materials which includes 2009 clinic dates and some archived information from years past. Interesting reading. The clinics are all day Saturday and half a day on Sunday. Lots of great networking and rules/situations information to soak in. I met a lot of guys I hope to be working with soon (D-I). I met and conversed with guys I did work with last spring (D-II/III and NAIA). My two cents. Your mileage may vary.

I have zero white showing on the shoe. The only white left is the words New Balance embroidered on the tongue which is hidden under my pants leg. I did it more for convenience than anything else. Easier to smear polish all over the shoe and get total coverage. For those of you Army guys who went to jump school anytime in the black boot era (for me 1985) think boot black. This was a guy you paid around $15 for the three weeks of jump school and every night you picked up a pair of highly shined boots on your way back to your barracks or BOQ. He had a vat of black liquified polish and he cleaned your boots, dried them, smeared the black stuff on your boots and let them dry in the hot Georgia sun. You had highly shined boots without spending hours on them when you could and should be sleeping or resting. It was worth it to me. The Blackhats (Airborne Instructors-All Sergeants with stars and wreath halos on their jump wings) would give a little extra "attention" to those who tried to shine their own boots. Thus what a killing that boot black guy made. He probably gave a kickback to the blackhats or at least did their stuff for free. My NB 450's look like the boot black dunked them in his high gloss liquid from the days of yore-All black, highly shined and no extra trouble.

You won't regret it. Get new laces from Wally World and re-lace. Buy Kiwi paste polish and put about four or five coats with brush shine on them AFTER you have broken in the shoes. (which will occur on the first game you wear them.) Then wipe them down with a damp rag or paper towel after use and put Kiwi liquid polish on them after every wearing which will shine very nicely and take about five minutes or less. (not including drying time which about ten to twenty minutes.) I usually get a complement about how shiny my shoes are at start of a game even though the first batter gets them dusty. I start the game looking as good as I can. Easy, no muss, no fuss. The shoes are so light and comfortable you will not mind coming out from behind the plate. Hell, you might even feel like a little race with the catcher and batter-runner down to first a couple times a game like I do. My two cents. Your mileage may vary. DCT

anytime I get assigned to or take a 13's game there is a problem. Most of them cannot throw that well across the big diamond. Running to first takes a sundial to time. Catchers cannot catch or block any pitches. Coaches are usually the pitcher's or shortstop's dad and he knows "everything" (I used to be a ....... when I played professionally/D-1, blah, blah, blah.....). Am I making myself clear? I do not like to do any ball under 14's and that takes some effort. I am not a snob and I regularly work mostly older players but I will work the younger games I just don't enjoy them as much and I have a very short leash for the coaching shenanigans that they try to pull. Of course, all of these kids are going to make the majors according to their mommies and daddies that's why they pay the coaches $1500 and up per summer to train them and babysit them. Sorry, you struck a nerve. Been there, done that. Of my 2 dozen or so ejections, I think about 15 of them are of 13 and 14 yo team's coaches. My two cents. Your mileage may vary.

If we are working a college game they assign- which is all of them- we must wear Honig's dark heather grey poly-wool pants. We must also wear the association hat which is only sold by Honigs. No numbers on black shirts or powder with black collar shirts-Honig's shirts are recommended, and when in black shirt we must have white mock neck undershirt, when in powder shirt we must have black undershirt (mock neck not required with this one). It makes it easier and quite frankly for what we get paid, it is a small price to pay.