tommy

everyone here is adding good advice, I think something we all may be overlooking here is how well do we know the catcher, coach and team. I live in a small town and our local babe ruth league here has only 8 teams and they plat 4 double headers a week. I know these kids and I have no problem admitting that I will talk to these kids and even have a piece of advice or a nod of aproval from time to time. I dont do that quite as much at the high school or college level.

to me its all about game managment. I dont call time out to clean the plate unless like the above mentioned play at the plate and still others on base. I also wont grant time out to a fielder before he throws the ball back to the picher. it drives me crazy to see guys do that, let the fielder throw the ball away, its not up to us to make sure little jonny dosent screw up.......... sorry guys, im ranting

lol ! thats pretty funny

You know I go to quite a few camps and clinics each year, some because i want to and some are mandatory for the associations I work for and this is a great topic that is very rarely discused. It is aparent that diferent areas or groups teach diferent ways of doing things. I guess the best thing to say is do things the way your association tells you to and sooner or later it will become second natuer and you will simply know where to be.

the two man system is what it is. we are not always going to be where the play happens even when we are in the correct possition R1 B... R1 & R2 C... R1, R2 & R3 B R2 only C... R2 & R3 B R3 only B... R1 & R3 B like it or not those are the correct places to be working a two man system.

I always introduce myself to the catcher's and during the game I call them by their name and I allow them to call me by my first name as well. now I realize I mostly work college and high school games but when I work youth league or travel ball I do the same thing. I talk to the catchers on the close ones only loud enough for he and I and possibly the batter at times but that's' fine too. I will tell him " thats a little low " or " thats close just bring it in a little and you will get that one " and so on. you build a repore with the catchers and you will be suprised how they will work for you. when you get a kid that is acting the way this kid was acting to you ring him up on strike three that may not be in your zone. when he comes back out surely he will have something to say just tell him that he has been asking you to call that a strike all night and you thought that was a good time to start.

think about it guys, would you work a game with out a cup ? If you take one off the boys it will hurt but it wont kill ya. take a foul ball off the bat straight to the throat without wearing a throat gard and I hope your life ins. is paid up.... If you dont wear a throat guard atleast please give it some serious thought.

my 10 year old son umpired his first ball game this year. it was an 8 year old machine pitch game he worked from a VERY modified b position and I was on the field with him for a little push now and again. absolutly one of my proudest moments as a father.

i will be at the bbuc camp. i know most of the instructors that will be there and I believe the camp will be well worth attending. I live in central california so its not much of a jont for me anyhow.

Early last season Im doing a college game took a foul tip from an inside fastball off the bat, off the tip of the glove straight into the thraot guard. I swelled up and could not finish the game, at least we were working a 3 man crew and one of my partners put on his gear and finished the game. i went to the hospital. that was the hardest ( 90 mph + ) worst ( throat ) and scariest ( hospital ) all in one for me.

you simply have a foul ball. if F1 would have caught the ball you would still have a foul ball. once the tipped ball has touched the catcher it is a foul ball and out of play unless he catches it with his glove or his bare hand. ( hope not the bare hand, that would hurt but it would count )

as it sit here with tears running down my face I cant help but think of my own children and how those poor people must be feeling about the loss of their son. how could you possibly deal with that. I will continue to pray for the Cohn family and friends. I will also go hug my two boys. TJ 9 years old and Connor 7

stan brings up a good point, why didnt you call the infield fly ? just because they didnt try to catch it dosent mean they couldnt catch it. If it is your opinion that the ball was not high enough or to deep or something thats fine but in your thread you said it was a routine infield fly. not ragging on ya, just a thought.

did someone catch the ball ? if not why would he be going back to tag up ? if the ball had not been cought the run scores, dosent matter if ran back to thierd or not. If the ball had been cought the defensive team could appeal that the runner left early for the out just like they could do on a fly ball to the out field and a runner leaves early and touches home plate. even if you had called infield fly and took the out on the BR the runners may advance at their own risk. hope this helps

hey easy, im not fat im plump :)

hey guys, I have been wearing the mcdavid umpire tights for 3 or 4 years now ( not the same pair ) the ones with the pads in the legs. I have always liked these thight over the others I have tried but I am cruuently having a problem with bruising on my legs from the individule pads and it hurts like heck. has anyone else experienced this ? also, its not the laundry detergent, I have already checked that out.

i think we need a video for this one:) i think we are all right and all wrong. in my head I can see it as a balk if he did one thing and not as a balk if he did something else........ oh brother. the call was made, the game finished and everyone went home safely. sounds good to me.

I hate to be the voice of dispare here guys but I guess I dont understant the meaning of " twirl " did the lefty lift his right leg and do a spin move toward second base then stop and throw to third. that is no balk. did he disengage the rubber and throw to third in front of a play, also no balk. however if he did not disingage the rubber spun to his right ( clockwise ) while in the set possition to throw to third there is no way possible that he could have done this with out making forward progress towards home plate. he gained ground towards the batter and threw to a base, thats a balk if thats the way it happened. also if that is the way it happened when the lefty threw to third while twirling clockwise his left foot had to come off the rubber towards home plate. balk. I hope I interpeted what you explained correctly.

that is funny and hey, at least you can get her there. mine would rather not

assigning games is a bit of a thankless job. my guys are always asking for better games ( as they should ) and idiot coaches are always complaining about something that is usualy nothing. well tonight I got a call from a guy that is a third year guy who is a strong up and coming umpire. I put him on a ten year old division cal ripkin championship game tonight and he simply called to thank me for the big game. he told me that he was a little nervous going into the game and very proud of himself for working his first final game. his wife also came out to watch him work. I have been umpiring since 1992 after a short stint as a minor league ball player. I have worked my way up to the college level and I am proud of that. the phone call tonight reminded me that my first final game was also a minor league ( 9-10 y/o ) game and I did share that story with him. i realize you guys reading this cant feel the sence of pride I feel for our brother umpire that worked that game tonight and im sure I didnt do this story justice but I wanted to share this with you all. it dosent matter what level baseball we work. we are all in this thing together and i think i may have forgotten that. and that thankless job just got alot better.

Mcdonalds has two big macs for $ 3.00 right now. as much as I hate to do it I only get one.

Guys, thanks for all the good information. billy haze is a friend of mine and I would not miss his black and blue camp in november. I live in Fresno ( central california ) and any info on assigners would be great. Thats the nice thing about umpiring, it really is a brotherhood. thanks guys ! my personal email is thillumpire@aol.com

ncaa, thats my goal I do juco and small college ball now but ncaa is my goal. im working hard and will continue to do so. another goal is to treat every game like it is a big game, even a babe ruth game is a big game to the kids. sometimes I need to remind myself of that.

wayne, I am right handed, thank god I didnt have cancer like dravecky did. I still have both my arms. funny thing, I threw in the mid 90's now I have a hard time throwing the ball to the pitcher. mostly I just hand it to the catcher.

well we had a great weekend. Gerry Davis was very open to conversation and his instructors did a great job with the mechanics. without a doubt the best part for was when Gerry Davis showed me 1 on 1 the Gerry Davis plate stance. he showed me exactly where my head should be, he placed my hands where they should amd he placed me in the slot. the second best part was the picture of me wearing one of his four world series rings. If any of you ever have a chance to attend a Gerry Davis umpire clinic I promise you that it will be worth every penny. As an assigner you can bet that I know who was there and who was not.