newbie.....hello all

[umped up]

Hey all, I have been browsing this site for a long time and finally decided to join. I got tired of chomping at the bit with questions and to simply add some input. I have learned a lot from just reading. There are some very intelligent umpires here and through time, You won me over.

I'm from Kansas City and in my third year of umpiring. Im 43 years old and yes, I still play the lovely game of baseball in the MSBL. My passion is baseball. I've come to the realization that I cant play this game forever and the next best thing to it is umpiring. This way, I can stay close to the game I so adore. The things that seperates me from a lot of the umpires out there is that I care. The money is nice but that's not my motive. My first year of umpiring was 2 years ago and starting out with the 9 year olds.....wow! What a train wreck! I know why you start there though....you'll encounter all the oddities for you to figure out and give you the experience to handle situations.

I put forth a great effort and learned quickly. I gave all my hustle, concentrated on good mechanics, watched other umpires after my work was complete, learned from others mistakes and before the year was over, I ended up doing the college showcase at Kaufmann stadium. What a treat.

I progressed throughout the year, it wasn't like I did little league all year then.....bang, Kaufmann. I started with 9 yr olds for a couple of weeks, went to 10-11, a couple of weeks, then 12-13......then majors....then 15-16......yadi yadi.

My second year, I ended up doing another game at Kaufmann stadium (Royals) but this time, I did the dish for all nine innings.

This year was my first year doing college baseball. KJCCC. To my surprise, I did a conference game against Allen County and Fort Scott. What a treat that was. Not bad for the start of my third year of umpiring. don't get me wrong here, I'm not bragging, I'm just implying that caring about what you do pays off. I spend quite a bit of time in the rule book and on sites like this. This by the way is the only site that I've paid money for...............and it's well worth it.

Side note: I have been to two 3 day clinics in the past 2 years, one involving Jim Evans do a lot of the instructing. I'm sure like most clinics these days, they were held doing live college baseball and sessions on the side.

Anyway, Im glad to be part of this forum and looking forward to learning every single day. One of my favorite quotes comes from Tony Larussa, "The thing I love about baseball is that I learn something everyday". That's how I approach umpiring, I'll never know it all!

[JaxRolo]

Welcome!

[sdix00]

Welcome. College ball in three years. I am jealous, but impressed. Well done!

Ask lots of questions. We don't get enough questions.

[umped up]

Welcome!

I l love your shirt by the way..........Your the one who's had some great responses and I know this because of the shirt. :wow:

[umped up]

Welcome. College ball in three years. I am jealous, but impressed. Well done!

Ask lots of questions. We don't get enough questions.

Your another guy that has some great points that I've learned from. This site is great. Thank you for welcoming me and believe me, I will flood this room with questions and situations. How the hell else do you learn? Right? Awesome........

[JaxRolo]

Welcome!

I l love your shirt by the way..........Your the one who's had some great responses and I know this because of the shirt.

Just so you know that is not really me. If it was I would have my hands all over myself all the time! :smachhead:

[umped up]

Welcome!

I l love your shirt by the way..........Your the one who's had some great responses and I know this because of the shirt.

Just so you know that is not really me. If it was I would have my hands all over myself all the time!

Yes, I know this. lol. I would love to argue with her...errrrrr them.....ummmm, where was I? Oh....that's right, I was wanting to tell you of a shirt that I own, That I think is cool. "If you want to be safe at home, sleep with an umpire".

[mstaylor]

Welcome to the board, ask away.

[Umpire in Chief]

Glad to have you here!

[hckyosgood30]

Welcome aboard, and congrats on all of your successes thus far. Continue to learn and enjoying this wonderful game at the next level.

[Thunderheads]

WELCOME!! That's called "goin' after it" and moving up quickly! NICE!

Enjoy the site, and ask away!! :wave:

[johnnyg08]

Welcome to the forum!

[Cajuncubsfan]

Welcome to the Lions Den!!! Be careful what you ask and proof read your posts. Yea really have to be thick skinned around here. I can handle coaches and I can ignore the crowd but getting beat up by fellow umpires all the time is tuff.

Welcome

[Umpire in Chief]

Welcome to the Lions Den!!! Be careful what you ask and proof read your posts. Yea really have to be thick skinned around here. I can handle coaches and I can ignore the crowd but getting beat up by fellow umpires all the time is tuff.

Welcome

We do our best to to keep from being like the other sites.

[Cajuncubsfan]

Welcome to the Lions Den!!! Be careful what you ask and proof read your posts. Yea really have to be thick skinned around here. I can handle coaches and I can ignore the crowd but getting beat up by fellow umpires all the time is tuff.

Welcome

We do our best to to keep from being like the other sites.

I'm here because I want to learn and get as good as I can get. I want to do it the right way and I want to look right. So in still here taking my lumps. ;-)

[yawetag]

From a fellow Missouri umpire (assuming you're KCMO), welcome! If you've got college-level games open in three years, I must be in the wrong part of the state!

[JaxRolo]

This is the longest introduction thread I have seen on UE

[umped up]

From a fellow Missouri umpire (assuming you're KCMO), welcome! If you've got college-level games open in three years, I must be in the wrong part of the state!

Actually, Im on the Kansas side. I went to the Topeka Premier Umpire Clinic my first two years which put me in front of the assigners. They seemed to have liked my mechanics (can always get better) so this year (my 3rd) I only got 3 college games (double headers) so far. I'm hoping to get a few more but being my first year, I can't expect much more than that. It's the rules that Im working real hard at. I never thought that would be the hard part. I played since I was 6 years old and played at high levels as I got older so of course I thought the rules would be easy. Wow, until I stepped on this side, I would never have imagined........

[mstaylor]

OK, here the time for my 80/20 rule. I have a well established axiom that says you play 80% of the games with 20% of the rules. We get paid to know the other 80%.

[umped up]

OK, here the time for my 80/20 rule. I have a well established axiom that says you play 80% of the games with 20% of the rules. We get paid to know the other 80%

INDEED! i NOW understand that. :wow:

[sdix00]

What MST said.

I can't tell you how much I have learned that I have never had to use.

I just find them fascinating.

[grayhawk]

Welcome to the site! I grew up in KC so I'm curious to know where in Shawnee you live. And Andrew, there is no "right part" of Missouri!

I'm jealous too that you are working college ball so soon. So much of your post mirrors my own experience, but you have moved to higher levels of ball faster. I am a little concerned that by the time I am ready for college ball here in SoCal that the only umpires they will take are former MiLB guys. I guess that is the trend around here right now - it's getting harder for high school guys to move up.

I think you'll find that the conversations that you can have here are the ones that you want to be having all the time, but there's only so much your friends and family are willing to tolerate!

[umped up]

Welcome to the site! I grew up in KC so I'm curious to know where in Shawnee you live. And Andrew, there is no "right part" of Missouri!

I'm jealous too that you are working college ball so soon. So much of your post mirrors my own experience, but you have moved to higher levels of ball faster. I am a little concerned that by the time I am ready for college ball here in SoCal that the only umpires they will take are former MiLB guys. I guess that is the trend around here right now - it's getting harder for high school guys to move up.

I think you'll find that the conversations that you can have here are the ones that you want to be having all the time, but there's only so much your friends and family are willing to tolerate!

hey grayhawk. I live just east of K-7 right off Johnson Drive on Montecello. I live right up the street from Mid America Sports Complex, yes baseball fields.

Would you believe I have never done a lick of highschool ball yet? I did college games before doing a highschool game. Now in the past two years, I of course have done mens league, Ban Johnson league (college teams), two college showcases, a few highschool showcases, a lot of players who play highschool ball but to say have I "technically" done highschool baseball? No. Not in the school setting. I took the FED test last year to do that level but the assigner (I wont give any names) never returned my calls. I paid the $50 fee, got all the information, rule books, study guides, yadi yadi and it was all for not.

While I was at the Topeka camp last year doing the plate, some of the instructors slash assigners asked of my experience and I told them two years. They couldn't believe it. They asked if I did any highschool ball yet (I'd assume because Im doing a college level camp) and I told them the situation with the assigner and they asked me who he was and I told them and all 5 guys that were there (in unison) started shaking there heads. Obviously, he's terrible and unreliable.

My first year of umpiring was awesome. I've kept a journal of my travels (umpiring) and look back at it every now and again and think.....wow. I'm usually relentlessly hard on myself with things and good is never good enough but I look back at what I accomplished in my first year of umpiring and I actually feel damn good about it. I started off the year doing 9 yr olds and by the end of the year, I find myself in Kaufmann Stadium doing a college showcase. At the time, I'm looking around at my partners and I'm asking myself, "what the hell am I doing here"? I was so nervous to be out there. I was hoping like hell none of them asked my experience because they would have SH*# their pants when I say, "this is my first year". The least experience of the umpires I was with was 10 yrs. One was an instructor.

One of the reasons I moved up so quickly is because this game is my passion and it comes 2nd nature to me (at least playing did). But I have so much knowledge as a manager, coach and player that it wasn't that bad of a transition. I umped initially with a bunch of guys that did it solely for the money (not all but the majority it seemed) and I did it to learn and move up as quickly as possible. I'm at the point now where I've moved up past my knowledge and experience level should place me but I'm not going to complain. Every umpire I umpire with assumes I have 7-15 years under my belt. I never tell them, I just let them think it. Well, now you all know.

Your so right about the conversations, there is so much my wife can take (and she's the most supporting wife a guy could ask for). My baseball team doesn't even want to hear me vent. I have to do it with my fellow umpires. So this site has been fabulous. I've already learned so much from just reading past and present post. For anyone who thinks Im full of myself, your wrong, I've been blessed. This is the one and only time I have actually been proud of what I have accomplished. I know now that the ride is going to slow down tremendously. I'm going to have to put in quality time before I move up from the college level. I mean like from Juco ball to D3 or NIAI etc. It's been a very interesting ride thus far............I'm going to have to give you my first college game experience. Believe it or not, I had to do a report and send it to my assigner. Not because of me but my partner. Yikes.... stay tuned for that one.

[grayhawk]

I see now - you're pretty close to Lake Quivira. Does George Brett still have a house up there somewhere? I grew up in Leawood and went to KU but moved out to California in 1990 a couple years after I graduated.

Anyway, glad to hear everything is going so well for you. Sounds like that horsesh!t assigner did you a favor by not returning your calls. I do feel lucky to be part of my HS association. I am forming relationships with folks that not only can help me be a better umpire, but also to get noticed and get opportunities to work with people that I would otherwise never be able to work with. We each have to do what we can to help ourselves and it sounds like you made the most of your opportunities.

[mstaylor]

It is a shame that some guys feel that bringing new guys along is a bad thing. My only concern with you working at a high level so fast is game management. If that isn't a problem then all is good. I know guys that have moved very quickly, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. Every case is different. Also, we love war stories, just start a new thread about it.