Summary of First Year

[dmdhiker]

Hey all, started umping this year after being out of the game for some 30+ years. Jumped in with both feet. Did 32 HS games this spring. All one-man. Twelve freshman A games, 9 freshman B games, 11 sophomore games. Seven DHs. Have done 9 HS games this summer, 4 of these were varsity games, all solo. Don't recommend this rookie path for the faint of heart. Was challenging and nerve wracking at times but had a blast. A lot more good days than bad. Learned a ton, with lots more to learn. Have to learn 2-man mechanics now if I want to do some varsity games next year. Its great being Blue.

[Jocko]

1 man sucks

[ring-em-up12]

yeah I did it for an inning when my partner was late, the coaches asked if they wanted me to let them watch the lines. I scarcastically laughed and said absolutely not.

[Jocko]

When I do 1 man, I'm still behind F2. Gotta bust your ass and might miss stolen bases or something close, but I want consistent zone and fair/foul.

[mstaylor]

I hate areas that do low levels with one man. New guys learn at these levels and they learn nothing except bad habits doing one man. They do get to see pitches but nothing else.

[cyclonehokiece]

Thankfully, all the states I have had the privilege of working high school ball in require two umpires for all games, no matter the level.

[dmdhiker]

Thanks for all the one man comments, but hey, I work in the state I live. Didn't choose this path. Should I not ump because of the state I live in? Bold statement to say that I learned "nothing but bad habits". How do you know what I know and what habits you say all one man umps develop. Kind of painting with a rather broad brush. Thanks for the encouraging words. NOT.

[Jocko]

Thanks for the encouraging words. NOT.

"NOT" ?!? What is it, 1990? :fuel:

[Jocko]

Seriously, the bad habits of which he speaks are improper mechanics. Getting used to making calls that don't belong to you in 2 man. Not knowing rotations/responsibilities. Communication, both verbal and non-verbal. Stuff like that.

[dmdhiker]

Did my first 2-man game today. Me and another ump had the same solo soph game on our schedule so instead of flipping a coin we both worked the game. Told the other ump that I've never worked with a partner, a I only having plate gear, so I took the plate. He is an experienced varsity ump. Had just a minute to go over basic rotations and signals and we had to hit the field. We talked between most inning, getting instruction, etc. He started the game giving the signals between us and by the end of the game, I as UIC, was giving signals between us. Uneventful game, learned much in one game on 2-man mechanics. Didn't seem as complicated as I thought. Have a few clinics coming up for greenish guys to instruct on 2 and 3 man. Good day, got that 2-man monkey off my back.

[mstaylor]

I wasn't busting your chops, I was saying that making new guys work one man teaches them nothing about two man. It teaches them nothing about game management or how to handle difficult rule situations. It also can cause bad habits, bad head height, timing, or other little things. I am completely speaking in generalities, not to any specific umpire. Think of it like a new umpire is a ball player. A kid decides to start pitching but he has no coach, no father around to play with and no one to play catch with. He tries to teach himself to pitch. He may get really good at it but just as likely he will teach himself some bad habits that are twice as hard to break once ingrained.

Now in your situation, you have previous experience so you will likely do better than a young starting out.

[Jocko]

Glad it went well.

[CS-Blue]

I have done mostly 1-man for the last two years and it has made me (toot, toot) a VERY good balls and strikes umpire. I have been told on many evaluations that I have a consistent, nearly rule-book zone and have never had a complaint from coaches (who do a lot of our evaluations here). We are trained by our association how to do 1-man and 2-man. We are also told that in 1-man, balls and strikes are the most important thing (right up there with hustle your ass off) and everything else will come. I do think that 1-man is a tough way to learn, but it teaches young umpires to rely on themselves in tough situations and not look to a senior umpire every time they screw up. I know I have become VERY confident in my umpiring knowledge and calls and can always explain myself when necessary. So don't knock 1-man. It is trial by fire and weeds out the weak.

[dmdhiker]

Can't agree more with what CS-Blue states above. You do see a lot of pitches, all of them in fact, compared to half as many with 2-man. Trial by fire for sure. Made me extra vigilant with knowing the rules as there is no one to go to with questions, so you better know wtf you are doing. Kept a journal of every game, noting rules to review, getting better position, etc. I must admit that going out and nailing a solo game feels great, something about standing on your own is empowering. At 50 my goal is to ump HS ball, not little league games or youth travel games, so this is how it is done in Illinois. In all my games this season there may have been no more than a handful of close calls that would have benefitted from a BU viewpoint. Doesn't seem like 2-man is that advantageous for lower level games. Believe me I don't want to take an opportunity away from a fellow ump to do as many games as they wish, but the cost to schools to have 2-man for all games seems excessive as a tax-payer. Just my very green opinion.

[mstaylor]

Can't agree more with what CS-Blue states above. You do see a lot of pitches, all of them in fact, compared to half as many with 2-man. Trial by fire for sure. Made me extra vigilant with knowing the rules as there is no one to go to with questions, so you better know wtf you are doing. Kept a journal of every game, noting rules to review, getting better position, etc. I must admit that going out and nailing a solo game feels great, something about standing on your own is empowering. At 50 my goal is to ump HS ball, not little league games or youth travel games, so this is how it is done in Illinois. In all my games this season there may have been no more than a handful of close calls that would have benefitted from a BU viewpoint. Doesn't seem like 1-man is that advantageous for lower level games. Believe me I don't want to take an opportunity away from a fellow ump to do as many games as they wish, but the cost to schools to have 2-man for all games seems excessive as a tax-payer. Just my very green opinion.

And I disagree completely. I have worked one man and can quite well, but it is a horrible system and extremely bad as a whole for inexperienced umpires. It can make you a strong plate umpire, or it can make you teach you extremely bad habits with no one to help you fix it. You two are examples of guys that are working hard to know the rules and get better, that is not true for the bulk of guys working solo. They know the myths they played with and never learn they are wrong working by themselves. You have to do what is done in your area but it is not a good system and should be discouraged at every level. HS teams don't play that many games in a season, probably 20 games. But lets say they play 30 games and half are home games. Here MS and JV are $50.00 per game so 15 games would be $750.00 per season. That is not a tremendous burden on the school system if budgeted a year ahead of time. Other than football, what other sport cuts the number of officials for JV. Most football uses a four man instead of five, soccer uses two or three, basketball uses two, volleyball uses two, LAX uses two. Baseball and maybe softball are the only sports that only use one when the norm is two. Go tell basketball that they have to go to one man, it's just as good.

[Texarkana]

I have never saw one man used in East Texas even for a nine year old game. That being said, I applaud anyone who can successfuly navigate and call a ball game by themselves but I understand what a few of the guys are saying. Umpires usually have a lot of tetesterone flowing and you put that all in one room during a meeting or clinic and it is on. I have umpired baseball a LONG time and still have plenty to learn. We had a young feller go to school this year and he came back and showed me some things that I did not not know. This is a second year umpire. So what was I doing the other twenty some years? Umpiring baseball and doing a bang up job with a few bad habits that needed changed. And they were changed this year. But if I was not willing to put the ego away it would have never happened. If you are working one man and you are using a bad habit or mechanic, you are ingraining it into your skills. It is very hard to strip away years of doing something. Ask a golfer who has picked up a bad habit in their swing what happens when they keep practicing the swing the wrong way. It is now part of their NORMAL swing even though it is wrong. If I was starting out and doing one man, I would go to games where guys were doing it right and keep watching them.

I am glad you enjoyed coming back and umpiring again. We need guys to mentor the younger guys coming in. I read a thread on here where a guy had his two sons umpiring (ages 14 and 18 I believe) I saw a few clips where the mechanics looked pretty solid. Gosh that has to be a great feeling to mentor your own sons. Keep up the good work and keep on learning the right things.

[Jocko]

I have a 9 inning Hispanic men's league tomorrow. 1 man pays $80 more in my pocket than 2 man. Guess who's taking the money.....

[Jocko]

So I did my 1 man Mexican Men's League today. OBR. Only mod is 10 runs after 7. Temperature at noon ON THE FIELD was 104 F. It was brutal. Not a whisper of a breeze. I took 12 bottles of H2O. They were gone by 4th inning. Game ended in 8 innings. Decent ball. I called from behind the plate. Luckily, I only had one whacker. F2 snap throw to F5 trying to get R3. Absolutely no angle behind RHB and F2. Drove 60 miles to get there. Soon as I got home I passed out laying over the a/c vent.

[Dannytheman]

1 man on a 90 is tough! I am glad you stuck it out! I know I have to be in good shape when doing Middle Schools here in SE PA. They are solo games on 90s.

We are happy to have you back.

[dmdhiker]

Must have done something right this year as I am one of a dozen or so invited to our associations clinic for on field instructions on 2-man mechanics. Went to last weeks clinic to observe and will be doing the bases at the clinic this Tuesday.

[steve15blue]

This was my first season as an umpire and I worked mainly solo, though I did do a couple of games as BU, I agree, I would have at least liked it split up 50 -50 so I would have had a chance to get used to both positions. I learned a lot by working as PU, timing was one of the main things I learned quickly because of the tendency to call a pitch too soon. I did concentrate on making sure I knew the rotations in the two man system and the angles and positioning because I know next season I'll need to know that, it's just a matter of learning the rotations on diagrams and putting it into play are two different things. I'll be going to one of the Wendelstedt clinics in the off season and any other clinics I can find out there just to try and get a little better every year at the level I umpire, which is HS

[Jocko]

There is a camp coming up in October in Atlanta.

www.baseballumpirecamps.com

[RichMSN]

Can't agree more with what CS-Blue states above. You do see a lot of pitches, all of them in fact, compared to half as many with 2-man. Trial by fire for sure. Made me extra vigilant with knowing the rules as there is no one to go to with questions, so you better know wtf you are doing. Kept a journal of every game, noting rules to review, getting better position, etc. I must admit that going out and nailing a solo game feels great, something about standing on your own is empowering. At 50 my goal is to ump HS ball, not little league games or youth travel games, so this is how it is done in Illinois. In all my games this season there may have been no more than a handful of close calls that would have benefitted from a BU viewpoint. Doesn't seem like 2-man is that advantageous for lower level games. Believe me I don't want to take an opportunity away from a fellow ump to do as many games as they wish, but the cost to schools to have 2-man for all games seems excessive as a tax-payer. Just my very green opinion.

I think it's a very green and misinformed opinion, myself. My state requires two umpires for all high school games at all level and, consequently, I've worked only a few summer games solo over the 10 years I've lived here.

It's naive to think a single umpire can handle a baseball game on a 90 foot diamond. Who's watching touches of bases? Who's seeing obstruction/interference? Who's getting a good look at tag plays? Further, when there's an incident, who's got your back?

I'd quit before working solo except in an emergency. And I've been doing this a long time.

[th3]

is the mexican league the same as the hispanic league?

[JaxRolo]

is the mexican league the same as the hispanic league?

Trick question???