its been such a long time...

[refump10]

I'm new to UE, but I have posted here a few times about various things and I mentioned on a recent post I was considering doing an introduction post about some of my experiences coming back to baseball after being out of the game for a long time.  I am returning to the game after being away for 22 years due to wife, job, etc. 

 

My past experience was HS ball for five years and mid-major D1 for five years.  I was very fortunate to have a couple of mentors when I was a very young umpire who taught me basically everything I know about umpiring.  They also took me with them to college games that I probably would have never gotten to that quickly. I owe them a debt of gratitude that I have always tried to repay by helping other young officials as I have gotten older, mostly in basketball officiating, since I have done that for several years even though I have been away from baseball.

 

The season here is about a month old for HS and I thought I would highlight my impressions so far. 

 

First, the equipment that is available today:  I knew things had changed, but until I started buying stuff I had no idea how far things had come.  The new mask I have is so light!  And the WV CP and shins are light years better than my old Randy Marsh gear that I had.  The uniform requirements are a little complicated, but I'm getting the hang of it.  Before, we had gray slacks and light blue shirts.  Maybe a pullover or a navy sweater.  Now: short and long-sleeves, black or powder (I don't anybody around here that wears navy).  Pullovers, Therma-base (which I love), convertible, zip-out sleeves...it goes on and on.

 

The next thing I have noticed is how much better the facilities are.  I have been to a couple of fields that I haven't stepped on in over 25 years.  What a vast improvement, overall!  Many have full infield tarps so we can play even when the weather has done its best not to cooperate. The surfaces themselves are much, much better than I remember.

 

While we are on facilities, most of the high schools we go to now, have a place for us to dress.  They may not all be palaces, mostly a couple of chairs set up in the field house or hitting facility, but still it's a big improvement from the parking lot. In my past umpiring life, I could think of only one place I used to work outside of college games that had a place for the umpires.

 

The games themselves have been different too.  I have moved to an area that has long been known as having good baseball.  The kids are markedly better than I remember before.  That said, the games move differently; it seems the games are all, for lack of a better word, "over-coached".  Every pitch is called from the dugout.  Every defensive player is adjusted prior to each at-bat. There is a signal from the coach's box before every pitch, even to start an inning.  I've caught myself thinking as I'm trying to get the kid in the box; "what signal are you expecting, get a hit?"  And many of the teams have every kid with the wristband thing like a quarterback wears to decipher the plays. 

 

It also seems to me that there is a higher amount of "small ball" being played.  A team will get a couple of runners on with no outs and the heart of the order is up and they lay a bunt down to advance the runners.  I was talking with a friend the other day who has been umpiring a while, and he said he thinks it's the trickle-down from what they see in college ball.  His theory is that since the bats have been deadened, that teams have gone to playing more small ball.  Could be, I don't know, but its interesting.

 

So, I've been back a month.  And I'm absolutely having a ball.  And I want to wrap up with this: finding sites like this can really help any umpire, but especially newbies and old "newbies" like me returning to the game.  I especially appreciate you guys who take the time to thoughtfully answer questions that come up about rules or situations.  A notable shout out to sdix who PM'd me some things about rules fundamentals that have been helpful. 

 

I'll be around, and hopefully haven't bored you to tears with this long post.

[Stan W.]

excellent post....welcome to the site....

[tjwoelfel13]

Welcome to the forums.

[Thunderheads]

1) nice post

2) welcome!

3) thanks for making me think of this ..............

 

'>

[grayhawk]

Welcome back to the avocation brother.  Set a spell...

[refump10]

It's pretty slow here on the boards lately, so I thought I'd give a little season wrap-up for this first season back after the long hiatus.
For the most part, the year went very well. I didn't really know how it would go when the season started: there was a lot of rust to knock off, but I was anxious to see if I could still do the job.

The high school season flew by for me. I worked 4-5 days a week, which was a good work load for me. I got to work with some good umpires most of whom turned out to be good guys as well. From what I could gather, my evals were all positive.

 

For the summer season I got hooked up with a group that handles most of the travel ball stuff in the area. Wonderful group full of very good umpires, for the most part.
The travel ball I saw this summer left me a bit unimpressed, for the most part. Again, I've been gone a long time and the landscape has definitely changed. I am still a bit in awe of the money that some of the parents spend on baseball. It's always dangerous to compare, but when I think back to the American Legion teams I played on, none of the teams I saw this year could come close; even the so-called powerhouse teams in some of the tournaments. Of course our Legion team back in the day had a 20+ roster with an 8-9 strong pitching staff.

I think most of it is that there are so many more teams, and they are broken down by age divisions, that there is a significant talent dilution. And I get that there's no way a travel team today could have a 20+ players and still get away from charging the money they do. I had one game this year where a coach got a call from somebody in his organization that one of the parents had called back home to complain that his kid wasn't starting. (The coach told me about it when I went to break up a mound visit).

 

Anyway, there's not much baseball left around here for the year.  I'm definitely going to miss it. I have a couple of camps this fall I'm trying to get into and I'm gonna try to get into what little fall ball there is.  My goal is to get back into college ball next Spring.  I've made some contacts, so we'll see. Wish me luck.

 

Been a fun season, and love this site.
 

[JasonPalo]

Welcome back to the game we all love, glad your having a ball,  good luck.

[Richvee]

It's pretty slow here on the boards lately, so I thought I'd give a little season wrap-up for this first season back after the long hiatus.

For the most part, the year went very well. I didn't really know how it would go when the season started: there was a lot of rust to knock off, but I was anxious to see if I could still do the job.

The high school season flew by for me. I worked 4-5 days a week, which was a good work load for me. I got to work with some good umpires most of whom turned out to be good guys as well. From what I could gather, my evals were all positive.

 

For the summer season I got hooked up with a group that handles most of the travel ball stuff in the area. Wonderful group full of very good umpires, for the most part.

The travel ball I saw this summer left me a bit unimpressed, for the most part. Again, I've been gone a long time and the landscape has definitely changed. I am still a bit in awe of the money that some of the parents spend on baseball. It's always dangerous to compare, but when I think back to the American Legion teams I played on, none of the teams I saw this year could come close; even the so-called powerhouse teams in some of the tournaments. Of course our Legion team back in the day had a 20+ roster with an 8-9 strong pitching staff.

I think most of it is that there are so many more teams, and they are broken down by age divisions, that there is a significant talent dilution. And I get that there's no way a travel team today could have a 20+ players and still get away from charging the money they do. I had one game this year where a coach got a call from somebody in his organization that one of the parents had called back home to complain that his kid wasn't starting. (The coach told me about it when I went to break up a mound visit).

 

Anyway, there's not much baseball left around here for the year.  I'm definitely going to miss it. I have a couple of camps this fall I'm trying to get into and I'm gonna try to get into what little fall ball there is.  My goal is to get back into college ball next Spring.  I've made some contacts, so we'll see. Wish me luck.

 

Been a fun season, and love this site.

 

Great observations about the travel leagues. Seems the same around here as well. Welcome back and good luck!