Debut behind the plate

[sd181612]

Gals and guys, I hope you all are doing well. This is going to be my first season umpiring behind the plate and I was hoping you all could give me some tips. I can't help but feel butterflies in my stomach at the thought of getting back there, but I've loved it since I was young. Thank you all.

[sd181612]

I really appreciate it. All of you guys.

[Stk004]

That's dumb. I started doing baseball, plate and bases, at 13. I'm 17 now and do all sorts of levels. 

[GPblue]

Only thing I can think of is it's a Liability issue with their insurance if he were to get hurt??  Seems a little extreme.  I think you should be able to find a fall ball league in your area that will allow you to take the dish.

[isired]

What age were you supposed to umpire? When I was a kid, they had us start as soon as we graduated little league - so 13 years old behind the plate. It was the first year they didn't have parent volunteers, and everyone was very happy. If you're 16-17, I can't imagine why they would have issue with you behind the plate, especially for younger kids, unless there is some insurance/liability issue as mentioned above. But even then, the players are younger and at greater risk for injury, so it doesn't make a lot of sense.

[kylehutson]

In our league, the only criteria is "2 years older than the players", so 10 years old for 8u, 14 years old for 12U, etc. Granted, it's only a rec league, but it seems to work well for us.

[sd181612]

They claim (UIC) that the parents will try to get on you when they see a teenager (16) go behind the plate. 

[GPblue]

6 minutes ago, sd181612 said:

They claim (UIC) that the parents will try to get on you when they see a teenager (16) go behind the plate. 

SOOOOOOOOOOO................what's their excuse when they see my 32 year old butt get behind the dish?  

I think that UIC is bad.  What level is this? This is fall ball, the place where EVERYONE is trying to work on things and get better

[Mister B]

I would think that the UIC would be responsible for keeping that in check. Were you supposed to have a partner? I don't think I'd put a new plate umpire out there alone, unless I was sure there wouldn't be issues. Somebody who can critique and evaluate and at the same time, command respect. 

I tend to tune out the crowd when I'm working. I had somebody throw ice at me one time, it turned out to be my wife, who had be yelling at me for about 2 minutes, between innings, to see if I needed a drink.  

[sd181612]

4 minutes ago, GPblue said:

SOOOOOOOOOOO................what's their excuse when they see my 32 year old butt get behind the dish?  

I think that UIC is bad.  What level is this? This is fall ball, the place where EVERYONE is trying to work on things and get better

Little league.

[grayhawk]

14 minutes ago, sd181612 said:

They claim (UIC) that the parents will try to get on you when they see a teenager (16) go behind the plate. 

That's a parent problem, not a teenage umpire problem.  Seems like it would be wise to institute a zero tolerance policy for verbally abusing umpires (of any age) rather than sidestep the problem by preventing kids who want to umpire from working the dish.

[sd181612]

4 minutes ago, GPblue said:

SOOOOOOOOOOO................what's their excuse when they see my 32 year old butt get behind the dish?  

I think that UIC is bad.  What level is this? This is fall ball, the place where EVERYONE is trying to work on things and get better

Little league.

[Mister B]

When I was coaching fall ball, we had a dad who was working behind the plate, because many times the umpire wouldn't show up or somebody forgot to schedule one. At one point a guy in the crowd was starting to complain, the people around him tried to quite him, but it wasn't working. So between innings, I grabbed a rulebook and the mask from the umpire, walked out to the guy and said, "If you want to umpire so badly, here's your chance." He was quiet after that. 

I heard that at a game after that, he had actually told somebody else to lay off the umpires.

Our UIC was working the bases with me in a game, and one of the coaches came out to question a call, the UIC looked at him as he was walking and very calmly said, "Bob, I know why you are coming out here, and unless you are absolutely positive that a mistake was made, and can support it, you will just be delaying the game and annoying everyone." The coach quickly turned around and went back to the dugout. It turns out that he has a history of questioning calls, but has no real clear knowledge of the rules. He had stormed out of the dugout once, screaming "Balk!!" on a play where F2 faked a throw back to 3B to hold the runner. Even his players looked surprised. 

[sd181612]

26 minutes ago, Mister B said:

I would think that the UIC would be responsible for keeping that in check. Were you supposed to have a partner? I don't think I'd put a new plate umpire out there alone, unless I was sure there wouldn't be issues. Somebody who can critique and evaluate and at the same time, command respect. 

I tend to tune out the crowd when I'm working. I had somebody throw ice at me one time, it turned out to be my wife, who had be yelling at me for about 2 minutes, between innings, to see if I needed a drink.  

I don't really know. I was just told the bitter truth.

[sd181612]

5 hours ago, isired said:

What age were you supposed to umpire? When I was a kid, they had us start as soon as we graduated little league - so 13 years old behind the plate. It was the first year they didn't have parent volunteers, and everyone was very happy. If you're 16-17, I can't imagine why they would have issue with you behind the plate, especially for younger kids, unless there is some insurance/liability issue as mentioned above. But even then, the players are younger and at greater risk for injury, so it doesn't make a lot of sense.

I started umpiring at 13, and have been doing it since.

[Mister B]

Just now, sd181612 said:

I started umpiring at 13, and have been doing it since.

So you have 3 more years of experience than many of the guys that will be doing it. Great. 

[Tksjewelry]

That's a dumb rule but you keep being a member here and learning everything you can about the rules of the game. Hey, my best tournament partner this year was a 15 year old kid. That kid had no issues working 4 or 5 plates in a row on hot days covering one man games too. I'll bet he worked 150+ games, 70% plates.

Fall ball around here is the perfect time for training umpires, especially young umpires, because most of the games are for training the players too. Coaches are much more civil and don't expect absolute perfection (and they usually aren't head coaches and most know that they don't know the rules). Parents barely pay attention so no chirping. For training of younger guys during regular season, tournament weekends, I'll throw you to the darn wolves to get that 11u travel ball slot filled. Sink or swim, you'll learn.

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[sd181612]

58 minutes ago, Tksjewelry said:

That's a dumb rule but you keep being a member here and learning everything you can about the rules of the game. Hey, my best tournament partner this year was a 15 year old kid. That kid had no issues working 4 or 5 plates in a row on hot days covering one man games too. I'll bet he worked 150+ games, 70% plates.

Fall ball around here is the perfect time for training umpires, especially young umpires, because most of the games are for training the players too. Coaches are much more civil and don't expect absolute perfection (and they usually aren't head coaches and most know that they don't know the rules). Parents barely pay attention so no chirping. For training of younger guys during regular season, tournament weekends, I'll throw you to the darn wolves to get that 11u travel ball slot filled. Sink or swim, you'll learn.

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Thank you. I really appreciate it. I'll keep soaking all these experiences from you all.