Becoming an Umpire

[Chapulin]

Hello, 

I want to make some extra money on the weekends so I decided to become an umpire.  I live in El Paso, TX. Any advice?

[834k3r]

Wow. Such a simple question; so many answers.

Having an account here is a great step. I've said before that I'm here almost every day, and I learn something from so many great folks. Whatever level you're at, whatever level you want to get to, there are guys here that are there.

As to your game mechanics, ssslllllooooowwwww dddddooooowwwwwwnnnnnn. Whether you're at first watching a bang-bang play or behind the plate tracking an inbound pitch, don't rush it. Even if you feel slow, you're probably still too fast.

Find a mentor.

Read the rules. Often. You need to know the rules more than the coach thinks he knows the rules.

I'll let other guys answer and provide input. Buckle up. You're about to get a ton of suggestions.

[Richvee]

Are you looking for advice on how to get started, or have you found an association or league that is going to give you games this season and  looking for on field advice? 

[SeeingEyeDog]

Welcome Brother @Chapulin! (Typing the at symbol and then the user's name will send them a notification you mentioned them in a post...) Creating an account here was indeed a great first step. There are thousands upon thousands of posts here that can help any umpire from the greenest of rookies to the oldest of old pros. Take some time...read a lot of the pinned posts at the top of many sections first. This will help you absorb the culture and decorum of the forum and how things work around here. I read for about 3 weeks before I first posted.

It is advised before posting a new topic, you first search for that topic in the search field at the blue bar at the top of the page. This will help prevent multiple threads on the same topic. If you have a rules question and the last time someone posted on it was a while ago, there may be a new wrinkle to that rule since the last post so, post away and we can address it under the current rules.

It's helpful if your rules questions includes the ruleset the game is being played under. As you will learn, there is a great deal of differences in the rules between say Little League, Babe Ruth, PONY, High School, NCAA and MLB. Suffice to say, if the league you are umpiring in has its own rulebook, they likely have several unique rules to their version of The Game.

If you are asking a game management question like, "Hey! This coach used profanities! What do I do?" it's also helpful to tell us what level or league the game is. In Little League, profanities are an ejection. In a pro rules game, we typically call that Tuesday. Unless that profanity has the word "you" in front of it. Be warned...we have umpires posting here from all over the world. Most of us mean well and want to help each other. You may read some discrepancies here from what your local association leadership wants you to do. If you have any doubts about what you are being told here being relevant or approved to do in your market, ask your local mentor or association leadership.

In closing, one of the best parts of the forum are the equipment reviews and the used equipment threads. I've bought a dozen items over the years from fellow users here and I have been completely satisfied will all of my purchases. If you need gear, check out the listings. If you have gear to sell, post pictures with your ad and give a full description and if it's priced well, it will sell.

Be thinking about your umpire aspirations. Is this a summer job to make some cash? That's ok. Lots of guys do that. You will still need to work hard to learn the rules, learn mechanics, learn positioning and learn game management. If you want to work better baseball? Work hard. If you want to work high school, college or even learn about the pro school track? There are guys here who can help you learn that, too.

Once again, welcome...

~Dawg

P.S. Get a cream colored umpire shirt for warm weather games...

[834k3r]

Oh--I forgot!

One resource you definitely need to check out is the Umpire Classroom channel on YouTube. Lots of great content there, especially for visual learners like me!