Umpire Influencers

[WIUMP]

Over the last few years, the algorithm has decided I need a steady diet of umpire influencers.

GoPros on masks. Meta glasses (had to Google those… I am, in fact, uncool). “Day in the life” content, mic’d up clips, etc.

Is there any real value here, or mostly content for content’s sake?

[The Man in Blue]

I don't do social media, so my answer is going to be (a) limited to my limited experience, and (b) subject to my bias about social media.

From what I have seen people post on forums (and typically Youtube is the only thing I will click on), it is garbage content.  

I question the rationale of somebody recording other people's minor children and posting it online for their "please validate my life with clicks" content.  That also calls into question organizations that allow umpires to do this.

[SeeingEyeDog]

I have yet to see an "umpire influencer" offer anything of value...

~Dawg

[BLWizzRanger]

50 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

I have yet to see an "umpire influencer" offer anything of value...

~Dawg

How about... 'how not to do it?' That has some value, don't it?

[SeeingEyeDog]

6 minutes ago, BLWizzRanger said:

How about... 'how not to do it?' That has some value, don't it?

Sure, if that's how it was presented but, I'm too short on time in this world to have to process someone taking themselves way too seriously AND giving bad information to then acknowledge that's how not to do it...

~Dawg

[BLWizzRanger]

Sorry, SED, I should have put a sarcasm label on my post.  We both know, as everyone has alluded, that these influencers are for the clicks and not for the instruction.

[grayhawk]

Is this a Facebook or Instagram thing? I'm not on Instagram and spend VERY little time on FB these days.

[WIUMP]

I see them on Instagram but I'm not on many other platforms for personal consumption.

[JSam21]

It really depends. A lot of them never meant to be "instructional". Some of them are and the bad part is, they are wrong a lot of the times. Others are just content. It is what it is. They aren't looking to advance. They aren't looking to get better. It has zero effect on my day to day life, so let them have it. 

I did come across one that happened to be local to me and they actually appeared open to advice. 

At the end of the day. Let them do what they do... they are mostly harmless.

 

[noumpere]

For umpiring and for everything else, I do NOT look at FaceCrook, SnapCrap, GangstaGram, Ticky-Tack or anything else.

[JSam21]

22 hours ago, noumpere said:

For umpiring and for everything else, I do NOT look at FaceCrook, SnapCrap, GangstaGram, Ticky-Tack or anything else.

If I may ask... Why? There is some good pieces of information out there. To you, what is the difference between those platforms and platforms like this? 

[concertman1971]

On 4/20/2026 at 8:40 AM, noumpere said:

For umpiring and for everything else, I do NOT look at FaceCrook, SnapCrap, GangstaGram, Ticky-Tack or anything else.

Tell me you are over the age of 55 without telling me...................

 

[The Man in Blue]

12 hours ago, JSam21 said:

If I may ask... Why? There is some good pieces of information out there. To you, what is the difference between those platforms and platforms like this? 

[Tksjewelry]

Like it or not, those platforms are the way people are communicating, connecting and “learning” and that’s not going to change. If you want a new generation of umpires that are educated in the field, I’d suggest some of the excellent knowledge, experience, and talent on these forums be apart of that future and join in the conversations on those platforms. Heck, if @MadMax were smart, he’d start a TikTok channel. He’s got the knowledge, the personality, and the looks to be a REAL benefit to the profession as an “influencer”. A good chunk of the information being shared by “umpires” on the gram or tt is just crap and, outside of myself, its rare to see anyone respond with actual rule book quotes. There is almost zero information on gear. Zero information on positioning. Heck, half of the umpires on those platforms don’t even use obstruction/interference correctly. I try to steer some of the young ones here but they don’t understand forums, to them they are all boomer Reddit trash. Believe it or not, umpires are generally well liked on those platforms (more tt than gram), coaches and parents do make very positive and supportive videos and comments about us, far more than you’d imagine.

[834k3r]

On 5/2/2026 at 3:24 AM, Tksjewelry said:

got the knowledge, the personality, and the looks

Hey everyone! I found @MadMax's sock account!

[MadMax]

1 hour ago, 834k3r said:

Hey everyone!

Beaks… just… grrr… 

@Tksjewelry, @wolfe_man, @WIUMP, @Cavalier1948, and several other fellow umperials have all either worked or met me in person. I’ve spoken with them, at length, about somebody needing to start and maintain a channel to foster training and enrichment for all of us. To a person, they’ve all agreed (to the sentiment), but then look at me and wonder why I haven’t yet. 

There are three reasons – two personal, with the third being one that affects all of us, but I have to be… cautious… about revealing it. 

The first is “focused effort and refinement”. I’m not the blogging type. I don’t possess that journalistic personality to just document everything and edit it all together, in summary or on the fly. There are those that can, and they’re tremendously good at it. The true “stars” at it are those that have the looks to… I won’t say match, but looks that don’t detract or distract from the message of the content. 
If I am/was to do a video, I’d want everything set up, prepared, scripted, sequenced, and optimized to produce a top-quality piece that can be viewed again and again. I don’t have that kind of time – that focused effort – available to me these days. Surely, the more I put it off, the less likely and opportunity I have to embark on it. I’m tremendously impressed and respectful of guys like @concertman1971 (Tim) who saw a deficiency, addressed it, and launched one helluva business. 

That leads into the second part of the first reason (and touches on part of the third, and most important reason)… how do you make this… I won’t say profitable… but productive enough to support itself and the time you put into it? Is it SocMed revenues (views & likes) only?? Sell merch? What else? I don’t have a “backing entity” to rely upon. 

The full second reason is looks. I’m a little self-conscious. I work manual labor otherwise, don’t get proper sleep, and have wild nutritional swings that result in breakouts and blemishes aplenty. Besides, you’ve heard me on the phone… I talk a thousand MPH. Yes, certainly, if I have it scripted, and can refine it, that incomprehension can be overcome, but it’s cropped up in my umpiring – I have had colleagues and coaches point it out (many have been very patient with me, some haven’t) that I talk waytoofast. 

But enough about me. Likely, there are some reading this going, “Man, this Max guy is loaded with excuses”. Sure, you can read that, it’s valid… but this third reason is one everyone needs to understand, because it has nothing to do with me. 

The third reason is “blackballing”. 

I cannot go into details; I cannot pull the curtain back (yet). But it’s real, it exists, and it’s a like a riptide – you can’t outwardly see it, but when it hits ya… woof. And it’s a real shame, because it is stifling the development of the next generation of umpires / officials. 

[Jay R.]

One of my summer-ball associations, the Chartiers Valley Umpires Association south of Pittsburgh, has been slowly building up its social media presence over the last couple years. One of the officers (who's also active in my high school chapter) has been wearing a cam for rec and travel games and posting clips (both general "sights and sounds" and rules questions) to Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter for almost a year.

The goal isn't so much as to be a generic "influencer" as it is for recruitment. It's been pretty effective at finding people; our high school chapter added several people this year and this spring five teens and young adults have contacted the CVUA about starting to umpire.

https://www.facebook.com/cvua412

https://x.com/cvua412

https://www.youtube.com/@cvua412

 

[Velho]

1 hour ago, MadMax said:

The third reason is “blackballing”. 

I cannot go into details; I cannot pull the curtain back (yet). But it’s real, it exists, and it’s a like a riptide – you can’t outwardly see it, but when it hits ya… woof. And it’s a real shame, because it is stifling the development of the next generation of umpires / officials. 

Why do you think I use my government name on a very limited basis online - even though it had nothing to do with my day job? Let's just say California (and the west coast in general) is a very interesting place to live. (Not to mention the ways of my primary baseball Association.)

[orangebird]

3 hours ago, Jay R. said:

One of my summer-ball associations, the Chartiers Valley Umpires Association south of Pittsburgh, has been slowly building up its social media presence over the last couple years. One of the officers (who's also active in my high school chapter) has been wearing a cam for rec and travel games and posting clips (both general "sights and sounds" and rules questions) to Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter for almost a year.

The goal isn't so much as to be a generic "influencer" as it is for recruitment. It's been pretty effective at finding people; our high school chapter added several people this year and this spring five teens and young adults have contacted the CVUA about starting to umpire.

https://www.facebook.com/cvua412

https://x.com/cvua412

https://www.youtube.com/@cvua412

 

Yeah I've seen the clips on r/umpire

[SeeingEyeDog]

8 hours ago, Jay R. said:

One of my summer-ball associations, the Chartiers Valley Umpires Association south of Pittsburgh, has been slowly building up its social media presence over the last couple years. One of the officers (who's also active in my high school chapter) has been wearing a cam for rec and travel games and posting clips (both general "sights and sounds" and rules questions) to Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter for almost a year.

The goal isn't so much as to be a generic "influencer" as it is for recruitment. It's been pretty effective at finding people; our high school chapter added several people this year and this spring five teens and young adults have contacted the CVUA about starting to umpire.

https://www.facebook.com/cvua412

https://x.com/cvua412

https://www.youtube.com/@cvua412

 

Thank you for sharing this, Jay...this is exactly how umpires and our associations should be using social media for purposes of recruiting.

Finding and retaining umpires is like launching a rocket...the earlier in the launch cycle you are, the harder it is to have a successful launch/keep that umpire.

~Dawg 

[concertman1971]

On 5/5/2026 at 9:15 AM, MadMax said:

The third reason is “blackballing”. 

I cannot go into details; I cannot pull the curtain back (yet). But it’s real, it exists, and it’s a like a riptide – you can’t outwardly see it, but when it hits ya… woof. And it’s a real shame, because it is stifling the development of the next generation of umpires / officials. 

Like the old school term "if it bleeds, it leads"...the new term is "enragement is engagement". Think of the accounts you guys are mentioning, they all get our collective goats with uniforms, "clickers"(sic) in the wrong hand, hats backwards, poor or often completely incorrect mechanics, etc. We are enraged, so we engage.

While ThighPro has the probably the largest following and biggest reach of any on this platform, I as an umpire, have to be cautious of what I share. I would love to be miked up for a weekend tournament with a camera crew filming (stay tuned for this, as it may happen this summer). Am I at a stage in my career where I am ready to give up Pro Ball in the summer? Am I done "chasing" D1 baseball assignmentsor a D2/3 World Series? If so, then the idea of having a camera crew follow me is a real possibility. But until I am done with my "career" I have to be aware of the repercussions of going on Social Media.

On 5/5/2026 at 9:15 AM, MadMax said:

The first is “focused effort and refinement”. I’m not the blogging type. I don’t possess that journalistic personality to just document everything and edit it all together, in summary or on the fly. There are those that can, and they’re tremendously good at it. The true “stars” at it are those that have the looks to… I won’t say match, but looks that don’t detract or distract from the message of the content. 
If I am/was to do a video, I’d want everything set up, prepared, scripted, sequenced, and optimized to produce a top-quality piece that can be viewed again and again. I don’t have that kind of time – that focused effort – available to me these days. Surely, the more I put it off, the less likely and opportunity I have to embark on it. I’m tremendously impressed and respectful of guys like @concertman1971 (Tim) who saw a deficiency, addressed it, and launched one helluva business. 

While I appreciate what Max is saying, its more (to me) about are you willing to have lesser umpires chastise your every move? Umpires on line are the absolute WORST. Move left, should have moved right. Safe?? He should have been out. Its not just about scripts and proper set up, its are you willing to enrage, so that people enage?