[PeteBooth]

Originally posted by Sleeper

This will be my first season for baseball and I need some advice, especially around the equipment I need to get started, rules I need to concentrate on, how to develop a consistent strike zone, and intangibles. Thanks in advance for the help.

A couple of questions to help in my response.


1. You said first season of baseball. Is the first season you will be doing HS ball? LL? etc.

2. Are you predominately umpiring games for kids who shave or don't shave?

I will try and answer based on the info provided.

Before you do anything I receommend becoming part of some association.

As far as equipment goes, if you umpire games for kids who don't shave you can get some used equipment as you don't need the "heavy artillerary" as you do when the kids get older. If you have some extra funds you can by a decent starter set from either Honigs or Gerry Davis.

As far as developing a consistent strike zone and intangables goes IMO takes experience. It's best to get a "clear view" for yourself by attending some formal training. By "clear view" I mean develop a stance that best suits you.

In a clinic the instructors will show and demonstrate the accepted stances which are The BOX (The most common stance used), Scizzors and getting down on one knee. (This stance is mostly used by some PRO Umpires) I receommend trying them all to see which one feels most comfortable to you.

Also, you need to understand mechanics which again the instructors will go over. The most widely used mechanic for amateur ball excluding Playoffs or Special type games is the 2 Person mechanic.

IMO the most important part of your early career is to try and have someone mentor you. IMO there's nothing like having a good mentor to help you along the way.

The intangables you refer to come under the category of Game Management which takes many games too develop at various stages of your development.

Based upon your status (ie; Married single etc.), how many games can you work? As they say the more the merrier. The most important thing is that when you say you can do a game as Nike says Just do it. If you get a reputation of taking a game and then declining later on, is not good for your career.

In Summary, as mentioned in order to answer your question we need to know what type of ball you are calling. If you can get some training and Good Luck!

Pete Booth