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Originally Posted by GarthB
Really? Jim began his research for his book on the rules almost as soon as he began umpiring. He would spend his off days on the road at libraries researching and taking copious notes. Most people have no clue as to how the JEA was born, or how thorough it was researched and prepared.
Most people also don't have a clue as to Jim's imput into the formalization of pro-mechanics and his input into what eventually became PBUC's publication known as the "Red BooK".
Your recent attitdue towards Jim Evans confuses me. I've seen posts from you on various sites in which you sarcatiscally lyrefer to him as "Oz", or "Reverend Evans" among other terms.
Whatever you may think of the man personally, baseball, and the umpiring community specifically, are greatly in his debt.
Jim is regarded by active ML umpires and ML Baseball in general as the leading expert in baseball rules, their origins, traditions and modern interpretation and usage. Even the changes made this year, seven years after his retirement, were among the those proposed by Jim years ago.
I realize you "could have been a ML umpire", as you were once so fond of telling us, but I am amazed that one who has never met the man can voice the contempt I read in your posts.
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I refer to Evans as "Reverend Jimmy" simply because all you MLB umpires' jock sniffers worship him like a God. I have nothing against him at all. In fact, I quote his interpretations often. Probably never met the man because I live in a NL town, and he was an AL umpire. I have met and spoken with many NL umpires, but alas, no AL umpires. Jim Evans was not one of my favorite AL umpires either, but his dedication to the rules, their history and application, is unquestionable.
BTW, where can I obtain a Jim Evans book on the rules? I have searched high and low, and cannot locate a copy.
Garth, is there some reason you continue to reference my past remarks? That kind of thing would get a coach run in a baseball game, but since I said it, you think it's fair game? I wasn't "so fond" of saying I could have been a pro umpire. I said it a grand total of one time, to which you proceeded to laugh me off the board. We all could have been ML umpires if the circumstances had been different, don't you think? I think most good umpires at one time or other have felt the same way. I just made the mistake of voicing my thoughts. I never thought I could be a soldier, but after boot camp and AIT, I became a good one. A little training and experience go a long way in life, and baseball is no different.