[UmpJM]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your gracious welcome to the "other" side.

By "war stories", I can only assume Dave & Tim are referring to occasions where my umpiring may have been less than stellar. Hmmm, so many to choose from, it's hard to know where to start.

Probably the most personally mortifying thing is that on three separate occasions I have vocalized "Strike Three!!" on swinging strikes - and in each case, it was actually strike two! Now, I know you aren't even supposed to vocalize a swinging strike, and on a "called" strike, you just vocalize the strike, not the number. I'm not sure where this inclination even comes from & had a kind of weird "what the f*** did you just do?" experience as I did it. Happily, I have managed to NOT do this for the last four games, so I may have exorcised this particular demon.

Another special moment was in a game I was working solo. Had a stealing R1 on the pitch. I focused on staying set to call the pitch (which I did) & then moving out quickly to my left to get an angle to 2B as I pulled off my helmet. Unfortunately, in my haste to get my helmet off, I managed to pull my glasses off my head. As my glasses fell at my feet, I set and looked at the blur in the area of 2B. Even with my impaired vision, I could tell it was a very close play. I called the runner safe. Immediate groans from the defensive dugout, but nothing out of line. For some reason, nobody gave me any crap about my glasses coming off & between innings one of the defensive coaches let me know in passing that he thought the runner had gotten under the tag. Other than that occasion, I have managed to keep my glasses on.

My strike zone seems to come and go. In my opinion, it's generally fine and then I'll hit a point in the game where even I can't believe some of the calls I'm making; and then it comes back. Timing? Fatigue? Focus? Beats me.

Oh. And did you know that you should NEVER try to come back into the infield after having gone "out" on a fly ball, nor try to go "out" from B or C? Of course you did!!!! Having committed each of these FUBARs exactly once, now I know too! And, I know WHY! If you've never done it, you really ought to give it a try. It's an experience you'll never forget.

I'm really just scratching the surface here, but there is a limit to the length of these posts.

In terms of the over/under question, I haven't the foggiest. So far, the coaches & players have been pretty well-behaved in the games I've done. I was eager to get started this Fall Ball season because in my experience those games tend to be a little more low-key and I thought it might be a little more forgiving environment for me to get through my early learning curve. So far, it has been. I don't think I'd have a problem tossing someone who had earned it, but I won't really know until it happens.

With my younger son entering High School this year, I believe my baseball coaching days are behind me.

It's kind of weird, but from having spent so much time on boards like this for the last five years, I had already come to hold something of an umpire's perspective in regard to the officiating aspects of the game, even in games I was coaching. So I don't feel that the switch from the coach's perspective to the umpire's has been that difficult for me. I do find myself questioning some of the coaching decisions/actions in my own mind. Like "Why is he leaving this pitcher in when he can't even throw one close to the plate?"; or "How come the base coach didn't yell at his runner to get back when it was so obvious the pick-off was coming?"; or "Why on earth was he having his number three hitter bunt with nobody out and a runner on 1B?"

What has been difficult for me, and something I still need to work a lot on, is the proper positioning and rotation. When I get on the field and there's a batted ball in play, I find I still have "player instincts" in respect to my instinctive first move. The proper reaction for an umpire is quite different, in many cases opposite, of what a player's reaction should be when the ball is put in play.

It's kind of like getting married or having children - no matter how much people tell you about it ahead of time, you can't really understand it until you try doing it yourself.

For the most part, I've been in the proper position to make my calls. Though I still have a slight tendency to rush my calls, so far I've avoided the dreaded "Out...no Safe" & "Safe...no Out" call - but it's been close on a couple of occasions.

So, I've certainly had my share of screwups, but overall, not too bad. Without what I'd learned from all of you, I'm positive I'd be having a much rockier start - so Thanks!

JM