MadCityRef wroteHello,
This winter I am creating guidelines (tips, do's and don't's, etc.) for the new umpires in our association. I would appreciate if you could share bits of advice or past experiences that made you a better umpire/official.
Thank you,
Mad City Ref
There was a list of top 10 Dont's for the PU and BU written by Tim_C a while back. Here it is:
Ten Things a Base Umpire Should Not Do:
1- Wear a Ball Bag: Leave that to those poorly trained Little League guys. There is no possible need for the bag, or a towel, or a brush. Nothing says ârookieâ like a ball bag on the BU.
2- Brush off the Pitcherâs Plate between innings: Again, everyone KNOWS where the pitcherâs plate is. It does not, contrary to some opinions, help you with calling balks and it cries out, âRookieâ.
3- Dust off bases: Again, bases are from 4â to 6â tall and everyone knows where they are. If an infielder wants them dusted off they will do it themselves â let the players take care of this issue. (Special Note: Please feel free to use a âfoot dustâ of a base if you either have a player with a little injury to delay the action while he catches his breath or when the infielder and runner have âenergyâ towards each other that will allow you to stand between them as things quiet down.)
4- Be anywhere near the pitcherâs mound during a conference or a change of pitcher: Your position during either a pitching conference or a change of pitcher is at the cut-out at second base. If you are going to be in âBâ stand on the second base side of the cut-out, if you are going to be in âCâ stand on the third base side. DO NOT GO NEAR THE MOUND!
5- Tell the relief pitcher where the runners are, how many outs or anything else before the ball becomes live: This is not your job. Simply return to your next position. Let the coaches and other players tell the pitcher the situation. Again, nothing says âRookieâ louder than telling the pitcher, âRunners on first and second, one out, and the shortstop just made two errors.â Let the defensive team bring the pitcher up to speed.
6- Come in to the PU to talk between innings unless he has requested you to come in OR there is a pre-set plan of when a visit is appropriate: Understand that your partner has plenty to do. You are far better off to head to the outfield and think about your own issues. Review plays in your head, think about line drive coverageâs, etc. Let the umpire gather his piece-of-mind and get his stuff together. IF your partner wants to talk have a pre-arranged signal that brings you in at the next half inning to discuss whatever he needs to discuss.
7- WALK from position âAâ to position âBâ when a batter either walks or is hit by a pitch. Make it a personal goal that you are going to get to âBâ before the BR gets to first base on either the HBP or the BB. This means you will have to run . . . it is an option that we have.
8- Fail to understand that the âMagic Spotâ behind the pitcherâs mound is the perfect spot to be when a ball is hit to the outfield with multiple runners. Far too many times we see umpires running all around the infield following the ball. Remember that nothing happens until there is a ball, a runner and a potential play. Get set behind the mound and let the ball take you to the next play.
9- Take your eye off the ball: Keep your eye everlastingly on the ball and glance at runners. It doesnât take much ability to anticipate when runners are nearing the next base. Watch the ball and glance when the time is right for touches.
10- Carry an indicator (please read this entire section before you want to eat me up): First, do whatever makes you comfortable! If you need to carry the indicator then carry it . . . donât make this the defining moment in your umpire career. But consider the following: Nothing is funnier than watching the Little League World Series on ABC and seeing after every pitch five umpire heads go down, look at their indicator, then look up again. It reminds me of watching chickenâs feed in the barn yard. Consider this: keep yourself in the game by keeping the count in your head.
Please remember it is not the job of the BU to keep the count. The official count comes from the PU . . . when a player ask me: "What's the count" I always ask the PU to display what he's got.
This seems simple but for me (just another personal experience) I do not rely on the indicator . . . I like keeping in the game by running a count in my mind. For those of us who DONâT carry just think about what my friend Carl Childress has said, âwhy would anyone NOT want to carry a tool onto the field that makes your job more accurate and therefore better?â Pretty good question.
10 Things a Plate Umpire Should Not Do:
1- Call obvious balls âfoul.â Every year at the Little League World Series we see the PU call balls that land deep in the crowd in DBT âFOULâ . . . he is usually helped by at least three BUs that make the same call.
2- Come to the âsetâ position too late. I see umpires âSlipping and slidingâ to their final call position. Remember the âdropâ happens quickly and decisively. Get set and hold.
3- Fail to take the time to properly enter all line-up card changes on his card. This is my pet peeve because I am terrible at it. BUT, I have now learned a ânew and improved methodâ. But the issue is important . . . we all could use a little more time in making sure that we have made the proper substitution notations on our card (especially in FEDlandia where re-entry can rear its ugly head).
4- Fail to move out from behind home plate when the ball is in play. Oh My God, I see so many lazy assed umpires that not only fail to take their mask off during plays but never even leave the cut-out to be involved. I really though this issue had been âtrained awayâ until last week when I watched four sets of umpires from my local group and only ONE PU moved out.
5- Stand anywhere but along either the first or third base line between innings. True you sometimes have other small items to take care of but . . . in the MOST GENERAL OF TERMS when waiting between innings stand half way to either first or third base and in foul ground. It is generally accepted that the PU should be in located on the side of the DEFENSIVE dugout during this time.
6- Be too fast to call balls or strikes. We all know that timing makes accuracy ("Timing is the proper use of eyes" Jim Evans) . . . but we all have times when we are just to durn fast in making the call. Now donât fall for people who speak about FAKE TIMING . . . i.e. âWell, once the ball comes in I chew my gum three times and then say âSTRIKEâ!â That is fake timing. I tell you, IF you track the ball into the glove (all the way) and hear the sound of it hitting, IF you then make up your mind on the quality of the pitch, and THEN you signal and verbalize you will have perfect timing. You donât need false aids to do it correctly.
7- Dust the plate after someone in the crowd yells, âHey Blue, whereâs the plate, dust it off!â
8- Forget that as PU you OWN the pitcher and the catcher. It is your job to control those two people and those two positions. Be clear in your pre-game conference with your BU that you will control the length of conferences on the mound, you will control any negative feed back from wither of these two positions and that you control the pace of the game. DO TELL YOUR PARTNER that you would appreciate that he keep a count of warm up throws by a relief pitcher and simply signal the count to you by holding fingers near his thigh. Make it clear to your partner that he is, in no way, to tell a relief pitcher outs, situations or anything.
9- Fail to signal. You can use all the verbal and physical signals you want. (Remember there are a few that are really important and some that just add to the confusion). Signals along the lines of coverage: âI got thirdâ or âI am staying home!â are only half the equation. You also need VERBAL signals as play is on to make sure that everything is covered. I just hate to work with âSilent Samâ who often is exactly where he is supposed to be but has never let you know. It is, âunsettling.â
10- Fail to remember that when your partner is in âBâ with R1 and there is a bunt up the first base line that you may need to follow the play a little longer than average. The reason we encourage for the base umpire to make both calls in the infield when there is a second play at third base is so that the PU can follow the ball up the first base line farther than normal. He can make the fair/foul call, watch for any type interference/obstruction and can make a simple tag play call when the BU is trapped out at âBâ. It is becoming more evident that using the PU to make the âsecond call in the infieldâ while seemingly efficient can only be done part of the time. If you use âpart timeâ mechanics they will fail when most important.