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Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve
Hey, Morgan and McCarver know very little about the rules of baseball. Once in a while Morgan gets lucky and manages to get one right, but McCarver very, very rarely knows any except the most basic funadamental rules, and even those he butchers with regularity.
Yes, they played major league baseball, but that does not make them baseball experts. Most of us did play baseball too, and our knowledge of the game is on a much higher level due to our umpiring experience. Those who have little or no umpiring experience typically do not know the rules to the degree that we do.
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Steve, I guess it depends on how you define expert.
If I was going to send my son for hitting lessons and I had a choice between Joe West, Joe Morgan or a 50 yr old great veteran umpire that played rec ball till he was 30, after much deliberation I'd probably pick Morgan.
If I wanted to learn about the strategies and secrets of infield play I'd pick Joe Morgan over Dana DeMuth.
If I was picking a mentor for my son, the catcher, and I had a choice between Tim McClelland and Tim McCarver I'm sorry I'd be picking McCarver.
If I wanted an indepth education on the nuances and strategies of the game of baseball I'd pick any MLB manager or player over any of the MLB umpires.
If I wanted to improve my umpire skills I'd pick any MLB, MiLB, NCAA, or Fed veteran umpire over any ball player or coach.
I agree that most Fed and above umps know more about the rules than do Tim and Joe, but that's as far as it goes.
McCarver was successfully calling pitches for many years. He had to know hitters and tendancies, he had to adjust to batters as the game progressed and new pitchers came in, he was the field manager. You don't have a successful 20 year career in MLB as a catcher and be a dummy.
It's just like the NFL, you don't have to the brightest bulb on the team if you're playing nose tackle as long as you have great athletic skills, but skills will only get you so far at QB, eventually you have to show you're capable of grasping the mental side of the game.
Like him or not, he knows more about the game than 99.9% of the crowd.