Better Games make one a better umpire

PeteBooth · #1 (**permalink**) Tue May 08, 2001, 10:36am

IMO a steady diet of good games makes for a better umpire. Even though there is more pressure in a close well played game, one is focused and on top of their game. The game is called the way it should be and one's skills get better developed.

Conversely, if we constantly umpire a steady diet of bad games, without even knowing it, we develop bad habits. One of them is the strike zone. If the game is a blow-out and there is no mercy rule - i do not know about you but the zones opens up in a hurry.

Granted, we shouldn't be out there for the money only, but on the same token, I'm not going to be out there for 4 hours either.

The other aspects of the game suffer as well such as calling balks. Basically, in some games balks are virtually ignored, otherwise we would have a balk-a-thon.
Also, try calling a balk when the score is 24 to something - you look like a fool if you call one.

Now I realize we have to start somewhere, but if we do not get tested it's really hard to improve one's skills. I now at least understand why some umpires just show-up for the money - RE: they never got the chance to improve especially if your in an association which is political.

In some associations the VETS only get the real good games and if you hang around long enough perhaps you too will get some of those games. At least in summer ball I get some real good baseball (Legion / collegiate wood-bat) to improve ny skills and keep me focused.

Bottom line the better the game, the more focused we are. It's the same as when we played. When the competition was good, it brought out the best in us and made us more competitive.

What's your take

Pete Booth

JRutledge · #2 (**permalink**) Tue May 08, 2001, 11:22am

do not use it as an excuse for not improving. Politics is not always a bad thing. All politics is really, is getting to know people better. If the assignors or the people that it matters to likes you or knows who you are, it is easier for them to think of you when the time comes.

I had two different banquets that I went two in the month of April. I was not there to kiss up or even buddy, buddy up to the anyone. But I was there to show my face and to show the associations that I was committed and supported the associations. And it also helps that people can see my name and put the face together. Even in one of the banquets, one of the speakers was the State Championship Basketball Coach (AA big schools). And I had a chance to talk to him and if down the road and I end up on a court that he is coaching, he might react a little different with me because he had a beer with me and other officials. Now I am not suggesting that I will not have to spend an entire game getting to know this person, and it might help avoid conflict during a touch game.

I agree that the VETS get the better games, but often that is because people know them. Look, I am new to the area that I currently live. I had to put myself in people's faces in order to start some kind of reputation.

Do you really think that most decisions are made in a meeting or with a letter or on the phone. Most decisions are made in and out of officiating, at the bar, on the golf course and at banquets where people learn more about the person than what they do on a field or on a court.

Last thing. If you want better games, ask for them. If you aspire to work better games, ask the people that make the decisions. And at least if you are turned down you can ask why. You might get an honest answer and that answer might do a world for your career.

Now that is politics!!!!

Peace

badbamaump · #3 (**permalink**) Tue May 08, 2001, 02:08pm

With Rut! LOL...

Pete, I'll agree with you to a certain degree about the requirements of good games to become a better umpire. I'll also add that the "poor" games require MORE concentration than a tight game. It takes a lot of mental focus when a pitcher has walked 3 in a row not to miss that borderline strike. On the bases you'll have to stay focused not to get caught up in some "case book" play. In a "poor" game you'll probably find ample opportunity to exercise your game managment skills.

The political issue....hmmmmm, Politics is a fact of life when there's power and money...good or bad. I'll admit that my political skills have helped me to advance just as much as my umpiring skills. I don't kiss ***, but I'm willing to listen to a big dog and do my best to do what they tell me. An example:

I attended our FED playoff camp, the Head Instructor owes my mother a favor... I didn't even talk to him on the first day of camp, he finally approached me and asked why hadn't I bothered to talk to him..."I didn't feel like getting in that line of people kissing your ***." He laughed. Now all camp I did pick his brain on how "things are done". Guess what? that Summer I get an invite to the college association tryout camp.

Politics without being political...

Will

JJ · #4 (**permalink**) Tue May 08, 2001, 08:40pm

I have many rules of thumb for umpiring - one of them is, "You can't look good in a bad game". I agree with you, Pete -

joemoore · #5 (**permalink**) Tue May 08, 2001, 10:35pm

I did a game tonight, 13 yr old BR league. In first inning one team's ace pitcher struggled to get the ball below the batter's chest and gave up a number of walks. They griped at a few pitches and after a while his control really got bad.

The final was 13-3 ended by the mercy rule. Before the score was so lopsided, I called batter's interference when a batter's overswing took him into the catcher's attempted throw. And in the game there was a triple play.

I refused to talk myself into expanding the strike zone (though I admit I gave in on a few close pitches). My partner, on an easy force play at 2nd base, called a runner (from the winning team) safe when the fielder was clearly off the bag. The runner started walking to the dugout and was tagged out.

Of course, I knew that after 8PM it starts to get dark, so it wasn't going to be much over 2 hours.

Gre144 · #6 (**permalink**) Tue May 08, 2001, 11:53pm

I'm probably not in the majority here but I tend to shy away from the more competitive games. I find them to be very stressful. Is there anyone else out there that prefers less competitive games like myself? In the spring time, for example, I do a lot of Middle School games by myself. The baseball is horrible but the the kids are having a great time! Also, the time limit is 1 and 1/2 hours and I get the same pay for doing one of these games by myself as I would doing a very competitive varsity high school game. I have never been insulted by a coach at the middle school level. It feels good to be appreciated- an appreciation that you rarely receive in a varsity game, whether you do a good job or not. Nevertheless, I do agree that more competitive games make you a better umpire while less competive games can often make you better understand the rules(more balks and weird situations in general occur)

Greg

Mike M · #7 (**permalink**) Wed May 09, 2001, 09:53am

I have been in my association two years and I have been assigned all JV games. Of course, not all JV teams are created equal and we have wide disparity between teams. Last week, in a "bad" game there were plays that normally would not happen in a "good" game. All of the involved interference or what the coaches thought were interefernce. So with my limited experience I was exposed to real life situations where I could see what was going on as I attempted to apply the rule book. As an added bonus, I gained experience of having to listen to irate coaches explaining why runners must slide on a non force play of a passed ball at the plate.

His High Holiness · #8 (**permalink**) Wed May 09, 2001, 09:54am

I agree with the Rut. Perhaps I am sick. Let me take a few minutes to take my temperature.

I am back after a quick medical checkup. I am OK. It turns out that the Rut wrote something intelligent after all.

On to Pete's question:

When one does a game that is abysmally played, a good umpire takes this opportunity to experiment with his mechanics and/or have some fun. You can bet that in a 14-1 game, no one is looking at the umpires. They just want to get out of there.

When I first started umpiring, I could not get the hang of listening for the ball and watching the bag for plays at first base. I backed off and looked at the whole play and blew a lot of calls as a result, Nothing really disgusting, mind you, but I missed more calls than I should have had I been using the proper technique. I even advanced to varsity ball with this method.

Finally, I decided that I had to learn how to do it right. Whenever I got in a blowout game or did 13-15 year old baseball, I started practicing listening for the ball and watching the bag. I made some horrendously awful calls in the learning process but I still remember the first time that it finally clicked. (It took the better part of a year to learn to do this consistently. I took a lot of s$$$ from coaches of 14 year olds over the course of that year. I set a personal record for ejections that year, too.)

Another thing that one can do in bad baseball is practice game management skills. Experiment with various types of interaction with the coaches and players. You may be surprised at the results.

For me, FED baseball is low level. I have nothing to prove there so I have made it my playground this year. In a long post on McGriffs recently, I outlined some of my more outrageous acts on FED fields. If you are primarily a FED umpire, you could do the same thing on Babe Ruth fields or LL fields. On the other hand, if you are Rut and T-ball is your specialty, try out your ideas on a s****r field.

Peter

JRutledge · #9 (**permalink**) Wed May 09, 2001, 12:20pm

For someone that has nothing to prove, you spend much time trying to insult people that you do not know personally. Are you sure you have nothing to prove? Are you sure you have achieved everything you set out to do in baseball?

I bet you are the talk of your associations, especially since you are a slave to that association.

But then again, you think baseball is more important than it is. That is why baseball is your primary sport.

HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA.

Just put the big fat L on your forehead and spare me the comments.

Peace

Quote:

Originally posted by His High Holiness
I agree with the Rut. Perhaps I am sick. Let me take a few minutes to take my temperature.

I am back after a quick medical checkup. I am OK. It turns out that the Rut wrote something intelligent after all.

On to Pete's question:

When one does a game that is abysmally played, a good umpire takes this opportunity to experiment with his mechanics and/or have some fun. You can bet that in a 14-1 game, no one is looking at the umpires. They just want to get out of there.

When I first started umpiring, I could not get the hang of listening for the ball and watching the bag for plays at first base. I backed off and looked at the whole play and blew a lot of calls as a result, Nothing really disgusting, mind you, but I missed more calls than I should have had I been using the proper technique. I even advanced to varsity ball with this method.

Finally, I decided that I had to learn how to do it right. Whenever I got in a blowout game or did 13-15 year old baseball, I started practicing listening for the ball and watching the bag. I made some horrendously awful calls in the learning process but I still remember the first time that it finally clicked. (It took the better part of a year to learn to do this consistently. I took a lot of s$$$ from coaches of 14 year olds over the course of that year. I set a personal record for ejections that year, too.)

Another thing that one can do in bad baseball is practice game management skills. Experiment with various types of interaction with the coaches and players. You may be surprised at the results.

For me, FED baseball is low level. I have nothing to prove there so I have made it my playground this year. In a long post on McGriffs recently, I outlined some of my more outrageous acts on FED fields. If you are primarily a FED umpire, you could do the same thing on Babe Ruth fields or LL fields. On the other hand, if you are Rut and T-ball is your specialty, try out your ideas on a s****r field.

Peter

His High Holiness · #10 (**permalink**) Thu May 10, 2001, 06:20am

Quote:

Originally posted by JRutledge
For someone that has nothing to prove, you spend much time trying to insult people that you do not know personally. Are you sure you have nothing to prove? Are you sure you have achieved everything you set out to do in baseball?

I bet you are the talk of your associations, especially since you are a slave to that association.

Once again, Rut, you proved that you have trouble reading. I did not say that I have nothing to prove in baseball, I said that I had nothing to prove in FED BASEBALL. I have plenty of hurdles in college baseball to overcome so I don't fool around there but I can use FED baseball as a laboratory for experiments.

I have been a member of several associations over the last 25 years and the one that I belong to now is the best by far. I learned more in the first six months in this association that I had in the previous 15 years in the others. The others were full of people like you. Unfortuantely, my present association has a number of umpires like you as well. However, in my present association, the Ruts are not made the Vice President in charge of baseball. Isn't that the position that you hold in your association?

Peter

joemoore · #11 (**permalink**) Thu May 10, 2001, 12:08pm

Is this the grown-ups area?

JRutledge · #12 (**permalink**) Thu May 10, 2001, 12:37pm

Quote:

Originally posted by His High Holiness

Once again, Rut, you proved that you have trouble reading. I did not say that I have nothing to prove in baseball, I said that I had nothing to prove in FED BASEBALL. I have plenty of hurdles in college baseball to overcome so I don't fool around there but I can use FED baseball as a laboratory for experiments.

I have been a member of several associations over the last 25 years and the one that I belong to now is the best by far. I learned more in the first six months in this association that I had in the previous 15 years in the others. The others were full of people like you. Unfortuantely, my present association has a number of umpires like you as well. However, in my present association, the Ruts are not made the Vice President in charge of baseball. Isn't that the position that you hold in your association?

Peter

Again, you go off spouting about me and you do not know a thing. I am only a part of the association that I am Vice-President, because I belong to that association in basketball. It is the closer to me than any other and I went to get my schedule filled up (which I did) this year.

But again, I do not have to be apart of an association, nor does any other Illinois Umpire. Many are not in a sport (and I have to say this again) nobody around here cares about. The umpires that we have would rather do softball. As I said before, you are wrapping up what you learn by what kind of people are in your association and that is VERY SAD!!!!

You can learn on your own by what you read and attending camps that have nothing to do with associations. But that might mean getting out of your confront zone and expanding your mind and your ability. I can see that is very hard for you because you are saying what kind of people you have in your associations, and you have never met the person you are comparing them to.

But then again, I do not have the name of "His High Holiness."

Peace