Things a ROOKIE NEEDS to know...

[JIGGY]

LETS NOT FORGET:

MOST OF THE STUFF YOU FIND ONLINE (HERE) IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE AND WILL ONLY GET YOU INTO MORE TROUBLE.

BETTER IDEA:

START WITH THE OFFICIAL BASEBALL RULES (OFTEN REFEREED TO BY AMATEUR UMPIRES AS "PRO-RULES")AND ONLY THIS RULE BOOK. LEARNING THIS WILL GIVE YOU AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE GAME. THE HIGH SCHOOL BOOK MAKES NO SENSE AND THE NCAA BOOKS MAY AS WELL BE WRITTEN IN HIEROGLYPHICS. THERE ARE CLEAR INTERPRETATIONS ALREADY IN EXISTENCE FOR THE OFFICIAL BASEBALL RULES, WHERE THERE AREN'T ALWAYS FOR HIGH SCHOOL OR NCAA. FROM THERE YOU CAN MAKE IT THROUGH ANY GAME AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LEARN THE DIFFERENCES.

BUY THE PBUC MANUALS- THE RED BOOK IS THE MOST CLEAR AND COMPREHENSIVE OF ALL TWO-MAN MECHANICS MANUALS. THE MECHANICS TAUGHT IN THAT BOOK ARE TIME TESTED AT THE PROFESSIONAL LEVEL. HIGH SCHOOL OR NCAA MECHANICS AREN'T REALLY ANY DIFFERENT, JUST USUALLY SLIGHTLY BEHIND WHAT THE PRO GUYS ARE DOING. THEY ALSO COVER THE RULE INTERPRETATIONS (THE BLUE BOOK) YOU CANNOT GET JUST LOOKING IN A RULE BOOK. THE BLUE BOOK WILL ALSO GIVE YOU POINTERS ON PROPER PROFESSIONALISM AS AN UMPIRE.

GO TO UMPIRE SCHOOL IF POSSIBLE, THE BEST CLINICS YOU CAN IF NOT. ALOT OF GUYS DON'T WANT TO ADMIT THIS, BUT GUYS WHO WENT TO SCHOOL ARE LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF THOSE WHO DON'T. (SOMEBODY IS GOING TO START CRYING AND TELLING ME HOW MANY YEARS THEY HAVE UMPIRING AND HOW THAT IS JUST AS GOOD AS GOING TO UMPIRE SCHOOL) ONE OF THE TWO SCHOOLS (I WON'T SAY IT IS CLEARLY THE BETTER OF THE TWO SCHOOLS) IS JIM EVANS ACADEMY WWW.UMPIREACADEMY.COM . JIM ALSO DOES LOCAL CLINICS. JIM'S PASSION IS TRAINING YOUNG UMPIRES. CONTACT HIM AND ASK HIM AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU CAN.