First Game Experience

[LLPA13UmpDan]

How was your guy's first experience umpring? What was the level you called? Was it a disaster? Tell Us. I know my first game...behind the plate...Got rained out in the top of the 2nd. Very First batter up...foul ball off my mask (Hockey type). Left a mark on it, right on of it. Hope your first game was better than mine.

[bluezebra]

Originally Posted by LLPA13UmpDan

How was your guy's first experience umpring? What was the level you called? Was it a disaster? Tell Us. I know my first game...behind the plate...Got rained out in the top of the 2nd. Very First batter up...foul ball off my mask (Hockey type). Left a mark on it, right on of it. Hope your first game was better than mine.

Just got back from my honeymoon. Sunday morning. Association assignor calls me to work the bases in a men's semi-pro game, to replace ump called out of town in a family emergency. B/R beats throw to 1B, but oversteps the bag. Defense appeals, OUT. Not only the B/R and the 1B coach go crazy, but the entire bench, AND half the stands come out. The PU was an experienced ump who worked that league for years, got everyone calmed down and back to where they belong. Between innings he tells me there's $5,000 riding on the game, and this is July, 1956. He tells me that when the game's over, head for my car and head home, without changing shoes.

All for a $9.00 game fee.

Bob

[ToGreySt]

My first game ever, I had the bases in a JV game in the middle of nowhere in western new hampshire, I left more than two hours before game time (it's an hour drive) with my map quest directions in hand. After an hour and a half I realize that the directions were taking me in the wrong direction and I don't get to the game until the top of the fifth. my partner just didn't know what to say, I felt so bad when the coach tried to pay me a full game fee, so I signed it over to my partner.

my first game on the dish was a little bit better, I at least got there on time. my zone was horriffic, both too small and changing on an inning by inning basis. I missed a hidden ball trick at second base that had me looking down at my indicator and my partner looking in the opposite direction (no out - we played on)

both of my second games were above and beyond much better

Joe

[TussAgee11]

I had an F2 who was reaching way out to catch pitches, and probably missed 3 CI's. It was so hard for me to tell then, because I was so focused on that ball, and couldn't hear the bat nicking the glove.

As you become a better umpire, you begin to use all your senses to make your calls.

Now, I can taste when the infield is unsafe to play on due to rain.

[SanDiegoSteve]

My first baseball game was a LL Majors game (alone). I had already done basketball and slow pitch softball, so at least I had a clue.

I did pretty well for a raw rookie. One of the coaches approached me after the game and told me I did a really good job. I said thank you. He asked me how long I had been umpiring baseball and I told him it was my first game ever. He was genuinely astonished, and told me I looked like I'd been at it a long time. Must have been the softball.

[Tim C]

As I have documented several times over the years:

My first game was a Class AAA varsity game (at the time that was my states largest high school classification) between to city rivals and I was on the plate.

I have worked one sub-varsity game in my career (working as a mentor) and found it far more difficult to work than any varsity game I have worked.

But I digress:

As I remember (heck it was 1968) everything went well -- I was always considered a "good baseball guy" that understood the game and, other than understanding all the rules, the game went well.

Of course the plate is always easy compared to working the bases.

Regards,

[Toadman15241]

I was 11 years old when I called my first game on the bases. It was a 9-10 year old game and I knew every single player and coach. I had been going to the association rules/mechanics clinics for three years, so I knew what I was doing. I had one banger at first and the coach thought he could take advantage of my age and decided to touch me during the argument and so I had to dump him.

[ctblu40]

I was 17 or 18, and called a game on the bases. It was a Sr LL game and I played for the home team the previous year. I had a banger at third base on the BR trying to stretch a double in a late inning. I banged him out and an argument ensued. I ended up running the manager of the home team. The ride home after the game was a long one because the person I just dumped was my ride home. It was my father!

[griff901c]

Originally Posted by Tim C

As I have documented several times over the years:

My first game was a Class AAA varsity game (at the time that was my states largest high school classification) between to city rivals and I was on the plate.

I have worked one sub-varsity game in my career (working as a mentor) and As I remember (heck it was 1968) everything went well --


Of course the plate is always easy compared to working the bases.

Regards,

Did I miss something? Had you attended any mechanics meetings prior to this game?

First game.... varsity and the dish! Pretty good gig!

Griff

[GarthB]

My first time humping? Oh, gee....I was in my junior year in high school. We were at the Drive-In in my parents Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. Huge back seat. I hadn't planned anything, but it was obvious that Cathy had. We....what? Oh, umping!

Never mind.

[briancurtin]

i started out doing my city's A-League, which was the secondary league for kids who didnt make the "majors" teams at the 10-11-12 level, when i was still a 12 year old and i continued that through being 13. i moved to LL "majors" when i was 14, but was still wearing the old sweatpants and a t-shirt gig, but used an inside protector. when i was either 13 or 14, i had an article published on my thoughts on MLB umpires and how they do in Baseball Weekly (now Sports Weekly) in their Kids Clubhouse section, after they started a series where they pick a topic and then kids write about it. useless info right there.

the first game i had where i was dressed in blue was when i was 17 (i turned 18 probably 2 weeks later). this was the summer between high school and college and i made a call to a guy i found on the internet, who just happened to have a game he was trying to fill the next day. i went out and worked a 13-14 year old travel game by myself and did a pretty good job from what i can remember. it was the first 1-man game i had worked, and i have hated 1-man games since that day, but i was so happy that i got through that first game and had a lot more to come. the guy i just found through a google search happens to be the same assignor i have now, and ive had a great time working for him in the association.

i think early on with this site and the other one, i have counted my years since i was 12 years old at some points, but now i just say i have 4 years. while i did get good experience working LL games from 12-16/17, it helped build me as a player more than anything. it was a whole different story than my first game in the previous paragraph. i'm 22 and i have come a very long way from how i was at 17/18, and of course how i was at 12.

[Tim C]

Since the internet umpiring commnity has lowered the bar for what it means to be an umpire I give you the following:

++++++

I just completed my 38th year of umpiring.

But wait, in "internet umpiring", I have just completed my 48th year.

I have "umpired" games in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's.

This means I have umpired in six different decades.

But alas I now have no idea "how many" games I have worked since I did not keep journals of those famous tilts (ah I remember the "Big Game" betwix Ray's Drug Store and Bob's Richfield).

As an additional detail, I HAVE WORKED LITTLE LEAGUE since those are the games I "umpired" when I was 8 years old.

Give me a break.

Garth's example of his "young umpire" story is the perfect example of "when" you begin to count the years of umpiring.

And as an answer to this question:

"Had you attended any mechanics meetings prior to this game?"

Yes, I had attened ONE meeting prior to the assignment. But be careful here:

Things were different in the "old days" -- there simply were not, in my area of the country, "clinics, classes, camps, or weekend jaunts" for umpires.

Our umpire association (the second largest in the state at the time) didn't even have enough umpires to cover a full varsity schedule with TWO MAN CREWS (we drafted basketball referees to work the bases with absolutly no training).

And since I had not only already worked for 10 years (that is in internet umpire years) I had been exposed to mechanics and rules extensively.

And I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express the night before.

Regards,

[Tim C]

"I was 11 years old when I called my first game on the bases. It was a 9-10 year old game and I knew every single player and coach."

. . . and therein lies the "internet" problem with umpires:

At 11 years old you were not umpiring. It doesn't count on your resume and, in my personal opinion, shouldn't even be considered as "umpiring."

We get guys all the time that say they have "14 years experience" and we find that they are 21 years old. Something doesn't fly.

This is one of the reasons that I "hold in contempt" small diamond umpires.

Regards,

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Tim C

"I was 11 years old when I called my first game on the bases. It was a 9-10 year old game and I knew every single player and coach."

. . . and therein lies the "internet" problem with umpires:

At 11 years old you were not umpiring. It doesn't count on your resume and, in my personal opinion, shouldn't even be considered as "umpiring."

We get guys all the time that say they have "14 years experience" and we find that they are 21 years old. Something doesn't fly.

This is one of the reasons that I "hold in contempt" small diamond umpires.

Regards,

What difference does age have to do with anything? He said he attended the association's rules and mechanics clinics for 3 years prior to working a game. That is different than a kid that just jumps right into a game situation from off the street as a "helper" (read "hinderer"). He actually studied how to be an umpire before working a game.

We had an umpire who's 13 year old son took an interest in becoming an umpire. I had the dubious "honor" of working the bases on his very first plate game. It was a Pony (13-14) game, and both his dad, and our assignor were in attendance. He actually did quite well, and continued working youth ball and then eventually HS ball when he was 16. At age 18, he went to Wendelstedts, and then UDP, and then to a job in minor league baseball.

I would rather work with a youngster who is eager to learn how to umpire the right way, who hasn't developed a lot of bad habits, than to umpire with some old Smitty who tells me to "just go along with me on checked swings," or hollers "safe" at the top of his lungs when a runner slides into a base when there is no play.

If an umpire is a dues paying, uniform wearing, gets-paid-to-umpire type umpire, than he or she is a real baseball umpire, IMO.

Steve

Defender of "real" real umpires.

[tiger49]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

What difference does age have to do with anything? He said he attended the association's rules and mechanics clinics for 3 years prior to working a game. That is different than a kid that just jumps right into a game situation from off the street as a "helper" (read "hinderer"). He actually studied how to be an umpire before working a game.

We had an umpire who's 13 year old son took an interest in becoming an umpire. I had the dubious "honor" of working the bases on his very first plate game. It was a Pony (13-14) game, and both his dad, and our assignor were in attendance. He actually did quite well, and continued working youth ball and then eventually HS ball when he was 16. At age 18, he went to Wendelstedts, and then UDP, and then to a job in minor league baseball.

I would rather work with a youngster who is eager to learn how to umpire the right way, who hasn't developed a lot of bad habits, than to umpire with some old Smitty who tells me to "just go along with me on checked swings," or hollers "safe" at the top of his lungs when a runner slides into a base when there is no play.

If an umpire is a dues paying, uniform wearing, gets-paid-to-umpire type umpire, than he or she is a real baseball umpire, IMO.

Steve

Defender of "real" real umpires.

Steve I agree with both you and Tim. I was one of those who started working games at a very young age (9). I didn't realize what real umpiring was like until I stepped onto a full-size diamond for my first competitive game (college bound seniors) at 15, and was even more in shock doing my first semi-pro game at 17.

Umpiring at a young age (11-15) gives you the basic 90% of the rule book (out/safe, ball/strike, fair/foul) however you don't get a feel for the situations as well as game flow, speed of game etc. that you do at the higher levels.