Umpiring is not that difficult

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by GarthB

Why, my mom is working the Dodger game later tonight.

But is she working the plate?

[PeteBooth]

What the hell does the power of unions have to do with the ability to umpire?

It's very difficult discussing something with someone who simply doesn't get it.

You talk about ability in umpiring etc. and my point comparing the Players Union to the Umpire Union was this.

If Umpiring was the "be all and end all" and you need a certain amount of ability to call games, then why wouldn't Major league baseball go out of their way to settle Umpire Union Strikes - Why!

because Major league baseball can go to the Minors Leagues or PRO Schools and get anybody (and by anybody I mean anybody who attended and graduated from PRO Schooll - Geeze I feel like I am talking to my kids) to umpire their games.

Let's assume right now the Major league baseball Umpires went on strike. MLB would simply bring up the guys from the Minors to do their games.

There would not be a Work stoppage because the umpires went on strike.

Of Course one has to go to PRO School in order to be eligable. My point was that Anybody in PRO School or in the Minors could work those games.

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the term Anybody to make my point because you seem to be dense in my usage of the term and the illustrations I gave.

Learn to think "out of the box"

Pete Booth

[Tim C]

Let's see:

For 10 years on the internet I have said:

"Umpiring ain't that tough . . . balls/strikes, safe/out, fair/foul equal 99% of our game."

I do think Pete that you have a simplistic view of something you have never done:

Example:

After umpiring seven days of the dish for the Mariners in inter-squad games (2 of the games had attendance of about 40,000 and two had attendance of about about 6) both Jerry Naron (current Reds manager) and Bud Bulling, Seattle catchers, came to me and said: "Your balls and strikes were as good as we see every day in the Major Leagues . . . but don't get to cocky . . . we would like to see what happens when you are working in front of 55,000 fans in Yankee Stadium!"

So Pete, MLB players might not agree with your statement that "ANYONE can . . .".

I feel your post is silly at best and and nearly criminally wrong at the worst.

You have attempted to "socialize" umpiring and that will never work . . .

Pete, we know by experience, that when an umpire works over their head and choke that their strike zone resembles a pea. There is a difference my man and I am sorry that you can't see that . . .

It is truely sad that someone that appears to know as much as you about umpiring can be so tragically wrong on this simple but important issue.

Not all umpires can work all levels of games.

Regards,

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

What the hell does the power of unions have to do with the ability to umpire?

It's very difficult discussing something with someone who simply doesn't get it.

You talk about ability in umpiring etc. and my point comparing the Players Union to the Umpire Union was this.

If Umpiring was the "be all and end all" and you need a certain amount of ability to call games, then why wouldn't Major league baseball go out of their way to settle Umpire Union Strikes - Why!

because Major league baseball can go to the Minors Leagues or PRO Schools and get anybody (and by anybody I mean anybody who attended and graduated from PRO Schooll - Geeze I feel like I am talking to my kids) to umpire their games.

Let's assume right now the Major league baseball Umpires went on strike. MLB would simply bring up the guys from the Minors to do their games.

There would not be a Work stoppage because the umpires went on strike.

Of Course one has to go to PRO School in order to be eligable. My point was that Anybody in PRO School or in the Minors could work those games.

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the term Anybody to make my point because you seem to be dense in my usage of the term and the illustrations I gave.

Learn to think "out of the box"

Pete Booth

Pete

You are confusing politcs with ability. Don't do that. One only needs to look to Washington for the results of that.

I never argued that it takes the equivalent of a heart surgeon to do this. But you DID say that ANYONE could.

That simply is rubbish.

Then you said that any minor leaguer could. Obviously that isn't true and there are a number of released minor league umpires to attest to that. Some even were release when they attempt to fill in at the MLB level with disasterous results.

Then you tried to excuse your position based on a work stoppage. Equally ridiculous and more importantly, irrelevant. As soon as the stoppage was over, what happened? The "real" umpires came back.

What to compare silly arguments? What about the replacement players during the last NFL players strike? I guess the "real" players weren't all that important, eh?

Face it Pete, at best, you misrepresented your position by a poor choice of words. It is proveably not true that ANYONE can umpire.

[voiceoflg]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

ANYONE can (officiate), however, not everyone can play shortstop for the NY Yankees.

Pete Booth

I'll agree...to a point. I reffed city league co-ed volleyball once. I'll never make that mistake again. I learned that officiating a sport wasn't for me. It is just not in my nature. So out of respect for the sports world, I stepped away from it.

My father officiated various sports for years until back surgery put him on the shelf. He was a good one, IMO, from what I saw. He was also a TI at Lackland AFB. Though he never sought out a confrontation, he didn't back away from it either.

Yes, anyone can find work as an official at the lowest levels. Just like anyone can find work as a broadcaster at the lowest levels. But not just anyone can do the job right and well enough to be around long.

[ncump7]

There are qualified AAA umpires that could work the game behind the plate at Yankee Stadium just as there are qualified AAA shortstops that could play SS for the Yankees. A beginning umpire (little league) could not handle the umpiring any more than a beginning SS (LL) could handle Jeters job. It takes a lot of work and a lot of repetitions to do either at a high level. Yes, anyone can stand there, but can they handle the required situations, of course not.