Full Disclosure

[UmpJM]

Gentlemen,

A number of times in the past, I have freely admitted that I had never umpired a real baseball game in my life.

With the current "Fall Ball" season, that has changed. I have now umpired a grand total of eight baseball games.

I enjoy it. I've got a lot to work on. Thanks to all of you who have helped me get reasonably well prepared for this new avocation.

Just thought I'd let you know.

JM

[UMP25]

Congratulations on making that transition from the Dark Side to the Light Side.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

Gentlemen,

A number of times in the past, I have freely admitted that I had never umpired a real baseball game in my life.

With the current "Fall Ball" season, that has changed. I have now umpired a grand total of eight baseball games.

I enjoy it. I've got a lot to work on. Thanks to all of you who have helped me get reasonably well prepared for this new avocation.

Just thought I'd let you know.

JM

I told you you were too smart to be a coach. Welcome to the good guys.

[Dave Hensley]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

Gentlemen,

A number of times in the past, I have freely admitted that I had never umpired a real baseball game in my life.

With the current "Fall Ball" season, that has changed. I have now umpired a grand total of eight baseball games.

I enjoy it. I've got a lot to work on. Thanks to all of you who have helped me get reasonably well prepared for this new avocation.

Just thought I'd let you know.

JM

8 games is plenty to develop some war stories, especially a greenhorn. Let's hear the gory details!

[BigUmp56]

You swore me to silence about this almost six weeks ago. Now that the cat's out of the bag we need to hear some details, as Dave suggests.


Tim.

[umpduck11]

What's the over/under on UmpJM's first EJ ?

[BlueLawyer]

Coach:

First off, welcome to the Band of Blue Brothers.

Second, as somebody whose opinion I respect, I'd like to know how your years of coaching colored your umpiring(if at all), good or bad. And, conversely, how do you expect your umpiring experience to color your future time in the dugout or in the third base box?

I can tell you that one of my very early experiences was working the plate for a high school coach who was also an experienced D1 umpire. I called something the other coach didn't like. The visiting coach said something I didn't hear, and not hearing, I didn't go looking for trouble.

Between innings, the home coach/umpire came out and said to me quitely, "Zega, blue to blue, you can't let him say that to you. Dump him."

I couldn't figure out whether he was trying to get an advantage or if he was being sincere.

Anyway- I look forward to reading what you have to say.

Z

[ozzy6900]

Eight games, huh - that qualifies you to be a rookie!

Welcome to the fold, Coach. Now you see that even though you know the rules and all the little intricacies that go with them, you only get a few tenths of a second to make the decision. I hope that you continue to grow in knowledge.

Good Luck

[mbyron]

I don't know, John, but maybe I'm more suspicious: how do we know that you're not just spying so as to become a more effective, uh, advocate for your own team?

But seriously: I wonder whether you had any trouble changing your focus to that of an umpire. Coaches and umpires see plays differently, after all, and your habits must be those of a coach. Did you ever feel that you didn't see what you needed to in order to make a call?

[lawump]

Good, now I don't feel quite as big an *** for that assumption I made last spring when you and I were PMing each other.

Welcome to the club!!!

[UmpJM]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for your gracious welcome to the "other" side.

By "war stories", I can only assume Dave & Tim are referring to occasions where my umpiring may have been less than stellar. Hmmm, so many to choose from, it's hard to know where to start.

Probably the most personally mortifying thing is that on three separate occasions I have vocalized "Strike Three!!" on swinging strikes - and in each case, it was actually strike two! Now, I know you aren't even supposed to vocalize a swinging strike, and on a "called" strike, you just vocalize the strike, not the number. I'm not sure where this inclination even comes from & had a kind of weird "what the f*** did you just do?" experience as I did it. Happily, I have managed to NOT do this for the last four games, so I may have exorcised this particular demon.

Another special moment was in a game I was working solo. Had a stealing R1 on the pitch. I focused on staying set to call the pitch (which I did) & then moving out quickly to my left to get an angle to 2B as I pulled off my helmet. Unfortunately, in my haste to get my helmet off, I managed to pull my glasses off my head. As my glasses fell at my feet, I set and looked at the blur in the area of 2B. Even with my impaired vision, I could tell it was a very close play. I called the runner safe. Immediate groans from the defensive dugout, but nothing out of line. For some reason, nobody gave me any crap about my glasses coming off & between innings one of the defensive coaches let me know in passing that he thought the runner had gotten under the tag. Other than that occasion, I have managed to keep my glasses on.

My strike zone seems to come and go. In my opinion, it's generally fine and then I'll hit a point in the game where even I can't believe some of the calls I'm making; and then it comes back. Timing? Fatigue? Focus? Beats me.

Oh. And did you know that you should NEVER try to come back into the infield after having gone "out" on a fly ball, nor try to go "out" from B or C? Of course you did!!!! Having committed each of these FUBARs exactly once, now I know too! And, I know WHY! If you've never done it, you really ought to give it a try. It's an experience you'll never forget.

I'm really just scratching the surface here, but there is a limit to the length of these posts.

In terms of the over/under question, I haven't the foggiest. So far, the coaches & players have been pretty well-behaved in the games I've done. I was eager to get started this Fall Ball season because in my experience those games tend to be a little more low-key and I thought it might be a little more forgiving environment for me to get through my early learning curve. So far, it has been. I don't think I'd have a problem tossing someone who had earned it, but I won't really know until it happens.

With my younger son entering High School this year, I believe my baseball coaching days are behind me.

It's kind of weird, but from having spent so much time on boards like this for the last five years, I had already come to hold something of an umpire's perspective in regard to the officiating aspects of the game, even in games I was coaching. So I don't feel that the switch from the coach's perspective to the umpire's has been that difficult for me. I do find myself questioning some of the coaching decisions/actions in my own mind. Like "Why is he leaving this pitcher in when he can't even throw one close to the plate?"; or "How come the base coach didn't yell at his runner to get back when it was so obvious the pick-off was coming?"; or "Why on earth was he having his number three hitter bunt with nobody out and a runner on 1B?"

What has been difficult for me, and something I still need to work a lot on, is the proper positioning and rotation. When I get on the field and there's a batted ball in play, I find I still have "player instincts" in respect to my instinctive first move. The proper reaction for an umpire is quite different, in many cases opposite, of what a player's reaction should be when the ball is put in play.

It's kind of like getting married or having children - no matter how much people tell you about it ahead of time, you can't really understand it until you try doing it yourself.

For the most part, I've been in the proper position to make my calls. Though I still have a slight tendency to rush my calls, so far I've avoided the dreaded "Out...no Safe" & "Safe...no Out" call - but it's been close on a couple of occasions.

So, I've certainly had my share of screwups, but overall, not too bad. Without what I'd learned from all of you, I'm positive I'd be having a much rockier start - so Thanks!

JM

[lawump]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

Gentlemen,

Probably the most personally mortifying thing is that on three separate occasions I have vocalized "Strike Three!!" on swinging strikes - and in each case, it was actually strike two! Now, I know you aren't even supposed to vocalize a swinging strike, and on a "called" strike, you just vocalize the strike, not the number.
JM

Coach, I was taught (at umpire school) to say "strike" on strikes 1 & 2 and "strike three" on strike three. I continue to do so to this day.

For exactly the second time in my career, I "punched out" a batter on strike two, two weeks ago. The first time it happened...years ago...I was in the minors and I heard from the dugout, "get a F%@#in clue out there." I wanted to respond "F&*# You," but of course I had to eat the crow since I screwed up.

The second time occurred during a "fall ball" game that had a very relaxed atmosphere. The offensive coach cracked a joke (which I can't remember) that caused me to laugh. (It wasn't a mean-spirited joke).

I replied (and I quote word-for-word), "if one of the best major league umpires around, Alphoso Marquez (sp?), can make that mistake in a major league game, then humble old me can definitely make that mistake out here!"

The coach laughed and said, "I guess your right!"

So take heart...even the "big boys" punch out a batter too early!

In fact I like your spirit!! You were just trying to keep the game in a "defensive flow" and just trying to get your 54 (or 42 in high school) outs as quickly as possible!

[SanDiegoSteve]

John,

Not as easy as it looks, huh?

Welcome to the club!

Steve

[BlueLawyer]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

My strike zone seems to come and go. In my opinion, it's generally fine and then I'll hit a point in the game where even I can't believe some of the calls I'm making; and then it comes back. Timing? Fatigue? Focus? Beats me.

Oh. And did you know that you should NEVER try to come back into the infield after having gone "out" on a fly ball, nor try to go "out" from B or C? Of course you did!!!! Having committed each of these FUBARs exactly once, now I know too! And, I know WHY! If you've never done it, you really ought to give it a try. It's an experience you'll never forget.

JM

The best thing to develop consistentcy in the zone is to see and call pitches. The second best thing is to get somebody to tape you so you can see yourself and your head, stance, timing, etc. It'll get better.

I agree with lawump: I say "strike three!" on a called third strike and I've been doing it for all 16 years I've been working. Only recently did somebody tell me not to do it ("strike!" only), and I put that in my mental file under "advice I'll never follow."

I have also been taught (and I think the CCA manual says) that you are indeed supposed to come back in for a play at the plate in two man after you've gone out. I do it. In three man, (and I know you're not to this point yet, John) the CCA manual definitely says to go out from B or C for "trouble" fly balls in your area of responsibility. That was one of the hardest things for me to get used to- crossing the dirt- often with a runner advancing- to go look at a fly ball. It's tricky and I'm not sure I agree with it, but it's in the manual.

Anyway, John, are you ready to change your handle to "UmpJM"?

Strikes and outs!
Z

[GarthB]

John,

Don't worry about any of this now.

(By the end of next month you'll understand why.)

Good luck.