Upcoming Clinic Invitation
 

Why should you attend?

1) Nice warm weather for snowbirds.
2) It's baseball umpires coming together again, baby.

http://www.southtexasumpireclinic.co.../referrals.htm

Hit home and tell 'em SAump sent you. :D

Sorry, no time for golf. :(

I'm not an MLB umpire groupie so maybe it's just me, but I didn't recognize any of the names of the instructor staff as "professional umpires" which I inferred to mean MLB.

In the section on "Plate Mechanics," the website says "we teach the box system." I thought that died (at professional levels) when Durwood Merrill retired.

Not trying to knock the clinic, just somewhat curious about who's behind it and what their true bona fides are.

Walk through the door
 

Paragraph 1: Staff attended JE or HW PRO Umpire Schools and have A, AA, and AAA experience. Chief instructor is about 27 and calling AAA. Lead instructor has years in AAA and is MLB fill-in. Rest of these Charlies, not Smitties, help take "beginners" through the paces. Obviously you struggle with inferrences between MLB and PRO baseball. These young guys umpire baseball in their sleep.

Paragraph 2 and 3: Take that up with them. I do not sniff their jocks. Who am I to endorse their product? I will never fly to Florida for 5 weeks of umpire instruction. I encourage all who have the means to atend to attend. I did attend the clinic twice at the beginner level. I will now go back and attend the advanced level. I will also plan to attend in the future. I do know I will meet snowbirds there who can afford the time and expense to come to SA for the weekend.

I wouldn't have thought sniffing the instructors' jocks would be required to understand what they're talking about when they describe their plate mechanics instruction as "teaching the box system." I'm pretty sure I'm correct that that terminology does NOT describe the plate mechanics taught at either professional school.

Sorry if my questions put a damper on your efforts to make some referral fees or something.

NO deal?
 

You can work any angle you prefer. These young guns will answer all your questions and leave you feeling good. I laugh when the instructors "hammer" the ole scissors stance. I am pretty sure the real Gerry Davis won't be there to give you that discount either. I also know there will be some TASO and MSBL guys standing 15 feet back. The more, the merrier. YOU can join em and find out where they are going after school. :D

Disclaimer: Please be sure to have plenty of good calories in your system before Sat morning. Alcohol is not being endorsed. I always feel bad for those who get sick trying to work it out on a hangover. Money spent in SA stays in SA.

Why should you attend?
 

Have you ever desired to work ONE night of PRO ball in front of a large crowd as a fill-in for a Texas League official who may have fallen ill for the night? This is a chance to open that door. You will also need bona-fide HS/college credentials and a recommendation from clinic staff.

Have you ever wanted to work pre-season TX league or college intersquad games or small local college pre-seasson non-conference games or college summer ball? This is a chance to walk through that door. You will also need HS credentials and a recommendation from clinic staff.

Have you ever thought of attending an umpire school on mechanics as an inherrent value? You will learn the latest mechanics for BU and PU taught by the very best, brightest and motivated students in the game. That is something a night away from the LL or TASO brotherhood can promise you. Leave those other affiliations at the doorstep and enter with an open mind.

The Grabber
 

I'm not sure what the policy is on discussing articles on the paid portion of Officiating.com. Please read Alan's entire article to understand what really goes on at a MLB level umpire's clinic and compare it to my comments.

Quote #1: "Only two students in the class did not use the box stance"

Quote #2: I remember thinking, “Good gosh, dude. Do you suck so bad that you need to keep coming back?” In reality, this guy turned out to be much smarter than I.

Quote 1 taken from http://baseball.officiating.com/x/article/4303
Quote 2 taken from http://baseball.officiating.com/x/article/4323
Title: 2005 Southern Umpires Camp — Parts V and VI Balls and strikes
Author: Alan Roper, You can reach Alan at [email protected]

Make your group's reservation today. Umpire Associations from NM, CO, OK, AR and LA as well as North, Central and South Texas will send their interested members. Most have far more experience than me. The choice to keep coming back and how often will be left to YOU. Best wishes and have a great spring season.

Too late?
 

Live college ball this weekend. Hope the weather is beautiful.

See ya next year.

Hmmm,
 

"Live college ball this weekend. Hope the weather is beautiful."

Gonna go watch, huh?

Regards,

Do they teach not to say, "legally and properly equipped?"

How did you know?
 

Group one had the game today, one inning behind the dish and one on the field. The pro guys evaluated them from the sidelines. The most experienced umps there commented on how great it was to go through that kind of evaluation on their game. I can't wait.

Our group spent the day on situations on another practice field. I get to take the the plate and field tomorrow. Left with a sunburned face and tired legs. I am sure the snowbirds were comfortable. They're probably having a better time even now. Hope they get some sleep.

One thing I did learn that I would like to pass along. No more "Thats a balk." Now we call the balk and verbally explain the call aloud. Can't leave our partner thinking about the call anymore. Ex: Hands, shoulder, knees or toes, etc. Designed to end the discussion in the peanut gallery. What did he do? I liked it.

SA, what's new about that balk mechanic? Not saying "That's a..."????

Pointing out the other end of it
 

Calling a balk and justifying the call aloud for all to hear ends a lot of the horse pissing. Adding what the pitcher did wrong is now considered an improved verbal mechanic. It makes it easier for all to learn the subleties of a balk call and easier to run those who might disagree. A good coach who usually always comes out to protect his pitcher or to buy him time to regain that edge is taking a pretty big risk now. Coach, you have any other {dumb} questions before I run YOU off this field?

The game is no longer delayed for explanations and pitching instructions. Let's say your partner calls a balk and you didn't see it because you didn't have that angle. Now you have some valuable info when the coach asks you for an explanation between innings when you return to A. You no longer visit between innings to find out what you may have missed. No need to repeat the call because the pitcher violated a balk rule. It speeds up the game when all sides are on the same page.

Are the instructors who have given you this new mechanic representing that it is a PBUC adopted mechanic that is being taught to professional umpires?

There is already a similar mechanic in the MLB Umpire Manual that hit the internets back in 01 or 02. Are your instructors saying that what they are teaching is an expansion on the mechanic described in that manual?

This isn't new.

Like Garth says...this ain't new!! "Thats a balk, no stop"...works everytime. Also, never use more than 5 words.

Endiclicker
 

At the last clinic, we were calling ball, strike and strike three. This last weekend, we were calling ball 1, 2, 3 and 4 with emphasis on ball 4. We were also numbering strikes 1, 2, and 3. I wonder if this has anything to do with a growing "get rid of the indicator" trend.

The proschools and Evans' Classics has had students doing this for years, with the caveat that this is for training purposes only.

Your "professional" instructors seem to be copying some of the proschool instruction methods.

Observations
 

1) Many participants were returning for the 2nd or 3rd time within the past 2-3 years, nearly half. One participant from Corpus Christi is now calling some TASO college ball after attending the clinic two years in a row. He commented how his assignor and coaches noticed him and how he surprised older TASO veterans. Ssssshhhh. The majority of participants felt it was well worth it, again.

2) One gentleman present was allowed to work the scissors stance throughout camp. There were about a 1/2 dozen youngsters, the youngest being 12. None were bald. One member in my group of 7 was bald. I believe he was a peace officer. Two umpires were planning to attend the Jim Evans 5-week school in the near future. One, as soon, as he graduates with a degree in criminal justice.

3) The group was much smaller than past years, almost 1/2. The Gerry Davis rep wasn't there either. The Honig's rep gladly stepped in to meet our needs. He practically brought a truckload of uniforms, equipment, shoes, and many other things. The TASO officials who were present stood up there with the rest of us. I guess the other local TASO and MSBL guys already know everything there is to know. Perhaps, the local TASO group also scheduled a mandatory meeting for this same weekend.

Something old, something new
 

Here is a term familiar to all baseball umpires: a trainwreck. I would like to introduce a new term I have learned for the same concept: tangle untangle. Sure was used alot this weekend when discussing interference and obstruction calls. I liked it.

" . . . tangle untangle."

Wow, join the majority . . . we've only used that term since the '75 Series with Fisk/Armbruster.

I guess some join the group late.

Regards,

I do not disparage your instructors. They sound very competent. However, I assume you haven't been to a quality clinic in a very long time, because nothing you've presented here so far is new.

But in no way do I mean to damper your enthusiasm. You remind me of my kids when they were young and assumed that they were the first to discover everything they discovered.

If you are learning to be a better umpire, I salute you.

To Borrow from Paul Harvey
 

Others who have used the term on this baseball site: THREE; umpyre007 in 2001, Carl Childress in April 2005 and CoachJM in May 2006. I surely read both the April 2005 thread and May 2006 thread at the time. The term just escaped my attention back then.

http://forum.officiating.com/showthr...angle+untangle

Quoting Mr. Childress, "Me: It seems so. "Tangle, untangle": Cute description that we don't use in the Southwest."

Papa C speaks for me. I couldn't have said it any differently today.