NCAA Softball Umpires

[ukumpire]

Originally Posted by WhiteHat Ref

Now I know this is a baseball forum, and I do umpire baseball, but in watching the NCAA softball tournament this weekend, especially the umpires, has anybody noticed that they are like robots on the field. What I mean by that, is they have no style like baseball umpires. They are mechanical in their calls. Strike calls are right arm straight up no style, and on bang bang plays same mechanic straight up with the right arm. Baseball umpires have their own style in calling strikes, and at least they sell the call on bang bang plays and make it look good.

Anyone been to a Jim Evens Academy? Anyone actually looked at the BU's in MLB? Come on all of you whinging, as someone said in this thread, if you want the big games you have to conform to what the Assc wants, if you want to dance around with bang-bang calls then do it, it looks great, but mind how the coaches and players think about it!

[LDUB]

Another great post from the softball forum.

"Heck, I always have my indicator when I'm BU, with another one in my ball bag (in case my partner forgets his/hers) ... Actually, our org assigns us to 3 games per night. I usually do games 1 and 3 behind the plate, and game 2 on the bases. So yes, my ball bag is with me, but I usually remember to take it off when I'm BU. Sometimes I forget, but hey... it's only rec ball. :P"

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by LDUB

Another great post from the softball forum.

"Heck, I always have my indicator when I'm BU, with another one in my ball bag (in case my partner forgets his/hers) ... Actually, our org assigns us to 3 games per night. I usually do games 1 and 3 behind the plate, and game 2 on the bases. So yes, my ball bag is with me, but I usually remember to take it off when I'm BU. Sometimes I forget, but hey... it's only rec ball. :P"

You have to be careful about making assumptions. What if they were cutting and pasting posts by Canadaump6 or LLDan?

[greymule]

But in the real world . . .

I did 25 college softball games this spring, including a district tournament. I use the GD stance/system, make strike calls simultaneous with the raising of the right arm, and would quit if I had to mimic those umps on TV.

At preseason meetings, they talk about proper uniform, arriving early, staying in communication with the assigner, etc., but not how to make calls. Our assigner attended several of my games and never said anything about my mechanics. No coach or player has ever complained that I don't look like the TV umps. (Frankly, if they did, I'd be pleased.) In fact, of the umps I work with, none resemble those TV umps.

When I traveled out of state to do the tournament at the end of the season, I was somewhat fearful that the other umps would expect me to be Mr. Robot. They were very serious about their 3-man mechanics, which I'm not used to, and they were top-notch officials, but they didn't look anything like the TV umps.

But to be "one of us" and do the World Series, that's another story.

PS. In an interesting irony, a few years ago I attended a clinic (not NCAA), and the main instructor was teaching the robot mechanics. We all practiced saying, "Strike," waiting a second, and then standing up and giving the robot arm signal. I could have thrown up. Anyway, a few months later I went to see Princeton play Dartmouth in a double-header, and this guy is working the games. So he used the mechanics he taught, right? Wrong. He made his calls quite conventionally, and boy, could he sell them. Three straight runners safe at 1B on close plays, and he sold the outs so well that nobody even peeped. And a very good ball-strike guy—with good old baseball technique behind the plate.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by ukumpire

Anyone been to a Jim Evens Academy?

If you've been to Jim's Academy, not only would you be expected to know how to spell his name correctly, you would also know that the uniformity in mechanics he requires in his training provides the instructors the ability to compare apples to apples. They are constantly reminding students that many of the "techniques" can be adjusted later.

For example, students are not expected to keep saying, "Strike One, Strike Two, Strike Three, Ball One, Ball Two, Ball Three, Ball Four, TIME!" when they leave school. Those who attend PBUC experience some immediate changes in some mechanics, regardless of which school they attended. In fact, they were encouraged to introduce a little personality into their calls and not be robotic or too mechanical.

When you go to a Single A game and see kids fresh from PBUc working, you will notice several differences from proschool style mechanics. We are fortunate in our association to have a recent PBUC grad who will be working pro ball this year. He has shared much of his PBUC experience with us and we have incorporated some of what he was taught into our mechanics.