Invisibility

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Shmuelg

It's always amazing what you hear when you expand your circle of friends and acquaintances. We indeed were taught that a good umpire (bb and sb the same) is one you don't notice is there.

What I meant by "invisible" is that it's not as if the blue isn't there at all, but it's that the players, coaches, and fans are concentrating on the playing of the game, not on where the umpire is, what kind of call he's making, was is good or bad or "hey blue, ask for help" on too many instances.

My point was that perhaps I should change the way I make these calls, instead of enunciating the word, make it a bit more generic (yet still forceful), so the players and coaches won't say "Hey, that's Shmuel behind the plate there", they'll just know there's an ump there, and leave it at that.

Shmuel

Maybe you should stop worrying about being invisible. Unless you are a terrible umpire, in which case it would be a fantastic idea.

[Shmuelg]

Perhaps you are right, and I'm worrying about the wrong thing.

Just get the call right, rules right, good mechanics, and everyone will be happy.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by Shmuelg

Perhaps you are right, and I'm worrying about the wrong thing.

Just get the call right, rules right, good mechanics, and everyone will be happy.

Add: demonstrate good game management.

Even then, though, not everyone will be happy. After all, there will still be players, coaches and fans.

[Lawrence.Dorsey]

I think the premise of being invisible is desirable but it isn't always practical. The premise, in my eyes, is that you hope that the game goes smoothly and even on the close plays or rulings, people can say that the umpire was merely doing the obvious. It also means the plate umpire had a consistent, fair zone all evening and didn't have a gross miss that affected the game. We all have the above game from time to time. It's easy on the umpire but does it help us improve or gain a better rating from coaches, evaluators, or whoever decides your fate in a given league? Probably not....

As has been said in other places, "Sometimes you just have to umpire". You are going to make some people mad and some happy. I've had teams/fans that thought I was the best umpire they have ever seen and some that thought I was the worst. Sometimes that is a consistent theme throughout a season and sometimes it fluctuates between games. It comes with the territory. There are times when you have to step in and do something that isn't popular but it's the right thing to do. Game management is mostly proactive than reactive and mastering it takes time. But trials under fire, which can drive you nuts at the time, only serve to make you better if you take the situation and learn (and improve) from it.

There is a cautionary note here: while I would agree that invisibility is just not practical, interjecting yourself to the point that you become bigger than the game can be worse than being invisble. Umpires that have to let everyone know how important they are to the game often cause more trouble than they will ever fix. There was an incident this year in my area during a FED game where an umpire who is notorious for being bigger than the game ejected a HS head coach who was helping out with his JV squad's game. I know this coach and while he will throw in a chirp or two, if he comes out to argue he generally has a point and he is tactful in his manner. I normally give the umpire the benefit of the doubt when a coach complains about getting dumped, but honestly knowing the umpire in this case I would have to lean towards the fact that he was trying to show everyone what a great umpire he is and how he is in control. I'd take invisibility over a swelled-head any day.


Lawrence

[TussAgee11]

good post Lawrence.

I get from it this: in a game management sense, its best to be invisible as much as possible, until it seems something may happen. Then interject and do your buisness in a proactive way. That way you don't have to react to something, which makes you totally noticable. Of course, the best umpire in the world will still have a $hit house on occasion. Sometimes its just totally unavoidable and out of nowhere.

Now for the obvious (and clarification). As for being invisible while actually calling the game, I don't buy that one bit. Do the job the rulebook says. There will be things that happen that you have to rule on one way or another (anywhere from safe/out to some of the 3rd world stuff we read about on this form). Do your job, which requires you to definatly not be invisible. You are a part of the game just like the players. We all are invisible at some point during the year (no close calls on the bases, easy game with good coaches, etc.). But don't confuse invisibility with a good job, or a totally noticable umpire with a bad job. The two are independent from each other. Any combination of these things could happen at any game.

[JRutledge]

Let me put it this way. If you call a 3rd strike on 10 batters on the same spot, you will not be invisible. Do you have really anything to do with that as an umpire? You sure as hell do not have anything to do with batters not swinging at close pitches. But to some people you will have done a bad job if you call a pitch someone does not like. And you might be right on all 10 pitches and you will be made the scape-goat for what took place.

Peace

[ozzy6900]

Funny, I have heard that statement (good blue is an invisible blue) for years. It was taught by my instructors many eons ago! But in 20 plus years, I'll be damned if I can figure out how to be invisible on the field!