Umpire "Evolution"
 

One of the advantages of video archives and online rentals like Netflix (R) is that you can see MLB games from at least as far back as the 1970s.

So anyhoo, for example, I remember Jim Evans and Larry Barnett working the plate when they were still active. I also have seen them in their early days in their first world series plate games. Barnett in the infamous '75 World Series and Evans in the '77 World Series. Barnett was even using a balloon protector at the time.

Thoughts?

World Series highlight films are available back to 1943, when the infielders still kept their gloves on the outfield grass between innings and anything went in breaking up a double play. Even as late as the 1960s, the umpire mechanics were nothing like those of today, with the right arm in the air before the pitch hit the catcher's mitt, and calls at 1B being made from between the bag and the coaches' box—and instantly upon the arrival of the ball.

You also notice that first-basemen often caught throws with two hands. When was the last time you saw that in MLB? Other key differences: the top of the strike zone was several inches higher, and a swing was considered "checked" unless the batter took practically a full cut.

The "two-hand" catch likely was due to the gloves and mitts used back then. Up until about 1950, first base mitts were little more than a leather oven mitt.

Speaking of old-fashioned mechanics, this past spring I had the opportunity to work a few games with a couple of guys that have been umpiring almost longer than I've been alive.

One of them is the last guy in our association that still uses the outside protector. He moves around pretty good for a 68-year old, better than some of the younger guys I've worked with. A solid partner, but I really think that his stance with the raft blows the bottom end of his strike zone all to heck.

The other guy was older yet, 70, and had a couple of mechanics that, to a guy who was crawling around in diapers forty years ago, were interesting.

On pitches called balls, he would extend his left arm out and downward, with an open palm facing toward the pitcher.

On checked swings, instead of pointing and saying, "Yes, he went", he would raise his right hand, index finger extended, and make a little twirling motion, kind of like what you might use to signal a home run, to indicate that the batter had indeed "went around".

The "ball" thing I didn't care for, but the "twirly" thing looked kind of cool!

I have a vague memory of umpires doing this when I was kid, but that was well before my time of actually calling games. Were these at one time considered to be "standard" umpire signals?

I've seen some umpires use the "twirly" thing for "went around." I looks cool depending on who the umpire is doing it. I don't think I could pull off the look myself.

This meant "the pitch was offered to the batter outside the zone", no kidding. The open plam was as if to say "I know you tried but I must call it a Ball."
You rarely pointed at a player, you would indicate what he had done in a kinda mime sorta way :D
I worked an inner city park, bunch of tuffs, drunk, FP and SP softball; you never said "out" or the number of strikes. Safe was a big deal but you had to be careful if you made a big deal of Safe, you would take a load of crap and then have to apologize for showing up the D. :confused: