Congrats Tim C!

Originally Posted by msavakinas

my thought initially as well but after reading it again i think that their association (portland) got two slots in it out of the three or four and he was one of those two

3 man throughout the playoffs, including the state championship game in Oregon.

Our association gets 2 of those 3 spots every year because we service about 2/3 of the top classification teams in the state.

[FATUMP]

WOW, one association puts 2 out of the 3 umpires in the top game every year! where do we sign up?

[TussAgee11]

Congrats Tim... and thanks for the FED updates you give us throughout the year.

Originally Posted by FATUMP

WOW, one association puts 2 out of the 3 umpires in the top game every year! where do we sign up?

Hey, we also have a guy in the next level down, and a guy on the next level down from that. So, at least 4 guys every year from our association, and about every 4th or 5th year, we send a 5th umpire!

In the old days, the top game circulated amongst associations throughout the state. So, we used to send a whole crew, but only did that once every 4 years or so. I like this new system where you send the number of guys based upon how many of the schools you service at that level in the state. That also means that associations that only serve lower level schools don't have an umpire slot except at the level they service. Our association is by and far the largest in the state, and we service all levels for the 75 or so high schools we service.

It is indeed a very big honor to be selected to do the top level game! Generally speaking, only umpires with collegiate experience get the top two levels now.

[Blue37]

Originally Posted by rei

Hey, we also have a guy in the next level down, and a guy on the next level down from that. So, at least 4 guys every year from our association, and about every 4th or 5th year, we send a 5th umpire!

In the old days, the top game circulated amongst associations throughout the state. So, we used to send a whole crew, but only did that once every 4 years or so. I like this new system where you send the number of guys based upon how many of the schools you service at that level in the state. That also means that associations that only serve lower level schools don't have an umpire slot except at the level they service. Our association is by and far the largest in the state, and we service all levels for the 75 or so high schools we service.

It is indeed a very big honor to be selected to do the top level game! Generally speaking, only umpires with collegiate experience get the top two levels now.

By "top level" do you mean the largest schools? We have five classifications, and working the final in any of them is an equal honor. By the time you get to the finals, all teams are fairly equal in talent, and, as a matter of fact, one of the smallest schools is currently ranked 1st overall in the state.

Why require college experience in a high school game? I meet that requirement, but I have some high school partners who are very, very good (better than some of my college partners), but do not have the time to devote to college ball.

Why exclude an umpire from working a classification just because he does not work that classification during the regular season? Are the rules different?

Originally Posted by Blue37

By "top level" do you mean the largest schools? We have five classifications, and working the final in any of them is an equal honor. By the time you get to the finals, all teams are fairly equal in talent, and, as a matter of fact, one of the smallest schools is currently ranked 1st overall in the state.

Why require college experience in a high school game? I meet that requirement, but I have some high school partners who are very, very good (better than some of my college partners), but do not have the time to devote to college ball.

Why exclude an umpire from working a classification just because he does not work that classification during the regular season? Are the rules different?

Classification, level...pick your term. BUT, after our re-classification alignment last year, it was pretty obvious that "playing level" comes into play, because many teams that could not play for a winning record in the old system are now some of the top teams in their new, and LOWER classification. So, indeed, the higher the classification, or "level", generally speaking, the better the baseball. I seriously doubt that the teams of lower classifications can beat the teams at higher classifications when it comes down to the state championship game.

I never said college experienced was required to work the top level state championship game, and Tim C getting the call this year proves that! It is highly unlikely that the 3rd on his crew will have college experience because I am not aware of anybody from the area the 3rd is coming from that has done college. Please read my post. I stated that usually, only college umpires are selected for the top level game. The obvious answer to your question though is that generally speaking, the college umpires are much better umpires. Indeed, we have a "few" guys (really, maybe 3 or 4 out of 154) in our association who are quite good enough for college, but don't have the time and/or commitment to work that level.

Why require that you work the level that you will work in a championship game? Hey, I don't know how it is in your state, but here, we have little dinky associations that have maybe 15 guys, who service maybe 4 schools, all of them the lowest classification schools. The bottom line is this: The baseball at those schools is nowhere as good as the top classification schools play. The high levels play harder, faster, and with far more skill! I would be VERY nervous with having a partner who does not have regular experience at that level working with me on the biggest game of the year, and frankly, the teams deserve guys that have a COMMAND of doing that level, not a guy who is used to seeing slower, less skilled baseball. Frankly, the JV teams at the top classification schools can usually beat up on the lower classification varsity teams all day long. I certainly do not want a JV umpire working with me on a state championship game.

Sorry you misunderstood what I posted earlier. Nobody else seems to have.

I have to add that in the past, there were problems with umpires coming from smaller associations that don't service the top classification schools working with umpires from the bigger associations.

Umpiring is no different than playing ball in this regard: If you want to be your best, you have to work with the best, and feel some pressure to perform! With 154 guys, there is a pretty good chance that amoungst the younger guys, there will be a few that can move up quickly. EVERY YEARS we have at least a couple of new guys that will move up quickly. If I want to keep my current level of assignments, I have to stay on top of my game, because there are some 5th year guys that would love to be getting my schedule, and are basically skilled enough to do so. I am not going to sit here and tell you how good I am. But, I have a lot of confidence in my abilities, and year after year, evaluation after evaluation, have proven that I should continue to work the level I do.

I do not see the same kind of competition in the smallest associations, and also just don't see those guys having the benefit of having guys with pro experience, nor an influx of talented guys that just missed the PBUC cut. My association has all of that. We draw off of a very talented pool of umpires. Simply, I think percentage wise, the association Tim and I belong too has the highest talent level, and that feeds upon itself. Our association requires more training hours per year out of our members than any other baseball association in the state, and that training is conducted by some of the top umpires in the region!

[David B]

Originally Posted by rei

I have to add that in the past, there were problems with umpires coming from smaller associations that don't service the top classification schools working with umpires from the bigger associations.

\

That's the problem that we've had in our state playoffs in the past. Every year for the last 15 years we have had one of our schools from our area in the state finals and we have not been allowed to call that level.

Several years we had two schools in our area in the finals. So we have had guys calling our area teams that many times they have never called the bigger schools etc., and its not always a good thing.

One thing we have done well is letting our groups work together in the finals, but as you stated, often we get umpires working the highest level they have ever worked a game and it just happens to be the state finals in the larger divisions. Then our groups get left calling the smaller classifications since we have teams from our area in the higher divisions.

Hey its an honor anytime to call a state final, but sometimes I think its not fair to the larger schools to get stuck with the most inexperienced umpires.
Hopefully our state will work on that in the future.

Thanks
David

[Blue37]

Originally Posted by rei

Classification, level...pick your term. BUT, after our re-classification alignment last year, it was pretty obvious that "playing level" comes into play, because many teams that could not play for a winning record in the old system are now some of the top teams in their new, and LOWER classification. So, indeed, the higher the classification, or "level", generally speaking, the better the baseball. I seriously doubt that the teams of lower classifications can beat the teams at higher classifications when it comes down to the state championship game.

I never said college experienced was required to work the top level state championship game, and Tim C getting the call this year proves that! It is highly unlikely that the 3rd on his crew will have college experience because I am not aware of anybody from the area the 3rd is coming from that has done college. Please read my post. I stated that usually, only college umpires are selected for the top level game. The obvious answer to your question though is that generally speaking, the college umpires are much better umpires. Indeed, we have a "few" guys (really, maybe 3 or 4 out of 154) in our association who are quite good enough for college, but don't have the time and/or commitment to work that level.

Why require that you work the level that you will work in a championship game? Hey, I don't know how it is in your state, but here, we have little dinky associations that have maybe 15 guys, who service maybe 4 schools, all of them the lowest classification schools. The bottom line is this: The baseball at those schools is nowhere as good as the top classification schools play. The high levels play harder, faster, and with far more skill! I would be VERY nervous with having a partner who does not have regular experience at that level working with me on the biggest game of the year, and frankly, the teams deserve guys that have a COMMAND of doing that level, not a guy who is used to seeing slower, less skilled baseball. Frankly, the JV teams at the top classification schools can usually beat up on the lower classification varsity teams all day long. I certainly do not want a JV umpire working with me on a state championship game.

Sorry you misunderstood what I posted earlier. Nobody else seems to have.

I sometimes forget that not all states are alike. In my state, good baseball is good baseball and bad baseball is bad baseball, regardless of classification. Your statement about top classification JV teams routinely beating lower classification varsity teams is not true here.

Likewise with umpires. A good umpire is a good umpire and a bad umpire is a bad umpire, regardless of the association to which he belongs or the classifications he works during the regular season. We are association based when assigning regular season and district tournament games, but all regional and state level games are assigned by the state organization. The state has a preseason camp each year and also has close to twenty supervisors who observe officials during the regular season and district tournaments. Even officials from the "dinky associations" have an equal chance to prove themselves.

I apologize for sensing an elitist attitude if none exists.

[ODJ]

Originally Posted by FATUMP

WOW, one association puts 2 out of the 3 umpires in the top game every year! where do we sign up?

Of the 10 or so associations in the state, PDX gets 2 slots because of the population with the others rotating through. The associations nominate who goes. It's similar for all sports. Does take the politics out of it (sort of).

Tim, is it one crew of 3 working all classes? Salem or Portland this year?

Originally Posted by ODJ

Tim, is it one crew of 3 working all classes? Salem or Portland this year?

Yes. Championship games are at Volcano Stadium in Salem/Kaiser.