The Smitty Chronicles

[canadaump6]

I always thought a "Smitty" referred to a coach, and that umpires used it as a synonym for "rats". Now it seems it is a term used solely to describe umpires with a bad attitude.

[zebra2955]

How did that name originate? "smitty "

[mick]

Originally Posted by zebra2955

How did that name originate? "smitty "

Guessing here, that one of the members was telling/relating a story about an umpire, without giving the actual name.
Smith, being a rather common name, was selected and to carry it a bit further, and to make that umpire more familiar, because he may be in Anyville, USA , "Smitty" evolved.

[UmpJM]

Originally Posted by zebra2955

How did that name originate? "smitty "

zebra2955,

I believe the term was originally coined by Carl Childress in an article he wrote for Referee magazine prior to the inception of Officiating.com. I believe Mick's hypothesis pretty well summarizes Carl's intent.

JM

[mick]

Originally Posted by canadaump6

I always thought a "Smitty" referred to a coach, and that umpires used it as a synonym for "rats". Now it seems it is a term used solely to describe umpires with a bad attitude.

Oops !!! Ya got that rear-end to.
I don't think attitude comes into play for them, unless they just don't care about their appearance on the field.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by canadaump6

I always thought a "Smitty" referred to a coach, and that umpires used it as a synonym for "rats". Now it seems it is a term used solely to describe umpires with a bad attitude.

Not bad attitudes necessarily, but many bad habits which they believe to be the proper way of doing something and refuse to listen to anyone who tries to correct them. Ozzy gave a good partial list of things that identify "Smitty."

[zebra2955]

Thanks for the info