If you're supposed to get and angle and get set ...
 

Why do so many MLB umpires makes so many calls on the move?

And I'm not talking about stepping into the call. They're on the run while they're seeing the play.

A lot of MLB umpire's have poor mechanics in general, probably because their jobs are secure so they are free to do whatever they want. There are many MLB umpires who shouldn't be working professional baseball, but that's just the way it is.

As a MLB umpire once told me during a clinic: "Until you're wearing a hat that says MLB on it, perform your mechanics as the manual describes them."

Many MLB umpires wouldn't make it in a HS association as a rookie because they are just s l o w! But the difference is that they made it to their position in a better body frame and now it does not matter anymore! :rolleyes:

If you ever worked 4 man.....
 

You don't have to be in too good of a shape. You don't move very much at all. I found it to be kind of boring last year during HS regionals. 4 games of 4 man were 4 too many 4 me. The state check was smaller than a regular season check and I had to driver farther without mileage (crew chief kept it all - what a crock). All that prestige for half the money. My pride was worth a lot though. (tongue in cheek-Grin)

Wasn't it Jim Evans who said something like, "if I went and did an amateur game today I wouldn't be very good"?

The MLB guys are great, no doubt, but we probably shouldn't copy all their habits.

Garth hasn't been around in quite a while. Don't you think it's time to drop this?

i wasn't aware that anyone read his posts anyway...

Not to beat a dead horse, but yeah...they may not be in the best shape, nor always hustle to the play, but with experience, they can make the call. I am sure if you were to get a blog of all the close calls that the MLB guys make in a season, they get damn near almost all of them correct. I have been playing the game for some time now to try and get to D1 (College) and I know that seniority is over-rated. But, that's the way it is. Put in your time, and do the best you can.

Man, first time I did four-man, I was the crew chief and I had to pick up the dinner check.

Here you go: The Left Field Corner

ETA: This only deals with close calls as they pertain to ejections, but still a good place for reference nonetheless.

Guys in the show miss calls (not that many though) like everyone else. That being said use the mechanics that the powers that be want you to use in the games that you're assigned to. When you make it to the show you can make calls on the run as well. Until then when in Rome...............:D

Thus the diclaimer: The contents of this post (including any attachments) are non-confidential and / or non-proprietary. If you have read this in error, please promptly delete this post from your memory.

Finally an umpire I'm skinnier than, Bruce Froemming!!!:p

Is Bruce wearing combo pants??

Seriously, I have sometimes wondered about all the 'running' around I see when I watch MLB games. Sometimes it seems to me like 'false hustle'. I once saw a 1b umpire go out on a routine fly ball and he sprinted like his Underarmour was aflame. He signaled the catch while flying past the RF and he finally slowed down on the warning track. I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my seat.

Yes, he had to combine his a$s and his stomach into one pair of pants!;):eek:

How does this guy know whether a ball/strike or a check swing was correct or not? Pure junk........

And he uses pitch f/x and says a pitch was an inch or so off the plate, therefore a strike call was "incorrect."

Complete and utter nonsense, but I guess if his "game" is going to include that he has to have some mechanism for awarding points.

Yes, it is a game. Yes, there are many participants, in fact it's a "fantasy" umpire league. And yes, there has to be some arbitrary way of determining correct and incorrect calls for the purpose of points. It is also a fun way of getting recaps of umpire ejections, and getting the backstories, inside information and stats that you won't find anywhere else.

But complete and utter nonsense, or junk? Hardly. The vast majority of the information is factual.