My bi-annual ritual

[MajorDave]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

...Of Course, when we umpire together he (MTD,Jr.) is always behind the plate, afterall he is almost 19 years of age and he should always be behind the plate when umpiring with his old man even when we have a doubleheader, .

MTD, Sr.

My son is now 22 and started umpiring when he was 19. He likes the bases and is so swift and smooth in his pivot and moving across the infield to cover a triple that I cannot compete. I like calling strikes and keeping the flow of the game moving thus we do the opposite of the DeNucci's.

I bet you truly enjoy working with your namesake. My son's name is Davis which means son of David thus he is junior without having to add the Junior.

It does my heart proud to work with him or hear commentary from others on what a good job he does as an umpire although a part of me wishes he were still playing. He was good enough but didn't have the drive to work at the game as he needed to at the next level. He developed other interests....

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Received the FED baseball umpires manual and am just about to toss it right in the trash. When they remove the plate umpire covering third on a bases empty triple, it may get to stick around.

Although, I could use it for the times when I need a good laugh.

Page 28 - Your vocal call should correspond in emphasis with that of the physical call. "You're safe!" or "Safe! You're in there!" with proper emphasis usually does it. If your voice tends to go shrill on the call, you might try, "Safe! No! No! No! You're in there!" or something similar.

You know, maybe I should just burn this in case some aspiring umpire finds it in my trash can.

That is just too funny!!! Tell us some more mechanics stories, grandpa! That book sounds like it's a hoot! I've never picked up a copy, as we use pro school and CCA mechanics out in these parts.

[tcarilli]

How about this doozie in the plate umpire section on page 14:

"Stance is important...Placement of the feet is crucial to the stance. The most common method is a catcher-like crouch behind the catcher."