Umpire with shirt not tucked in

[bob jenkins]

In an ideal world, the umpire would dress better.

In the real world, he needs to meet the standards of his league. Does he? We have no way of knowing. He generally meets the standards (as I remember them) of youth umpires in my local league.

So, if there's any criticism, it should be directed to the league.

[kylejt]

I had my first umpire meeting last night, and it included kids as young as 11. We've been working with Junior Umpires since 2000, and are pretty darn good at what we do.

We don't umpire at the level that kid in the video was working. But I let a lot of things slide for little guys that I don't for teenagers. And one of those things is clothing. It's really tough to find pants loose enough to get shins under. If they can, fine, but I don't get wound up about it. If they can't afford black shoes, I won't make a big deal of it. I do go to the local Goodwill and stock our umpire room with lots of hand-me-downs.

Bottom line, worry more about attitude, confidence and knowledge with the younger umpires. Once they get 12-13 you can work on getting them properly dressed, as the gear starts fitting them better. One of my goals is to get as many kids as I can working in the All Star tournaments, and there they have to look sharp.

But there's no way I'd grind on this 10 year old, who obviously digs what he's doing.

Hey, the first time I umpired a kid's game, I was just a 17 year old on the way to baseball practice when they asked if I wouldn't mind doing the bases. I was wearing athletic shorts, long sleeved baseball shirt, and a dirty baseball cap along with football cleats. After that, I got hooked so I started bring some decent clothes along in case I got asked again. Now, 21 years later, I'm doing slowpitch softball, high school football, and high school basketball, wearing the best there is to wear, and humbly thinking back when I was just a poor 17-year old earning $5 just to count the number of pitches a kid had before he could hit off the tee, and make the calls on the bases.

[Kevin Finnerty]

What you describe is literally the first job of a kid's life for a lot of the kids who played in our PONY league. Several of those kids are now in the unit umpiring high school games with us.

[cc6]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

In an ideal world, the umpire would dress better.

In the real world, he needs to meet the standards of his league. Does he? We have no way of knowing. He generally meets the standards (as I remember them) of youth umpires in my local league.

So, if there's any criticism, it should be directed to the league.

True Bob, the onus is on the league to at least have some uniform standards and provide training.

I didn't put this video up here to bully the umpire in the video. I posted it as an example of what poor attire looks like, so that none of us make the same mistake. I'm surprised that my good intentions would get JM so upset, after all the rude remarks he's been making over his time here. I'm not willing to look like the bad guy on this one.

In umpiring, it all comes down to what have you done for me lately. Here is a video of what must be the same kid, a couple years after his first video, so that he has had the time to be trained and grow into a decent uniform:

YouTube - Umpiring Fall DLL AA

Both videos prove that a Smitty is a Smitty no matter what the age.

[umpjong]

Originally Posted by cc6

I didn't put this video up here to bully the umpire in the video. I posted it as an example of what poor attire looks like, so that none of us make the same mistake. I'm surprised that my good intentions would get JM so upset, after all the rude remarks he's been making over his time here. I'm not willing to look like the bad guy on this one.

In umpiring, it all comes down to what have you done for me lately. Here is a video of what must be the same kid, a couple years after his first video, so that he has had the time to be trained and grow into a decent uniform:

Both videos prove that a Smitty is a Smitty no matter what the age.

You honestly want to compare a 10 year old with an adult. Seriously!!!!!!!!
Did he replace you on these games or something?????

[UmpJM]

cc6,

What makes you think I was upset? I wasn't.

What "rude remarks" are you referring to?

Do you have any idea how foolish and petulant it makes you look to post links of videos of this kid umpiring and berating his appearance? (That remark was "impartial", not "rude", BTW.)

I mean, at least he didn't "drop trou" in front of a bunch of 1st Grade girls.

Did you notice the 1st video you posted said it was the kid's 1st game on 9/18/2008? And the 2nd has a date of 10/04/2008? That's a little over 2 weeks elapsed time.

Why did you change your "screen name", anyway?

JM

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by BretMan

Yes, that was my impression. And they should be proud!

My comment was aimed at the apparent criticism of the kid in the first post.

With that I agree. We should be encouraging these kids to keep it up instead of dumping on them for an ill-fitting uniform. If any pre-teen is willing to get behind the plate I'll support him 100%. If he's willing to stick with it after a season or two then I'll start talking to him about his appearance.

[ManInBlue]

Originally Posted by cc6

He probably hasn't been trained.

Ya, think? It's his FIRST GAME!! AND he's a kid, not just young, a freaking kid. I doubt he's been trained. So what's the point?

He looks like a youth/city league umpire. At least he has on an umpire shirt. A lot of them wear a t-shirt and jeans or shorts.

Takes some gonads to get out there - good for him.

But why hasn't anyone mentioned that his hat is turned aournd backwards. Or did I miss it? That's obsurd - he probably hasn't been trained.

One more thing - when did JM start making rude comments? That seems rather uncharacteristic of him.

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by ManInBlue

Ya, think? It's his FIRST GAME!! AND he's a kid, not just young, a freaking kid. I doubt he's been trained. So what's the point?

He looks like a youth/city league umpire. At least he has on an umpire shirt. A lot of them wear a t-shirt and jeans or shorts.

Takes some gonads to get out there - good for him.

But why hasn't anyone mentioned that his hat is turned aournd backwards. Or did I miss it? That's obsurd - he probably hasn't been trained.

One more thing - when did JM start making rude comments? That seems rather uncharacteristic of him.

D, he's also looking at his indicator and he allowed the coaches to be out of the dugout.

[Kevin Finnerty]

But he's cool!

[umpduck11]

Originally Posted by cc6

I posted it as an example of what poor attire looks like, so that none of us make the same mistake.

Not likely. As far as I know, none of us are ten years old, and working our first game.

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by cc6

In umpiring, it all comes down to what have you done for me lately. Here is a video of what must be the same kid, a couple years after his first video, so that he has had the time to be trained and grow into a decent uniform:

YouTube - Umpiring Fall DLL AA

Both videos prove that a Smitty is a Smitty no matter what the age.

Check out that foul line down first -- it's not straight!

[kylejt]

cc6, you're hammerin' ants that don't need to be hammered.

Look, you got taken to the woodshed when you posted your video, and want to extract some sort of revenge. AND THIS IS THE BEST YOU COULD COME UP WITH?! Ten year old kids? REALLY?

[johnnyg08]

Originally Posted by yawetag

Check out that foul line down first -- it's not straight!

So do you use the line or where the line would be?