Umpire with shirt not tucked in
 

Umm...He is how old? I don't know how you expect him to find an umpire's shirt that fits. I'm 5'7" and a bean pole, it's tough enough for me to find a shirt. I personally don't think it's that big of a deal for this very young umpire. I wish he wouldn't be so upright but that's a discussion for another time.

-Josh

lets leave the kids alone

I agree Johnny!

-Josh

He's got better mechanics than some guys I've seen.

Newbie posts link to youtube video of 10 yr. old umpire
 

http://forum.officiating.com/basebal...ot-tucked.html

JM

This is just a disgrace. This kid should go out and buy $400 worth of proper equipment and clothing.

The players should also go out and buy real baseball pants, not just the ones with the elastic waistband. Get rid of those t-shirt jerseys while they are at it, too.

What is anyone at that field thinking?

His shin guards cover his whole leg! Now that's protection!:D

I'd be proud if my son or daughter wanted to get into umping that early. That's just awesome.

So what?

I have a bunch of 11-12 year olds that umpire for me. Buying proper clothing, when they're growing so quickly, is stupid. Just do the best with what you've got, and act the part.

The kid's 10, so lighten up Francis.

Was that Shea Stadium?

So the old adage really is true. Umpiring is the one profession where you're expected to be perfect the first day on the job- and then get better as you go along!

Lord, I'm glad nobody recorded the first game I ever worked and posted in for millions to see... :eek:

Who cares? When I was in HS and I umpired LL, I wore street clothes and just slapped on a mask, shin guards, and baloon protector all which were nicely tucked in the green box behind the backstop. It's LL, so you don't need to look like a pro unless it's a big tournament or something.

Kudos to that young man for wanting to umpire! That's awesome!!

Bret, I believe the video was posted by the ump's proud parents.

I agree...esp by the fancy title screen.

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.

What a great video. I like the serious demeanor the kid seems to have....very professional for his age. Calls his pitch, changes his indicator, and crosses his hands waiting on the next pitch. I'd love to have the opportunity to train a kid with that interest level at that age.

I have to mirror that.

What a gas! That kid's going to be leaving his friends tickets to his games in 20 years. Bravo to him!

And I too would love to watch his ascent. When I first got going, I umpired with a 22-year-old kid who had started like that guy, umpiring his 10-year-old peers. That kid was one of the best partners I ever had and one of the best umpires in the area.

It's good to see him developing at such an early age. I still would like to see him tuck the shirt in and learn proper plate mechanics. He probably hasn't been trained.

Props to the kid. I only saw three pitches, and the catcher hasn't stopped one yet.

He did miss a great chance for a punchout on that last pitch. Gotta ring him up!

I'd wish that on some of the adults I've watched umpire.

It's really tough for some kids to tuck these umpires shirts in. First, the chest protectors are pretty huge, and getting an umpire shirt small enough isn't easy. So they're wearing a big shirt, and big gear, and trying to fit into a pair of pants that were designed to handle one, much less two shirts tuck into it.

Plate pants for a 10 year old? Not happening. Just roll with what you've got, and be happy they're out there.

As for training, he's just emulating what he's seen adults do. Could he do better? Sure, but couldn't we all? At 11, I was gunning Caps kids out like Ron Luciano, so which is worse?

What I dig is his enthusiasum. You can't train that.

That said, I DO require my 11 and up umpires to wear some sort of gray pants, and the shirts are always tucked in. Black shoes, belt and socks. Hats forward, etc.

Any uniform standards is better than no uniform standards. I don't expect this kid to have plate pants, but I would expect the league to give him some small shinguards that can fit under a cheap pair of grey pants. For the chest protector, he might be better off using an outside one for these little kids. The shirt should be easy enough to tuck in and use a belt.

I would expect better from an umpire at any age, even doing 5/6 year old t-ball games. The fact that he's a kid doesn't matter. Once you step on that field, you're an umpire, and you represent your league, the game of baseball, and the umpiring profession. If he is not ready to dress with a modicum of professionalism, his parents shouldn't have signed him up.

cc6,

And I would expect anyone posting on this forum to have the common sense (not to mention consideration for fellow members of this forum) not to post a link to a YouTube video of a 10 yr. old in order to criticize him for his appearance.

Just goes to show you how easily expectations can lead to disappointment.

Why don't you post some video of yourself working the plate, and we can all offer you some constructive criticism - instead of picking on some little kid.

JM

Kid is having a good time. Kid is apparently doing a good job.
So lets screw that up and criticize him about trivial crap. Geesh.....
(I really dont think the players care how he's dressed)

cc6, AKA Candaump6 did post a video of him calling balls and strikes in his Grandmother's dining room...remember?

What I find interesting is his statement: "The fact that he's a kid doesn't matter. Once you step on that field, you're an umpire, and you represent your league, the game of baseball, and the umpiring profession."

When a similar argument was made about him (he was around 19 or so) he complained loudly that he was being picked on by coaches and posters because he was a kid.

He may have changed his name, but that's all.


__________________

From cc6's profile:

About cc6
Biography
Formerly canadaump6

Mr.Umpire,

Very good observation. Yes I changed my name, as I clearly stated in my profile.

CoachJM,

I did post a couple videos of my umpiring, used the feedback I recieved on here and incoporated that into my game.

Wrong. I said age affects how one is percieved. I don't know where you came up with what you said.

Nonetheless, this isn't about me. Why can a person not tuck his shirt in and find pants to fit smaller shinguards before he goes on the field? We are so quick to attack lack of professionalism (most recently the mask clip-on thing). We all agree that age is irrelevant when it comes to umpiring. So why has what I have said generated so much anger?

You miss the main point, which is to encourage a kid to join the ranks and express general approval of everything and raving about what he does right, with a healthy dose of overlooking what he does wrong.

No, we never all agreed that age is irrelevant. Certainly there is a difference between a ten year old and a 19-20 year old.

I guess Shakespeare was right....What's in a name...

The same allowance that is made of a 10-year-old player versus a 20-year-old must be likened to the slack you give an umpire of equal seasoning. A hell of a lot is expected of a 20-year-old.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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. :rolleyes:

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

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.

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. :eek:

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. :rolleyes:

But he's cool!

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

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

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?

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

Look at it this way, his chances of going home with a GLM, are better than most!

Coach JM:

-Rude remarks in this thread: *"Newbie posts link to youtube video of 10 yr. old umpire"
*"I mean, at least he didn't "drop trou" in front of a bunch of 1st Grade girls"; come on, how long before I live that one off?

-You mentioned: *"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".
*Response: The kid in the second video was bigger, but had the same voice. My guess is it's the same kid, a couple years later.

-*"What makes you think I was upset? I wasn't.":
*Response: Post 24 in the thread led me to believe you were upset, but I could be wrong.

-"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.)"
*Response: I was making a point. Age is irrelevant in umpiring. Uniform standards apply to the level of baseball that one works, not how old someone is. If the person in the video is going to call himself an "umpire", a profession I'm sure most of us here take great pride in, he should try to look the part. I have no sympathy. Many people here nailed the uniform standards into me, so I smartened up and bought the right stuff. Now everybody is defending this kid's poor attire under the premise that he's young? Come on. No excuses in umpiring. I coach pre-teeballers and I would want them to have better than what this kid is providing when they move up to teeball.

-Why did I change my name? I felt representing my country on every post I made was a bit much. I made my new username similar enough to my old one so that I wouldn't be hiding who I was.

Kyle:
-Yes I posted a video of myself in full gear in my parent's basement. I guess that makes me an umpiring geek, but that's not something I'm ashamed of. I don't find anything embarassing about working on plate mechanics. On the surface it might have looked silly, but I thought it was a good way to work on technique when the weather wasn't even close to being good for baseball (about -15 celcius at the time I believe:D).

Petulant is a cool word. I really should use it more.

I use the line. It's the same for both teams and a lot easier on my judgment.

That said, I change a bit as it relates to the base:

If the base is off the line (not touching it at all), I call the line. Therefore, if the ball bounces past the right side of 1st (or left side of 3rd) and it's between the base and line, it's fair.

If the base hangs over the foul line, I will call any ball fair that hits the base.

Of course, this is all detailed in pregame conference. I've never had a problem with any coach.

canadump,

Apparently the word "rude" has a different meaning in Canada than here in the States. The first statement you reference is a simple statement of fact. The second was simply an observation regarding the relative professionalism of the one being criticized and the one doing the criticizing.

In regard to your question, I guess that remains to be seen. How long do you think it should be?

So, you make an unfounded and scurrilous accusation regarding my posts on this board and can't even come up with ONE supporting example out of over 1200 posts I've made? What a douchebag! (See, THAT was "rude"; not uncalled for, but rude, nonetheless.) Apparently, you are as lazy as you are stupid. http://www.umpire-empire.com/forum/i...ies/jerkit.gif
http://www.umpire-empire.com/forum/i...llinglaugh.gif Dude, you're killing me. The kid's FIRST GAME OF HIS LIFE AS AN UMPIRE WAS 09/18/2008! On this planet, that makes it IMPOSSIBLE for the second video you posted to be "...a couple years later." Do you habitually ignore all available objective evidence in reaching your conclusions? Did it occur to you that he may have "looked bigger" to you because the camera was zoomed in closer and had a less elevated angle?

Perhaps it's some sort of nefarious conspiracy to dupe us into thinking this kid only started umpiring last year when in REALITY he's been umpiring since 2006 when he was 8!

I was somewhat incredulous that anyone could think a video of a 10 yr. old umpire with his shirt untucked would be of ANY interest to the membership of this forum (other than in an "isn't that cute?" kind of way), but I was not "upset".

What do you make of the FACT that 21 different people have posted on this thread and not ONE agrees with your "point"? (That's because you don't have one.) And the majority seem to consider you a buffoon for trying to make it. Perhaps your "read" is different since you seem to cling to your ill-conceived preconceptions even in the light of all objective evidence.

http://www.umpire-empire.com/forum/i...it_20Laugh.gif
What you have is no CLUE.

WTF is "pre-teeball"? Why on earth would you have an umpire at a T-Ball game, and what on earth would he do if there were one?

I am sure that Mr. Harper and the rest of your fellow countrymen applaud the deep-seated patriotism that led you to shed this heavy burden - so that you would stop creating the impression that Canadians are all imbeciles. I happen to know a number of Canadians and find them to be intelligent and thoughtful people, contrary to the puerile drivel you have regularly posted here.

Why did you delete the videos? I found them entertaining and instructive.

Go away and come back if you ever grow up. http://www.umpire-empire.com/forum/i...es/anim_25.gif

JM

JM,

It is very hard to take you seriously when you resort to insults. Please try to be more mature. Thank you.

JM - that was a very well thought out and well written, mature response to the issues presented thus far. I commend you for not getting into a name calling contest. It's ashame how "the point" is being defended - no point often leads to circles of defensive moves.

I, too, wondered how the time frame from September 2008 to October 2008 bacame 2 years, but I didn't ask - thought it seemed rather obvious since the dates were posted on the videos.